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Brewers’ Garrett Mitchell To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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TODAY: Mitchell will indeed undergo the shoulder surgery on Tuesday.  Speaking with McCalvy and other reporters today, Murphy reiterated that Mitchell should have a chance to return before the season is over, but a clearer timeline will be established once the surgery has taken place.

JUNE 24: Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell has been rehabbing an oblique strain that’s kept him on the injured list dating back to April, but he now appears to be facing a much larger absence due to a new injury. Manager Pat Murphy tells the Brewers beat that Mitchell suffered a shoulder injury during his rehab stint (link via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy).

The initial diagnosis on Mitchell is that he’s dislodged some of the anchors that were installed in his left shoulder after he underwent surgery to address a subluxation back in April 2023. He’s been recommended for another surgery that would sideline him for an additional eight to ten weeks, but he’ll get a second opinion to confirm that prognosis before any action is taken. Regardless, he won’t be back with Milwaukee any time soon.

Mitchell, 26, was the Brewers’ first-round pick in 2020 and has dealt with myriad injuries throughout his pro career. He’s typically been productive when he’s been able to take the field, hitting .264/.343/.463 with 13 homers and 20 steals in 365 plate appearances from 2021-23. That strong output was buoyed by a whopping .389 average on balls in play and belied a concerning 34.2% strikeout rate, however, leading to some skepticism of Mitchell’s ability to sustain that production. His bat indeed regressed this season prior to injury, as Mitchell hit just .206/.286/.294 with no home runs in 78 plate appearances.

The Brewers have been going with Isaac Collins, Jackson Chourio and Sal Frelick across the outfield on most nights. Collins, selected from the Rockies in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 Draft, has been an unexpected godsend. He’s come up and played 60 games (172 plate appearances) and turned in a .260/.363/.404 slash with four homers and eight steals while taking near-regular reps in left field. Chourio has taken up the mantle in center field, with Frelick playing a plus right field. Chourio has held his own but doesn’t grade nearly as well defensively as Mitchell.

A return for Mitchell could’ve freed Collins to play more in the infield; he has experience at second base in particular but has some briefer forays into the left side of the diamond, which has been an ongoing issue for Milwaukee all season. Instead, it seems likely that Mitchell will now be sidelined into mid-August or perhaps even early September, depending on the outcome of his second opinion with Dr. Neal ElAttrache (and, presumably, the progress of his rehab from the forthcoming procedure).

Mitchell has still only played in 141 major league games, but he’ll cross three years of service time this season while on the 60-day injured list. That’ll put him in position to reach arbitration for the first time in the coming offseason. His lack of time on the field will keep his first-year salary fairly light, and he’s still controlled three more years beyond the current season, so this setback — frustrating as it is for all parties — shouldn’t put Mitchell at any risk of a non-tender.

Brewers Select Daz Cameron, Place Garrett Mitchell On 10-Day IL

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TODAY: As expected, the Brewers officially selected Cameron’s contract and placed Mitchell on the 10-day IL due to a left oblique strain.  Outfielder Blake Perkins (who has yet to place this season due to a shin fracture) was shifted to the 60-day injured list to create space for Cameron the 40-man roster.

APRIL 25: The Brewers intend to select Daz Cameron onto the major league roster, reports Francys Romero. Milwaukee had acquired him from the Orioles for lefty reliever Grant Wolfram a few weeks ago. They’ll need to create a 40-man roster spot to finalize the promotion.

That seems to be tied to Garrett Mitchell’s status. Milwaukee’s center fielder departed tonight’s loss in St. Louis after experiencing tightness in his left side. Manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) that Mitchell will go for an MRI on Saturday. Any kind of oblique strain would lead to an injured list placement.

While the injury opened an outfield spot, Cameron has certainly earned the call. He has been on fire at Triple-A Nashville since the trade. Cameron has connected on five homers while hitting .372 in 10 games. The former supplemental pick and top prospect has a career .253/.341/.436 batting line over seven minor league campaigns.

Cameron has yet to find much success against big league competition. He’s a .201/.263/.330 hitter with 10 homers through 430 major league plate appearances. The 28-year-old appeared in a personal-high 66 games with the A’s a year ago. He hit .200 while striking out at an elevated 27.4% rate. Cameron can play all three outfield spots and provide some right-handed power off the bench.

