Brewers' top pick Fischer wants to model game after Bryce Harper

MILWAUKEE – They’re not entirely sure where he will land on the diamond, but when has that stopped the Brewers when they see a college bat with power and plate discipline?

The Brewers selected University of Tennessee third baseman Andrew Fischer in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft, marking the second straight season they’ve used a premium pick for a power-hitting Volunteer. And like first baseman Blake Burke, Milwaukee’s supplemental first-round pick last year at No. 34 overall, Fischer’s calling card is his left-handed power. He ranked third in NCAA Division I with 25 homers this season and fourth with 63 walks.

“Come on now, it’s a great program,” Fischer said on MLB Network, not of the Tennessee program, but his new potential home with the Brewers. “I just want to go out there and play and I want to win. The Brewers have a ton of young talent and it’s a great place to be.”

At No. 20 overall, Fischer was the third Tennessee Volunteer taken in the Draft after left-hander Liam Doyle went to the Cardinals fifth overall and shortstop Gavin Kilen went 13th to the Giants.

The comps will come with time, but there’s one player Fischer wants to model his game after, and it’s someone with a similarly big personality: 2010 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Harper.

“I’m working on my swing in the cage, so I’m trying to hit like Harper as much as I can,” said Fischer, who grew up on the Jersey Shore. “Obviously he has different rhythm in the box and a different approach sometimes, but how could you not watch a guy like that? …

“He brings a ton of energy, and that’s just what I was taught from a young age, that you have to go out and have fun when you’re playing. I try to bring that to my game at the highest level at the time.”

Fischer, who played at Duke and Mississippi in his first two collegiate seasons, broke out in a big way with the Volunteers in 2025. He bumped an already impressive .397 OBP at Ole Miss in 2024 to .497 at Tennessee. He drew 63 walks, one fewer than his previous two seasons combined and fourth in Division I, and cut his strikeout total from 53 to 42 on the way to being a unanimous First Team All-American by D1baseball.com.

Fischer also elevated his power, ranking second in Division I with 25 homers and collecting 41 extra-base hits, which took his slugging percentage from .643 a year ago to .760, just outside the nation’s top 10.

“[There was] a split in the room a little bit, but a decent chunk of our group thought he was the best college hitter in the Draft this year,” said Brewers VP of amateur acquisition Tod Johnson. “We're pretty excited to add that kind of bat to our system."

With Fischer’s power comes positional versatility. Between summer ball and his time in the ACC and SEC, Fischer played first base, second base, third base and left field, though he’ll likely stick on the infield corners as a professional. He was Tennessee’s primary first baseman.

“We’ll send him out at third base,” Johnson said.

Tennessee did not play a game in 2025 in which Fischer, who is ranked as the No. 29 Draft prospect this year by MLB Pipeline, did not reach base. He flashes plus power from the left side to all fields and in 2025 he cut down on chasing pitches out of the strike zone, as evidenced by his Tennessee-record walk total. Fischer was a wrestler at Wall Township High School in New Jersey and gets plenty of strength out of his 6-foot-1, 210-pound frame.

“Great personality, but a little bit of a misunderstood personality. He’s a really lovable kid,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said on MLB Network. “He’s just a big teddy bear on the field that loves competing, loves being around the guys, loves being around the group.”

And he can hit.

“He was the anchor of their lineup,” Johnson said. “They didn’t quite make it back to the College World Series this year, but they were a really strong team and he was definitely the best hitter on that team, the guy you game plan around. We’re excited to get that kind of bat. We’ll get him out at third base and give him every chance to play there.”

Here are the Brewers' other picks from Day 1:

Brady Ebel, SS (No. 32 overall, compensation round)

• Bats/throws: L/R
• School: Corona High School (Calif.)
• Calling Card: The son of Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel, Brady has a big, 6-foot-3 frame, a chance to have “a really balanced offensive profile” in the future, according to Johnson, and lands with the Brewers via the compensation pick they received after shortstop Willy Adames left via free agency and signed with the Giants. Incredibly, Ebel is one of three players from the same high school team to go in the first 32 picks this year, after right-hander Seth Hernandez went sixth overall to the Pirates and shortstop Billy Carlson went 10th to the White Sox, but the Brewers have long loved Ebel in his own right, ever since he started playing for Milwaukee’s scout teams in Southern California as a freshman. Johnson spent time with him just last week at American Family Field when Ebel visited with his dad and took early batting practice with the Dodgers.
• Quote: “It's funny,” Johnson said, “you watch him play, and you can tell there are some actions that look like Corey Seager because he's stood next to Corey Seager on the field a lot and tried to mimic some of those actions, I think."

J.D. Thompson, LHP (No. 59 overall, second round)

• Bats/throws: R/L
• School: Vanderbilt University
• Calling Card: The 6-foot lefty got better as the season wore on, sitting at 93-95 mph late in the year, and he’s known for his competitiveness on the mound. From his MLB Pipeline scouting report: “Though Thompson's fastball camps at 90-93 mph and tops out at 95, it ranks near the top of college baseball in terms of getting strikes, chases and swings and misses both inside and outside of the strike zone. His heater features significant induced vertical break, and he also can command it to both sides of the plate.”
• Quote: “He was the Friday guy for the No. 1 team in the country going into the College World Series,” Johnson said. “We feel like he has a really good development platform to build on and be a relatively advanced arm for us right away."

Frank Cairone, LHP (No. 68 overall, competitive balance round B)

• Bats/throws: R/L
• School: Delsea Regional High School (Franklinville, N.J.)
• Calling Card: Added 15 pounds of strength and went 6-1 with a 0.48 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 44 innings as a senior before further boosting his stock at the MLB Draft Combine. Has a college commitment to Coastal Carolina, but drafting him this high suggests the Brewers will get a deal done with their latest pitching pick from the Northeast – a list that includes 2024 second rounder Bryce Meccage.
• Quote: “Steve Ditrolio is our area guy there, and he actually lives in Jersey. He’s very well-connected in the Jersey baseball scene," Johnson said. "Mike Serbalik is the supervisor. … I do think the North in general, including up here [in Wisconsin], is tough to scout. These kids don’t really get their seasons going until April, and then you’re seeing them pitch in not great conditions. You have to build that whole history with them.”

Jacob Morrison, RHP (No. 94 overall, third round)

• Bats/throws: R/R
• School: Coastal Carolina
• Calling Card: A 6-foot-8 righty named Jacob. Sound familiar? Morrison, 21, is bulkier than Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski at 245 pounds, but comes with a big fastball that reached 95 mph as a freshman before missing the 2024 season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Back as a redshirt sophomore this season, he helped Coastal Carolina reach the College World Series finale.
• Quote: “At times you’ll see stuff from guys in those settings because it’s a big stage and they’re competing for something they’ve probably dreamed of for a while," Johnson said. "They might take another step to another level. The biggest thing is that, ‘OK, that’s in there. We know that guy can get to that.’ Now, they’re also extremely tired and have been pitching or playing probably as long as they ever have in their lives.”