Lucas Erceg hit .400 at Helena and earned a promotion to the Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Credit: Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica

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Appleton — Lucas Erceg is a man with a plan living his dream.

Drafted in the second round by the Milwaukee Brewers in June, the 21-year-old quickly has made his presence felt in the team's minor-league system. Erceg, taken 46th overall, signed for a reported $1.15 million on June 16 and in just over six weeks has already jumped from rookie Helena to low Class A Wisconsin.

"Being able to go out and play baseball every day has been a dream of mine since I've been little," Erceg said before a two-hit game against Lake County this week. "And ever since I've been drafted that's exactly what's been happening, and I couldn't be happier with it."

A native of Campbell, Calif., Erceg is a three-year college player who spent his first two years at California before academic woes forced his transfer to NAIA Menlo College. Erceg turned heads at Cal as a power-hitting third baseman. While the drop in competition wasn't ideal, his 2016 season at Menlo along with his physical tools kept him as an upper-echelon prospect.

Things turned out well, but Erceg said he still has regrets about the way his career ended at Cal.

"My biggest dealing with adversity came from me having to transfer from Cal, and that's when I really sat down and thought to myself, 'What's going to help me to get back up to where I was and then from there keep moving forward?'" said Erceg, who as a part-time pitcher also boasted a fastball that touched north of 95 mph.

"Part of living life is growing up. I kind of dealt with that adversity from the time I had to transfer from Cal to Menlo, really the first time I had to push the reset button. Now it's just trying to be consistent and moving forward, and that's been helping me."

The Brewers, in the first year of their franchise rebuild and without an impact third baseman in their system, jumped on Erceg after taking Louisville outfielder Corey Ray fifth overall. It took less than a week to sign Erceg to a below-slot deal, and three days later he made his professional debut at Helena.

Erceg hit safely in his first six games and racked up multiple hits in six of his first nine, setting the tone for what would be a quick 26-game stint in the Pioneer League. At the end of his stay he was hitting a team-best .400 with two home runs, 22 runs batted in, an on-base percentage of .452 and an OPS 1.005.

"I'd been keeping in touch with my agent when I was in Helena," Erceg said. "He was saying, 'Keep swinging it well and hopefully you'll get called up soon.' I was never like, 'When am I going to get out of here? This is way too easy.'

"I was having the time of my life in Helena. All my teammates were great and we all had the same mind set and the goal was just to win ballgames."

Bumped up to Wisconsin, which competes in the Midwest League, Erceg was immediately inserted at third base with incumbent Jake Gatewood moving to first. He went 3 for 6 in his debut and has hit in five of his first six games for a .440 average with two doubles, a triple and six RBI on a team loaded with high-ceiling talent.

"First thing that stands out is there's some length to him," manager Matt Erickson said of the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder. "Seems like a functional body, and it looks like there's some room to grow into it, too. He's got huge hands and some grip strength. That was the first impression physically. Then the conversation was good. Lot of eye contact. Competitive in nature.

"I haven't seen him make a lot of plays, but he does have good arm strength across the infield. Little narrow with his base, but the ball sticks in his glove. As far as the bat goes, he did a nice job in Helena numbers-wise, and then you can tell he's got pretty good recognition of the strike zone. Able to hit the ball middle and the other way and recognize some off-speed stuff."

Erceg's no-nonsense approach has caught the eye of Erickson as well as farm director Tom Flanagan, both of whom praised his daily pregame routine and batting practice. Erceg doesn't wear batting gloves, like new roommate Trent Clark, the Brewers' first-round pick in 2015, and he prides himself on being a good teammate.

"People call me a gamer, and I think of myself that way as well," he said. "I've never really tried to do too much or talk about myself. I've tried to stay humble and stay quiet and do my job and be as low-key as possible.

"For me, I just want to go out there and keep it as simple as possible. My approach is just to hit the ball hard. There's nothing else I'm trying to do. If it goes over the fence, it goes over the fence. But my aim is just to take that pitcher's head off and try to hit the ball square up the middle."

Erceg knows there are going to be bumps in the road and promotions aren't going to continue to come every six weeks as his first one did. But he's not afraid of hard work, and he believes the lesson he learned having to move on from Cal has better prepared him to handle adversity.

"I came in knowing it was going to be a grind, and it's definitely been that on top of other things," he said. "But for the most part it's just been what I've been dreaming of. I was never really a good student, so for me to be able to wake up every day with the expectation of just going out and being able to play baseball, it's been awesome.

"I couldn't be happier."