T Rat Talk: Mike Boeve

Mike Boeve is the subject of Kyle Lobner's final T-Rat Talk of the 2023 season. Boeve talks about a recent event at Neuroscience Group Field that has jumped to the top of his favorite baseball memory, getting to know his knew teammates in Wisconsin, and learning a new defensive position.

One of the most memorable moments of the Timber Rattlers’ 2023 season came on August 9, when a pair of players making their home debut made an immediate impact: In their first at bats infielders and 2023 draft picks Mike Boeve and Brock Wilken hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first inning, giving the Rattlers a 2-0 lead.

It was quite the first impression on the biggest stage of his life for Boeve: As a second round pick out who played collegiate baseball at the University of Nebraska Omaha, the nearly 4000 fans who bought tickets for that night’s game were the largest crowd ever to watch him play. Boeve said that game immediately became one of his favorite baseball memories.

Back-to-back in America's Dairyland!@Brewers 2023 second-rounder Mike Boeve and first-rounder Brock Wilken collect their first High-A home runs in consecutive at-bats for the @TimberRattlers: pic.twitter.com/Zxkg60OH9Y

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 10, 2023

Boeve followed an unconventional path to professional baseball. Following his senior season in high school Prep Baseball Report listed him as the top third baseman and #7 overall high school player in the state of Nebraska, but he opted to remain in-state and played three years at the mid-major Division 1 level for the Mavericks in the Summit League. Playing at Omaha allowed Boeve to stay relatively close to home (his hometown of Hastings, Nebraska was less than three hours away) while racking up a lot of playing time: Boeve played in 151 games across three seasons at Omaha, including 47 as a freshman in 2021.

“I enjoyed my time there, it was a lot of fun. I was very lucky to end up at a school like that, where I could play right away as a freshman and get a lot of at bats,” Boeve said.

Boeve did more than just play a lot, however: He was also a consistently productive performer. He batted .360 with a .469 on-base percentage and .526 slugging across his college career and led the Mavericks in nearly every category. He was a three-time member of the all-Summit League first team and was the league’s Player of the Year in 2022.

“I don’t think it’s that much different,” Boeve said of his college experience as compared to those of some of his teammates. “We still have the non-conference schedule, which was difficult for our years there. In conference play some of the pitching and the lineups one through nine aren’t going to be quite as good as some of the Power 5’s, but at the end of the day it’s still good baseball.”

Boeve had a chance to prove he could compete at college baseball’s highest level when his Mavericks visited UCLA to open the 2023 college season. That Bruins team had six players selected in this year’s MLB draft, including four pitchers, but Boeve went 4-for-12 with a pair of doubles in the weekend series. He continued to impress on big stages in the weekends that followed, going 7-for-15 in a four-game series with Fresno State and 6-for-9 with six runs scored in a three game set against BYU.

Boeve was the highest drafted player in Omaha’s program history when the Brewers selected him with the 54th overall pick this July, and if he reaches the majors he’ll be just the third Maverick ever to do so: Two-time All Star catcher Bruce Benedict, who played in the majors with the Braves from 1978-89, is also an alum. Boeve, however, downplayed the challenge of needing to prove that a player from his collegiate level can perform in pro ball.

“I think once everyone’s in pro ball they don’t really care what college you went to,” Boeve said. “It’s kind of like a reset button. People might know where you went, but at the pro level everyone is just playing a new game.”

Boeve Blasts! 💣💪

2023 2nd-round pick Mike Boeve is showing off his power with 2 HRs and batted balls at 109, 107, 103, and 100 mph while hitting safely in each of his first 5 games#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/RCMhu01aQR

— Brewers Player Development (@BrewersPD) August 3, 2023

Boeve’s college season ended in late May, however, so by the time he made his professional debut for the Arizona Complex League Brewers in late July it had been over two months since his last organized game. While many players would need some time to shake off the rust, Boeve was immediately productive at that level. He had 15 hits in his first eight games in the desert, including three doubles and four home runs. The power surge especially attracted some attention, as home runs had not been a big part of Boeve’s game in the past.