Switch-hitting Isaac Collins replaced Mitchell in center field after the injury. He has hit .163 with a near-35% strikeout rate over 46 major league plate appearances. Collins had a strong year in Nashville in 2024, batting .273/.386/.475 with 14 longballs and 24 stolen bases. An extended absence for Mitchell could open up his first real opportunity for regular playing time. Milwaukee could also slide Sal Frelick over to center field if they’re comfortable with Christian Yelich taking regular work in left field. They’ve been cautious with Yelich’s defensive workload so far. He has made 20 starts at designated hitter and only five in the outfield.

Brewers Interested In Erick Fedde

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The Brewers are in contact with the White Sox regarding starter Erick Fedde, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. The Cardinals are also known to be involved on Fedde, while he’s one of a number of pitchers in whom the Astros have reportedly shown interest. Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Mets have also checked in with the Sox on Fedde, though it’s not clear how seriously they’re pursuing him.

Fedde is one of the top targets for teams seeking mid-rotation help. The righty enters tonight’s start against the Mariners with 117 2/3 innings of 2.98 ERA ball. He’s running average or better strikeout, walk and ground-ball marks. His .261 average on balls in play will probably come up a bit and push his ERA above 3.00, but the former National looks like a #3 caliber starter.

The Sox signed him to a two-year, $15MM deal after an MVP season in Korea. That was one of the best value pickups of the offseason and should net them a strong prospect return. Fedde is making $7.5MM in each season. Less than $2.6MM remains to be paid, so he’s appealing both to lower-payroll clubs and those that have luxury tax concerns. The Brewers, of course, fit in the former category.

Milwaukee already acquired a back-end starter this month, bringing in Aaron Civale from the Rays. Fedde is a cleaner fit to start a postseason game, though. Even with Civale in the fold, Milwaukee is running something of a patchwork rotation behind Freddy Peralta. While they’ve gotten good work from journeyman Colin Rea and 26-year-old rookie Tobias Myers, Milwaukee could certainly accommodate another starter.

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweeted yesterday that the Brewers were open to the possibility of trading from their big league roster. The Sox are near the bottom of a rebuild and won’t be competitive for multiple seasons. That frees them up to take upside shots on low minors talent, but they could also take a flier on a controllable big leaguer who isn’t playing a significant role. Milwaukee has a lot of outfield talent. FanSided’s Robert Murray wrote yesterday that 25-year-old Garrett Mitchell has come up in some of the Brewers’ trade discussions.

Murray did not report that the Brewers have discussed Mitchell with the White Sox specifically or that Chicago would have interest in him as part of a Fedde deal, to be clear. Speculatively speaking, taking a shot on a player with Mitchell’s physical tools could be intriguing for the White Sox. (That’s also true of Joey Wiemer, a former top prospect who hasn’t produced in the majors but is only 25 himself.) Chicago made a similar roll of the dice in an offseason trade with the D-Backs for Dominic Fletcher.

The Mets weren’t expected to be in the rotation market. As recently as a couple weeks ago, New York was contemplating trading away a starter. That was based on their optimism in Kodai Senga returning from the injured list and Christian Scott coming back from the minors. Instead, Scott suffered a UCL sprain and Senga is likely to miss the rest of the season after straining his calf last night.

That could make the Mets a surprising bidder for rotation help. The Athletic’s Will Sammon indeed writes that New York is likely to at least explore the market. The Mets were reportedly the runner-up for Fedde in free agency last winter, so they were optimistic about the pitcher even before his successful return to the majors.

Brewers Outright Owen Miller

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Today: The Brewers have sent Miller outright to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. He has not previously been outrighted in his career, nor does he have the necessary MLB service time to reject an outright assignment, so he will remain in the organization and report to Nashville.

July 1: The Brewers announced that outfielder Garrett Mitchell has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, with infielder Tyler Black optioned to get Mitchell onto the active roster, moves which were reported to be impending yesterday. To open a 40-man spot, infielder Owen Miller has been designated for assignment.

