How Port Jefferson's Brian Fitzpatrick flipped a switch to become a reliever with Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers' Brian Fitzpatrick reacts after walking back to the dugout after getting the third out in the 8th inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 30, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Credit: Getty Images/John Fisher
Brian Fitzpatrick’s MLB career turned 12 days old Sunday, but the magnitude of reaching the big leagues has not fully sunk in.
The newest Brewer, a 6-7 lefthanded reliever from Port Jefferson, is solely focused on helping Milwaukee in any way.
Sure, there have been moments when he’s had to pinch himself, such as visiting road ballparks such as St. Louis’ Busch Stadium or seeing the interlocking “NY” on the opposing caps with the Yankees in town (even though he grew up a Mets fan).
But regardless of when it settles in, Fitzpatrick, 25, is a big-leaguer. He has tasted success — allowing one run in 3 2⁄3 innings — since debuting in Milwaukee on April 29, nearly four years after the Brewers selected him in the 10th round (312th overall) in 2022. But his journey to get here was neither seamless nor guaranteed.
“I don’t know if there was a moment where it was like, ‘Oh, this is really close,’ ” Fitzpatrick told Newsday on Friday in a phone interview before the start of the Brewers-Yankees series in Milwaukee (in which he did not appear). “Because until it happened, it always felt pretty far away, and I felt like that was by design on my part. I never wanted to feel like, ‘Oh, this should happen’ or ‘Why have I not received this yet?’
“I prayed about it, and I told myself in God’s good time, it’ll make itself manifestThankfully, it was a lot of answered prayers . . . A lot of time in between when I first dreamed of this happening and it actually happening.
It was well worth the wait.”
Tough breaks
St. Anthony's Brian Fitzpatrick pitches against Chaminade in 2018. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Fitzpatrick, a St. Anthony’s High School alum, suffered a UCL tear three games into his 2019 freshman season at Rutgers University. He returned in 2021, a season in which he said he “underperformed” and “didn’t work as hard as I should’ve.”
He credited Rutgers coach Steve Owens for delivering the harsh truth in a conversation that changed his career.
“He pretty much said, ‘What’s your goal?’ ” Fitzpatrick recalled. “I said, ‘To make it to the big leagues.’ And he was like, ‘All right, I’m a scout. Sell me on yourself.’ I said I had a good fastball, and he agreed with that.
“He was like, ‘Your slider is not great and your changeup’s not in the zone. Pro hitters don’t swing at balls. Your goal should be to go to the Cape [Cod Baseball League] and not give up a run this summer because you’re good enough to do that. It’s all about if you want to do it.’”
Fitzpatrick broke onto MLB radars after shining in Cape Cod, the nation’s premier collegiate summer league, in 2021. He had a 2.37 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP and 24 strikeouts in 19 innings for the league champion Brewster Whitecaps, who also had Angels shortstop Zach Neto and the Yankees’ Spencer Jones on the roster.
But the tough injury luck continued.
Fitzpatrick suffered a broken foot twice his senior year, though he worked his way back to cap his Rutgers career with a 3-1 record in six starts in 2022. He returned to Brewster that summer, building his draft stock with 19 scoreless innings. But around the time Milwaukee selected him, he suffered a stretched musculocutaneous nerve, a key nerve in the upper limb that helps operate the elbow and forearm.
Fitzpatrick pitched only 30 2⁄3 minor-league innings in 2023, and the Brewers sent him to Australia that November to get more innings under his belt with the Brisbane Bandits. He performed well (a 3.74 ERA in 43 1⁄3 innings), recognizing it was “a make-or-break moment” for his career.
“It’s either I go there and do well or I go there and I not do well and who knows where I am today?” he said. “So it was a really important piece of my journey.”
After a mostly healthy, successful 2024 with High-A Wisconsin, Fitzpatrick spent the entire offseason working out at Cressey Sports Performance in Florida, which he also did for five weeks after Australia. He followed Eric Cressey’s programming and started to throw harder and get stronger, setting the foundation for a meteoric rise in 2025.
Fitzpatrick started last year in High-A and ended it with Triple-A Nashville. He wasn’t in big-league camp in spring training but made the most of the action he got, throwing 6 2⁄3 scoreless innings. He tore through Triple-A to start this season, tossing 10 1⁄3 scoreless innings before the call-up.
’Another gift from this kid’
Fitzpatrick grew up in an ultra-athletic family.
His father, John, played basketball for the University at Buffalo. He has four older sisters — his “four heroes” — who were Division I athletes: Katelyn (Cornell) and Kelly (Buffalo) played volleyball and Julie (Cornell) and Megan (Indiana) rowed crew.
John knew that Brian could be special from a young age, recalling how he threw harder than other kids. But he specifically took note of his maturity the past couple years, when he committed to refine his body and grew into a “well-grounded, hard-working young man.”
Around 20 family members and friends attended Brian’s debut, and John, along with Brian’s mom, Mary, traveled to St. Louis for the May 4-6 series. The Port Jefferson residents are planning a trip to Wrigley Field for the May 18-20 series.
John, a former financial adviser who retired from Morgan Stanley last Dec. 1, said a friend told him: “Wow, your son gave you quite a retirement present.”
To which John replied, “Yeah, he sure did. It’s just another gift from this kid.”
When the Fitzpatrick contingent gathered on the field after his debut, a fan called out to Brian for an autograph, saying it was her son’s birthday. Brian immediately walked over.
That fan, Emily Klos, commented on Brian’s next Instagram post: “You signed my son’s hat yesterday and made his birthday. Absolutely a class act yesterday and can’t wait to see what you have in store!”
John, of course, dreamed of his son becoming a big-leaguer. But his off-the-field impact is what truly has filled him with pride.
“He’s a really good human being,” John said. “Everywhere he’s played, the coaches love him. We didn’t learn this until we got to Milwaukee and someone with Milwaukee told us that after he came out of the coach’s office, the whole team gave him a standing ovation.
“You’re a pretty good teammate if your teammates do that for you, I think. That speaks volumes for a guy you play with, in my opinion.
“And he’s a better son.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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