The outfield mix in Milwaukee took a major hit earlier this week when the Brewers announced that center fielder Garrett Mitchell will open the season on the shelf due to a hand fracture. Mitchell, who the club selected 20th overall in the 2020 draft, was expected to be the club’s regular starter in center to open the season but now is ticketed for what could be an extended absence, his second in as many years after shoulder surgery wiped out the majority of his 2023 campaign.
Franchise face Christian Yelich and top prospect Jackson Chourio were slated to handle the outfield corners when it appeared that Michell would be the club’s starting center fielder, and Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays that, per manager Pat Murphy, that’s still the plan. Chourio, 20, has made the overwhelming majority of his outfield appearances in center during his time in the minors and has just eight games of minor league experience in right field, but Murphy confirmed that the club will not change course and move Chourio to center while Mitchell is on the shelf. Instead, Murphy suggests (as relayed by Rosiak) that the Brewers will rely on a platoon featuring Sal Frelick and Blake Perkins in center while Mitchell is unavailable, with Frelick getting the lion’s share of playing time against right-handers while Perkins starts against southpaws.
Both Frelick, 24 in April, and Perkins, 27, made their big league debuts with Milwaukee last season and held their own in limited action with the club. The switch-hitting Perkins appeared in 67 games with the club while splitting time between all three outfield spots and slashed a decent .217/.325/.350 (88 wRC+) in 168 trips to the plate. Meanwhile, Frelick drew 223 plate appearances across 57 games with the Brewers and slashed .246/.341/.351 (92 wRC+) during that time while also going a solid 7-for-7 on the basepaths. The youngster took reps at third base this winter to create a possible path to additional playing time outside of the club’s crowded outfield, though it appears those plans are on hold in the wake of Mitchell’s injury.
The plan to platoon the two youngsters makes plenty of sense for Frelick, who posted a paltry 59 wRC+ against southpaws last year. With that being said, Perkins is somewhat of an odd choice for a platoon partner as he also struggled against southpaws last year with a 65 wRC+ from the right-handed side of the batters’ box in the majors. Should Perkins struggle in the role to open the season, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the club pivot to Joey Wiemer as Frelick’s platoon partner in center, as the 25-year-old played strong defense in the outfield last year and batted an impressive .267/.298/.517 in 121 trips to the plate against lefties last year. For now, however, Wiemer is ticketed to begin the season at Triple-A as the club’s primary depth option in the outfield.
Along with his comments on the outfield, Murphy also discussed injuries sustained by a pair of organization’s pitchers. Rosiak relays that right-hander Taylor Clarke is set to undergo meniscus surgery on his right knee, while lefty Robert Gasser will open the season on the injured list due to a bone spur in his left elbow. Clarke, 31 in May, was already expected to open the 2024 campaign on the shelf due to the injury but now faces a significantly longer absence, though no timetable for his return was discussed by Murphy. The right-hander came over to the Brewers in a trade with the Royals back in December on the heels of a difficult 2023 season in Kansas City that saw him post a 5.95 ERA and 5.07 FIP in 58 appearances.
As for Gasser, the left-hander has yet to make his major league debut but was a key component in the trade that sent Josh Hader to the Padres at the 2022 trade deadline. His first full season in Milwaukee went quite well as he pitched to a 3.79 ERA in 135 1/3 innings as a member of the club’s Triple-A rotation, striking out an impressive 28% of batters faced along the way. An intriguing talent that Baseball America placed 98th on their preseason top 100 prospects list this year, Gasser figures to contribute to the club’s rotation at some point this season, but his big league debut will have to wait until he’s healthy. Fortunately, Rosiak notes that the Brewers are currently expecting Gasser’s absence to be a matter of weeks, suggesting that he could still have plenty of time to impact the big league club later in the year if he manages to maintain his performance from last season.
Chourio was raking in ST. Let’s hope that continues into the season.
MLB hitting is all about adjustments. Once they get a book on him. We will see how he handles it.
@Stormintazz
Correct, but he wouldn’t have made it this far by not understanding that he needs to make adjustments. Yes, he will probably falter but I’m not going to dump on a young man’s dream to succeed in the MLB.
Keston Huira made it to the big league and did not adjust and look at him now!!! I’m not dumping on his dream either. But I’m not going to be a rah rah fanboy as a prospect. There are thousands of those who did not adjust. When you do it consistently in the big leagues. Then I will applaud.
Relax, all he said was that he hopes his productive spring training continues into the reg season. Lol.
Start applauding yet?
Answered, just fine
Frelick to the Yankees to play third. Make it happen.
Frelick has looked very good at 3rd in ST. Disappointed they are moving him to cf.
Absolutely nuts that Yelich has 5 years left on that deal. That feels like its from a completely different generation. One of those contracts that feels like it should have came and went a couple years ago already.
Time is linear, don’t know what to tell you.
@briar-patch thatcher
Time doesn’t actually exist. Only in the minds of humans. It’s a social construct.
Try telling to your boss when you come in 3 hours late. LOL!
At least Gasser made the team. I’d hate to read that the Brewers GM cut a Gasser.
Lol what?
They cut a lot of cheese in Wisconsin…
Gasser is the only half way decent part of that Hader deal. Stearns sure did step on his #$@% on that deal.
U don’t know what you’re talking about, Ruiz who was also acquired in the Hader deal was flipped for Contreras so the crew have an all star catcher and ‘23 AAA pitcher of the year (gasser) for a year and a half of Hader, that’s an incredible value and moves like that are why this team is competitive and can beat the cubs/cards with half the payroll, stop trolling..
Ummm… did you forget that Estuery Ruiz was part of the Hader trade? Ruiz became William Contreras…. so I think that Hader trade has worked out fine so far for Milwaukee…. unless you are saying Contreras isn’t even halfway decent…
Payamps also came over in the Contreras trade.
Ruiz solely becoming Contreras is a stretch.
How so? They literally gave up nothing else in that trade…..
True Brewers did not. But could not have been made with third team.
I mean…. ok? But also the Brewers shipped out Ruiz and got Contreras… therefore Ruiz netted them Contreras. This really isnt that hard to follow.
It’s Sal’s time!!! Let’s go!!!
There once was a time that hitting.217 in the show was not “holding your own,”
It is now. Especially if you hit “dingers”. Chicks dig the long ball.
agreed. But at least his obp was respectable. I’m guessing there was other data than just the BA that suggested he held his own.
Thank God that the DL or IL is limitless. Looks like this crew will need an extra bus on the road if they decide to travel.