Miller, 27, has been a Brewer since December of 2022. That month, he came over from the Guardians in a trade that sent cash or a PTBNL to Cleveland. Last year, he acted as a serviceable depth piece by hitting .261/.303/.371 in 90 games for the Brewers around frequent optional assignments, bouncing around to multiple defensive positions.

This year, he has still been in that role but his numbers have dropped off considerably, as he currently sports a slash line of .185/.185/.222 for the year. To be fair, that has come in just 27 plate appearances while being optioned three times this year. In 195 Triple-A appearances this year, he has hit .259/.344/.382. That’s still subpar, leading to a wRC+ of 90, but far more respectable than the small sample of work at the big league level.

His time on the roster may have been nearing its end regardless, as he is in his final option year and will be out of options next year. That will give him less roster flexibility going forward and the Brewers needed a roster spot today, so he’s been nudged out of his spot a bit ahead of schedule.

They will now have a week to trade Miller or pass him through waivers. Perhaps some club in need of some depth will be interested, as Miller can still be stashed in the minors for the rest of this season. He has spent time at all four infield positions as well as the outfield corners, so he can provide a club with all kinds of defensive versatility. He has hit just .239/.287/.345 in his major league career, which translates to a 76 wRC+, but mostly in part-time roles.

He hit .305/.368/.450 in the minors from 2018 to 2021, before reaching the bigs and entering the up-and-down period he has been in for the past few seasons. That perhaps leaves some hope that his bat is better than it has looked recently. He has between two and three years of major league service and can be retained beyond this season if he has a roster spot somewhere.

Brewers To Activate Garrett Mitchell On Monday

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The Brewers are set to welcome outfielder Garrett Mitchell back from the injured list tomorrow, as manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) this afternoon. The Brewers are optioning infielder Tyler Black to the minor leagues to make room for Mitchell on the active roster, although they’ll still need to clear a 40-man roster spot to accommodate his activation from the 60-day IL prior to tomorrow’s game against the Rockies in Colorado.

Mitchell, 25, has been sidelined for the entire 2024 campaign to this point, suffered a fractured finger on his left hand just before Opening Day back in March and has been sidelined ever since. The youngster was Milwaukee’s 1st-round selection in the 2020 draft and made his big league debut back in 2022 with a late-season call-up where he slashed an excellent .311/.373/.459 with a wRC+ of 136 in 28 games. He figured to enter the 2023 season with a strong grip on a starting role in Milwaukee but was sidelined for the majority of the season by shoulder surgery, which limited him to just 73 trips to the plate last year.

Frustrating as those setbacks have been for both the Brewers and Mitchell, the youngster finally appears poised to begin impact the club’s lineup on a more regular basis. The former top-100 prospect has performed excellently in 11 games at the Triple-A level while rehabbing this year, slashing an exceptional .310/.408/.643 in that time. While he can hardly be expected to carry that sort of slash line over to the majors, he could nonetheless provide a shot in the arm for a Brewers club that has slumped offensively in June. As a group, Milwaukee hitters have slashed just .245/.322/.347 with a 92 wRC+ over the last 30 days, just 22nd in the majors and fourth from the bottom in the National League. Thoe struggles have primarily been due to the absence of power from the lineup, as the club’s collective ISO of just .102 is dead last in the big leagues this month, lagging nearly 15 points behind the 29th-place Marlins.

It seems likely that Mitchell will get at least semi-regular at-bats upon his return to the lineup, although adding him to the club’s deep outfield mix will surely require some creativity on the part of Murphy. Franchise face Christian Yelich is sure to continue getting everyday playing time in left field and at DH, and it’s hard to imagine the Brewers cutting into top prospect Jackson Chourio’s playing time now that he’s finally hitting his stride in the majors with a .318/.361/.546 slash line in the month of June. With both outfield corners accounted for, Mitchell’s return likely comes at the expense of some combination of Blake Perkins, Sal Frelick, and Jake Bauers.