“I had a good two months off from the college season to playing again, so I did some things with my load and kind of fiddled with a few things. I wasn’t really sure how they would translate. I was confident they would help me be a better hitter but, obviously, it was nice to see some benefits from what I did,” Boeve said.

After just a handful of pro games the Brewers were ready to see what Boeve could do against significantly more advanced professional competition, skipping him past the low-A level and moving him up to the Timber Rattlers. Aside from former ACL teammate and fellow 2023 draftee Brock Wilken, however, Boeve came into an established Wisconsin clubhouse having never met any of his new teammates.

“It’s difficult, for a guy like me I’m kind of an introvert right away, but once I get to know guys…in the few weeks I’ve been here I’ve created some really good relationships, I feel like. It’s definitely difficult, especially when you’re playing at the same time, but as time goes on you have enough time in the clubhouse around the guys and the coaches that you get to know them pretty well,” Boeve said.

One of the things that stands out about Boeve’s statistical profile is the depth of experience he’s accumulated. Typically players coming from the college level have significant work to do to adjust to the workload of the professional game, where they’ll be playing six days each week for months on end. During his college career, however, Boeve played nearly every possible game in multiple leagues. In addition to his 47 games with Omaha in 2021 he played 67 for Duluth in the Northwoods League, appearing in all but one game. In 2022 he followed 57 games at Omaha with 37 more for Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League.

Even if he plays every day this week Boeve will finish the regular season with 81 games played across the college and professional levels this season, which will be less than he’s played in either of the last two years. Nonetheless, Boeve mentioned the schedule and the challenge of keeping his body ready as one of the biggest adjustments to life at this level.

“You definitely have to pick your spots,” Boeve said. “You can’t do too much or have too high of a workload because, obviously I haven’t been here all year, but it’s a long season. Then just taking care of your body more and more, because in college you play weekends and have some time off, but here you don’t really have time to do that.”

A little sneak peak at the greatness that is Mike Boeve for all you @Brewers fans.

Thanks for the memories Mike. We can't wait to see what you do next 🫡#OmahaBSB pic.twitter.com/q3IFogLCUQ

— Omaha Baseball (@OmahaBSB) July 10, 2023

On the field Boeve is making another major adjustment: He had never played second base in college or with any of his summer league teams before making 16 appearances there in his first 28 professional games, including ten with the Timber Rattlers. After playing mostly at third base across his amateur career, Boeve said one of the biggest things he needs to work on is improving his defensive versatility. At second he’s noticed a difference while reading the ball off the bat, and been involved in plays significantly more often.

“Coming from third, it’s more of a reactionary position. At second you have a lot more time and, honestly, you’re involved in a lot more plays than you are at third. Then little things like turning double plays, that’s a move I hadn’t done much coming from third base. So there’s little things like that, but talking with certain guys and coaches I’ve had at the complex and here, it’s made it a lot easier for me,” Boeve said.

Boeve joined the Timber Rattlers as part of a wave of late season additions. During August the Rattlers received Boeve and Wilken from the 2023 draft class in addition to top trade addition Bradley Blalock and top prospect Luis Lara from Carolina, and also saw infielder Eric Brown, Jr., outfielder Eduarqui Fernandez and pitcher Joe Hernandez return from the injured list. On the Timber Rattlers Review postgame podcast on August 27 manager Joe Ayrault said this is the best his team has been all year.

“One hundred percent. As far as from an offensive standpoint this is by far the best we’ve had this year,” Ayrault said.

The Rattlers have since lived up to that billing, sweeping a series in Beloit to expand their winning streak to eight games.

While the Timber Rattlers’ regular season is drawing to a close, the offseason ahead will bring significantly more baseball work for Boeve. He expects to spend the fall down in Arizona with the Brewers’ Instructional League camp and remain there for a strength camp. At this point, his goals for the rest of the year are more about attitude and effort than results.

“I try to stay away from thinking about results. Just enjoying the week and a half I have left in my first taste of pro ball, and building more relationships with these guys because it’s been super cool to get to know a lot of them up here,” Boeve said.