Brock Caleb Wilken (born June 17, 2002) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

organization.

Career

Wilken attended

Bloomingdale High School Bloomingdale High School is a public high school located in Valrico, Florida. Bloomingdale was established in 1987, three years after Gaither High School, and has its same architectural design. Bloomingdale's first graduating class was in 1989, si ...

located in

Valrico, Florida Valrico is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The population was 35,545 at the 2010 census, up from 6,582 at the 2000 census. History Before the Civil War, the area was known as Long Pond and consi ...

. As a junior in 2019, he batted .468 with 12 home runs and 26 RBIs over 25 games. His senior season in 2020 was cut short due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, but he still hit four home runs over eight games. After not being selected in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft, Wilken enrolled at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

and instantly became their starting third baseman as a freshman in 2021. Over 47 starts, he slashed .279/.365/.617 with 17 home runs, a team-high 44 RBIs, and 41 runs scored. His 17 home runs were most by a Wake Forest freshman ever. After the season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

, and was named the league's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

after batting .302 with six home runs and 26 RBIs over 38 games. As a sophomore in 2022, Wilken appeared in sixty games and batted .272 with 23 home runs and 77 RBIs. He returned to play for Harwich that summer, and was named a league all-star. He was chosen to try out for the USA Baseball National Collegiate Team, but was not selected. He entered the 2023 season as a top prospect for the upcoming MLB draft. Wilken was selected by the

in the first round with the 18th overall pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Brewers on July 17, 2023 for $3,150,000.

References

External links

Wake Forest Demon Deacons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilken, Brock 2002 births Living people Baseball third basemen Baseball players from Hillsborough County, Florida Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball players Harwich Mariners players People from Valrico, Florida