Perkins and Frelick have been splitting time in center field this year, though both players have been a touch below average at the plate this year with Perkins struggling particularly badly against southpaws. When not taking Perkins’ place in center field, Frelick has played an outfield corner while Yelich moves to DH, kicking slugger Rhys Hoskins back to his native position of first base and Bauers, who has posted a decent 106 wRC+ in a platoon role, to the bench. The return of Mitchell as another lefty bat in the lineup could lead Frelick to spend occasional time on the infield after working to make himself playable on the dirt this spring while potentially also ticketing Yelich for more frequent DH appearances.

Heading out to Triple-A in order to make room for Mitchell is Black, who was a consensus top-100 prospect entering this season. The corner infielder has appeared in just 11 games for the Brewers this year but didn’t do much with the limited opportunity, slashing just .242/.324/.303 in 37 trips to the plate while splitting time between first base and DH. The 23-year-old figures to return to the minors, where he’s slashed an excellent .275/.375/.483 at the highest level in 53 games this year, to wait for his next opportunity in the majors.

Garrett Mitchell Begins Rehab Assignment

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Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell began a rehab assignment with the team’s Arizona Complex League affiliate tonight, tweets Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It’s the 25-year-old’s first official game action of the 2024 season and opens a 20-day window for his return to the major league roster.

Mitchell broke his left hand late in Spring Training and has been shelved all season. It’s his second consecutive year with a notable early-season injury. The UCLA product missed the vast majority of the 2023 campaign after sustaining a left shoulder subluxation that required surgery. He was out between mid-April and the end of September, only returning for three games at the tail end of the season. Milwaukee left him off their playoff roster, presumably because of concern he’d be rusty after the extended layoff.

After a normal offseason, Mitchell entered camp as the likeliest option to take the center field job. Milwaukee moved Jackson Chourio to the corners and at least considered giving Sal Frelick run at third base. It might be tougher for Mitchell to crack the everyday lineup now.

Frelick has played all of four regular season innings at the hot corner, where Joey Ortiz has established himself as a productive player. Frelick is hitting at a league average level (.254/.333/.328) while playing all three outfield spots. Blake Perkins has earned the majority of the center field work by playing plus defense while turning in a solid .254/.327/.386 slash line over 211 plate appearances. Christian Yelich is having a fantastic season in left field.

Short of optioning Chourio, the Brewers could be hard-pressed to open everyday at-bats in the outfield. The 20-year-old has had a rocky first couple months in the big leagues, hitting .220/.263/.363 over 195 plate appearances. Owner Mark Attanasio nevertheless shot down the idea of demoting Chourio to the minors a couple weeks ago. “I don’t see where he’s going to learn anything at Triple-A,” the owner told reporters in late May (link via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy).

Mitchell is more than five years Chourio’s senior, but he’s perhaps even less established at the MLB level. Thanks to his background as a college draftee and the recent injuries, Mitchell only has 141 big league plate appearances under his belt. His .278/.343/.452 slash line is well above-average, but that’s driven by a .441 batting average on balls in play. While Mitchell’s speed and all-fields approach should translate to a high BABIP, a .441 mark is essentially impossible for any hitter to maintain. He’ll need to cut down on his 38.3% career strikeout rate to compensate for that forthcoming batted ball regression.

In less promising injury news, manager Pat Murphy told reporters this evening that starter Joe Ross had a setback in his recovery from a lower back strain (X link via Todd Rosiak of the Journal-Sentinel). Murphy didn’t provide specifics beyond noting that the right-hander won’t be ready to return next week as initially hoped. Ross has been out since May 21. He made nine starts before hitting the IL, turning in a 4.50 ERA over 42 innings.

Brewers Select Jared Koenig

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The Brewers announced a flurry of roster moves this morning, highlighted by the club selecting the contract of left-hander Jared Koenig. The club also called up outfielder Joey Wiemer. To make room for the duo on the active roster, right-hander JB Bukauskas was placed on the injured list while infielder Andruw Monasterio was optioned to Triple-A, while outfielder Garrett Mitchell was transferred to the 60-day IL to make room for Koenig on the 40-man roster.

Koenig, 30, is getting his second crack at the major leagues after initially making his debut with Oakland back in 2022. A 35th-round pick by the White Sox out of high school in the 2014 draft, the southpaw didn’t receive an offer from the club after being drafted and was never drafted again, instead fashioning a career for himself in independent ball after college. After several years spent in indy ball, Koenig had a strong season with the Frontier League’s Lake Erie Crushers that saw him post a 2.24 ERA in 104 1/3 innings of work with a 30.6% strikeout rate. That performance earned him the attention of the A’s, who signed him to a minor league deal.

