Wilken's Arizona Fall League Derby secret weapon? Dad strength

PEORIA, Ariz. -- In his first at-bat since being announced as a participant in the 2024 Fall League Home Run Derby, Brock Wilken emphatically proved himself worthy of his inclusion.

But when Peoria’s eventual 3-3 tie with Surprise on Tuesday afternoon at the Peoria Sports Complex first started, Wilken’s name wasn’t among the starting nine.

A defensive replacement in the top of the fifth inning once the Javelinas shuffled their defense following an injury, Wilken went from sitting in the hot sun at the top step of the dugout to the hot corner in the blink of an eye. A half-inning later, he walloped a slider from Astros No. 10 prospect Jose Fleury that caught the center of the plate and sent it far beyond the left-field fence.

“You just kind of rely on adrenaline there, you know what I mean?” Wilken said. “First at-bat, you're not in the lineup, you're not the most locked in. I'm sitting there eating seeds, so I'm kind of just watching the game, but you just gotta lock in. Once your number's called, you just gotta go out there and … put your best swing [on it] in the box.”

Wilken is among a group of eight participants who will swing for the fences during the circuit’s night of homers on Friday. Each hitter brings something unique to the dish, but Wilken may have a little bit of extra secret sauce, or an ace up his sleeve, so to speak: dad strength.

Caleb Knox Wilken was born this summer. The first child of the Brewers’ No. 8 prospect, the newborn was on hand as his father drilled his second Fall League homer on Oct. 15. It wasn’t his first time being at the yard while Dad homered (that happened earlier this summer), but there’s undoubtedly a little extra juice for the elder Wilken, knowing who’s in the stands.

“Any time you hit a home run in the Fall League, it’s cool,” Wilken said. “But to do it in front of your wife and kid, it makes it a little bit more special.”

Home runs have long been Wilken’s calling card. Tied atop the ACC’s all-time leaderboard, Wilken needed just three seasons with Wake Forest to amass 71 round-trippers, setting the school’s single-season record (31) and all-time mark during his junior year in 2023. He parlayed that success into becoming the 18th overall pick of the Draft, when Milwaukee came calling.

He quickly ascended to Double-A Biloxi that summer, before spending the entire season there this past year. While he did miss nearly a month of action at the start of the campaign after being hit in the face by a pitch, he still managed to play in 108 games in the summer heat of the Southern League before being tabbed for the Fall League.

The 22-year-old has shed the face cage attached to his batting helmet that he wore during the regular season, but he is set to play around 130 games in total, a significant number that is also indicative of how highly regarded he is among Brewers brass. When the club filled out its Spring Breakout lineup back in March, Wilken’s name was penciled in as protection right behind Jackson Chourio, a spot he claimed five times during their crossover at Biloxi last fall.

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“I think that was one of the things that Wake taught me: How to manage your body, how to manage your workload really well,” Wilken said. “So I think that's kind of what I’m taking into pro ball the most is like, ‘All right, this is what I gotta do to prepare myself, to get ready each and every day,’ and just kind of taking that and running with it. I’ve got certain routines that I do day in and day out to keep my body fresh whenever I need work -- I go in the training room, stay lifting and do all that kind of stuff to just to keep my body healthy when we're playing in November. You never know how long you’re gonna end up playing.”