Last September the Milwaukee Brewers called up outfield prospect Garrett Mitchell. In a months worth of Major League action he proved clutch in a few key moments including a walk off hit against the Yankees. He also hit for a .312 batting average managed eight stolen bases. He did have a high strikeout rate (41%), but overall that’s a pretty good month for a rookie. Despite his success last year, in regards to the upcoming season, Mitchell says “I still have something to prove”.
The full quote came from the Brewers Hot Stove & Cold Brews fan event. Mitchell was asked about the possibility of being in center field on opening day. Here is his full response.
“Obviously, that’s the goal. I’m going to go out there, work my butt off and see what happens. I still have something to prove. I had a good last month of the year. But it’s a new year. You have to flip the page and move forward.”
Will Garrett Mitchell be in the outfield on opening day for the Brewers?
As the Brewers 40-man roster currently stands, Garrett Mitchell, Tyrone Taylor, and Blake Perkins all have recent experience as center fielders. Perkins has not yet made his MLB debut, so it would take an incredible spring training from him in order to earn the opportunity to start on opening day. Taylor played the position quite a bit last year, but during the last month of the 2022 season Mitchell got most of the starts.
The other two outfielders on the Brewer roster are Christian Yelich and Jesse Winker. Winker figures to play quite a bit as the designated hitter in 2023. This opens up another spot in the outfield, in particular right field. Over the years, Taylor has played 70 games in right field for the Brewers, so it’s possible that on opening day we see both Mitchell and Taylor in the outfield together.
Top prospects in the minor leagues and currently not members of the Brewers 40-man roster are outfielders Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer. Both players have been invited to Major League camp this year and could make their MLB debuts in 2023. A hot spring could result in an opening day roster spot for either one of them, but as it stands today it looks like they will be starting the year off in Triple-A.
It should be fun to see how this group of Brewers outfielders changes over the course of the 2023 season. There is a good mixture of veteran players and young/exciting prospects. That is a good combination to have and Garrett Mitchell figures to get the first crack at extended playing time.
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