The left-hander continued to find success upon being assigned to the Double-A level in 2021, leading to him eventually contributing to the big league club in 2022. Koenig’s long road to the major leagues ended with him pitching 39 1/3 innings for the A’s that saw him post a lackluster 5.72 ERA with a 4.84 FIP, striking out just 12.4% of batters faced. Koenig returned to the minors last year, this time in the Padres organization, before signing on with the Brewers prior to the 2024 campaign.

In Milwaukee, Koenig figures to join the bullpen in a short relief capacity after transitioning out of his previous long relief/starting role last season. He’s looked good in four appearances with Triple-A Nashville, posting a 1.93 ERA while punching out 50% of the batters he’s faced. He’ll try to carry that success over to the big league Brewers, where he’ll join Bryan Hudson and Hoby Milner among the left-handed options at manager Pat Murphy’s disposal.

Coming up from Triple-A alongside Koenig is Wiemer, who appeared in 132 games for the Brewers as a rookie last season. The 25-year-old offers stellar outfield defense (his +8 Outs Above Average placed him in the 93rd percentile of major leaguers last year, per Statcast) and is capable of handling all three positions on the grass, but struggled to a .204/.283/.362 slash line in 410 trips to the plate last year.

While that offense certain left something to be desired, Wiemer was actually well above average against southpaws in 2023, slashing a much stronger .267/.298/.517 with seven home runs and eight doubles in just 121 trips to the plate against lefties. Wiemer figures to provide a right-handed complement to the club’s current center field duo of Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick, while also potentially freeing up Frelick for occasional reps at third base where the club is currently utilizing a combination of Joey Ortiz and Oliver Dunn.

Making room for Wiemer on the active roster is Monasterio, who has struggled in limited playing time this season. He’s gone hitless in nine plate appearances this season despite drawing two walks against just one strikeout, and will now head to Triple-A where he can get more regular playing time. Monasterio made his big league debut with the club last season, slashing .259/.330/.348 in 92 games while splitting time between second and third base.

Meanwhile, Koenig takes the roster spot of Bukauskas, who is headed to the injured list due to a lat strain. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Bukauskas is set to undergo imagining on his shoulder before the Brewers determine a timeline for his return due to the right-hander’s lengthy history of lat injuries. Bukauskas has looked good through six appearances with the Brewers this year, striking out 27.3% of batters faced with just one earned run allowed on a solo homer to this point. Mitchell’s placement on the 60-day IL, meanwhile, hardly comes as a shock given the club does not expect him to return until June as he rehabs from a hand fracture.

Brewers Notes: Mitchell, Williams, Clarke, Wilken

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Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell has been on the injured list all season thus far after suffering a hand fracture during the spring. Reporting in early April suggested he was facing a timeline of about four to six weeks but it may end up being more than that. General manager Matt Arnold informed reporters this week, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that the club is expecting a return around June 1.

It’s the second straight year where Mitchell has been prevented from getting into regular action. He debuted late in 2022 and hit .311/.373/.459 in his first 28 major league games, setting himself up for a prominent role on the 2023 club. But he suffered a left shoulder subluxation in April last year and required surgery, ultimately only playing in 19 games during that campaign.

Mitchell has provided above-average outfield defense and has stolen nine bases in ten tries while hitting .278/.343/.452 in his limited action. That has come with a concerning 38.3% strikeout rate that he and the Brewers would surely love to drop, which likely makes it even more frustrating that he keeps missing out on key development time.

So far this year, the Brewers have been using a regular outfield rotation of Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick. During the spring, the club was experimenting with the idea of moving Frelick to the infield but Mitchell’s injury allowed him to go back to his regular outfield job.

Arnold also relayed that reliever Devin Williams is looking at a return around the All-Star break. That roughly aligns with the three-month estimate given when it was reported in March that the closer had been diagnosed with two stress fractures in his back. Taylor Clarke, meanwhile, is looking at a late May return from the meniscus surgery he underwent on his right knee a few weeks ago.

Today, Arnold provided an unfortunate update about prospect Brock Wilken, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Wilken was playing for Double-A Biloxi last night when he was hit in the face by a pitch, suffering multiple fractures but no concussion. Once the swelling subsides, Wilken will likely undergo surgery.

Wilken, who turns 22 in June, was the club’s first-round pick last year. Selected 18th overall, the Brewers sent the third baseman through the Complex League, High-A and Double-A last year after drafting him. Baseball America ranked him as the club’s #10 prospect coming into this year while FanGraphs had him at #5.

This news is obviously a bit scary but Arnold says the long-term prognosis is good. Given his potential importance to the club’s future, the Brewers will likely be cautious in getting Wilken back onto the field.

Brewers Notes: Megill, Uribe, Quero, Mitchell

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Brewers right-hander Trevor Megill was placed on the 7-day concussion list this morning, the team announced. Right-hander JB Bukauskas is up from Triple-A Nashville to take his spot on the roster. The injury occurred in bizarre and frightening fashion, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (X link) Megill contracted food poisoning last weekend and in the aftermath felt light-headed, fainted and wound up suffering a concussion when his 6’8″ frame dropped to the ground.

It’s another tough loss for a Milwaukee bullpen that’s without closer Devin Williams for at least the next couple months. Megill, 30, was an unheralded acquisition by the Brewers last offseason who’s tossed 36 2/3 innings with a 3.44 ERA with a massive 35% strikeout rate against a solid 8.3% walk rate. With Williams sidelined, Megill, Joel Payamps and young flamethrower Abner Uribe were slated for significant late-inning work in first-year skipper Pat Murphy’s bullpen.

The Brewers didn’t provide a timetable for Megill’s return, which is plenty understandable given the nature of his injury. Concussions are difficult to predict, and the severity can vary greatly. Even ostensibly minor concussions can have lingering effects that impact a player for extended periods of time.

In Bukauskas, the Brewers will turn a bullpen spot over to a 27-year-old former top prospect whom they acquired off waivers early in the 2023 season. He pitched six shutout innings for Milwaukee last year but carries a 5.92 ERA in a tiny sample of 24 1/3 big league innings. Rough as that may look, Bukauskas also logged a 2.92 ERA, 26.8% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate in 37 Triple-A frames for the Brewers last year, and he fanned 16 of his 41 spring opponents (39%) en route to a 3.72 ERA. There’s plenty of uncertainty in the final few spots of the Brewer bullpen, so it stands to reason that with a strong first impression, Bukauskas could potentially carve out a role for himself. He’s controllable for another five seasons if he’s able to do so.

Megill’s injury will only further open the door for the 23-year-old Uribe to establish himself as a viable high-leverage option. He’s 3-for-3 in save opportunities on the young season and, dating back to last year’s MLB debut, carries a 1.87 ERA and 29.9% strikeout rate in 33 2/3 innings. Command is an issue for Uribe, who’s walked 15.3% of his opponents, plunked a hitter and unleashed six wild pitches in his young career. However, he’s also averaged 99.4 mph on his blazing sinker and induced grounders at a hearty 53.4% clip, showing clear late-inning promise.

The Journal-Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak spoke to Uribe and his teammates about the impressive young righty’s rise to meaningful late-inning work. “I live for it,” Uribe said of pitching in adrenaline-charged scenarios like the save situations he’s encountered thus far. Murphy tells Rosiak he’s been impressed with the right-hander’s demeanor despite his youth, noting that Uribe “has learned so far and really kept his emotions under control and focused on his task.”

Payamps has picked up one save in the Brewers’ first four wins of the year as well, but it seems Uribe will be the preferred option for ninth-inning work while Williams and Megill mend. Presumably, when Williams is able to return, Uribe will slide back down into a setup role. It’s always possible the command struggles will flare up and lead to a particularly rough patch, but at least this far in his young career, Uribe looks the part of a legitimate late-inning arm who can stick at the MLB level. If that’s indeed the case, Milwaukee can control him all the way through the 2029 season and he won’t be arb-eligible until after the 2026 campaign.

Elsewhere in the organization, the Brew Crew is still in the early stages of navigating a shoulder injury for touted catching prospect Jeferson Quero. The 21-year-old suffered the injury in Nashville’s season opener, and GM Matt Arnold this week announced that Quero has been diagnosed with a subluxation in his right shoulder (link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). He’s had one MRI and is receiving a second opinion to determine the severity of the issue and get a clear sense of his rehab plan. The Brewers haven’t announced a timetable for his return or whether surgery might be required.

Quero is widely regarded not only as one of the Brewers’ best prospects but the best prospects in all of baseball, landing on top-100 lists at The Athletic (No. 12), ESPN (No. 32), Baseball America (No. 33), MLB.com (No. 35), Baseball Prospectus (No. 38) and FanGraphs (No. 40). The Athletic’s Keith Law calls Quero a likely plus defender behind the plate with the potential for 20-homer power during his prime years.

Quero spent the 2023 season as one of the youngest players in Double-A but more than held his own against older, more advanced competition. In 381 plate appearances, he slashed .262/.339/.440 (107 wRC+) with an impressive 10% walk rate against a lower-than-average 17.8% strikeout rate.

In better injury news, McCalvy tweets that outfielder Garrett Mitchell is on a timeline of four to six weeks to return from the fractured finger in his left hand, which is thus far healing as expected. The 25-year-old has gotten brief looks in the outfield in each of the past two seasons, posting a combined .278/.343/.452 slash (119 wRC+) with five homers and nine steals. It’s very strong production, but those numbers are also propped up by a wildly unsustainable .441 average on balls in play and mask a more ominous 38.3% strikeout rate. It’s only 141 plate appearances, but Mitchell will eventually need to significantly cut back on the strikeouts if he’s to carve out a long-term role in Milwaukee’s outfield.

Garrett Mitchell To Begin Season On IL Due To Hand Fracture

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Brewers manager Pat Murphy revealed to reporters that outfielder Garrett Mitchell has a fracture in his left hand and will begin the season on the injured list. Video of Murphy’s comments was relayed by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on X. Mitchell will be seeking more information from a specialist to establish a timeline. Hogg had relayed earlier that Mitchell was getting an X-ray due to some swelling after getting jammed on a swing.

It’s a tough blow for the Brewers and a poorly-timed one as well, with Opening Day on Thursday. Mitchell was on a path to open the season as the club’s everyday center fielder, with Hogg having recently relayed that Jackson Chourio was anticipated spending more time in right field. Christian Yelich projects as the club’s everyday left fielder.

As for how the Brewers proceed, Murphy laid out several possibilities in the video linked above. He mentioned that the club could make Sal Frelick a full-time outfielder, give a spot to Eric Haase or bring in a player from outside the organization.

Frelick has spent his entire professional career as an outfielder but has been attempting a move to the infield this spring, primarily third base. If he were to move back to the outfield, that would open up more playing time at the hot corner for guys like Joey Ortiz and Andruw Monasterio.

As for Haase, he has seemed blocked for playing time but is having a monster spring. He signed with the club in December to be the backup catcher behind William Contreras, but the Brewers later added Gary Sánchez. That seemed to push Haase, who is out of options, to third on the catching depth chart. But he has been tearing the cover off the ball in camp with a current line of .378/.452/.784.

Haase has a bit of corner outfield experience, 356 2/3 innings over the past three years. Perhaps that could allow the Brewers to carry him on the roster as a third catcher/corner outfielder/designated hitter. Joey Wiemer, Blake Perkins and Chris Roller are also outfielders on the roster who could merit consideration.

There are many moving parts and it’s possible that further roster moves might impact the decision making. As clubs around the league are finalizing their rosters before starting their seasons, some players are being released, opting out or being designated for assignment. Perhaps that will give the Brewers an opportunity to add someone not currently on the roster into the mix.

Mitchell debuted in 2022 with an exciting line of .311/.373/.459 in his first 68 plate appearances but most of his 2023 was wiped out by shoulder surgery, limiting him to just 73 more plate appearances in that season. He’s hit a combined .278/.343/.452 but with a concerning strikeout rate of 38.3%. He’s now facing another injury absence, though the length of it won’t be determined until he finds out more information about his hand.

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