Best and Worst Case Scenarios for the Brewers in Right Field

[Harold Hutchison]

Last year, the team enjoyed sparkling defense, but at a bat-first position, can the Crew find more well-rounded production in 2025?

Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Roster Situation
Sal Frelick was the Crew’s primary right fielder in 2024, with Jackson Chourio and Garrett Mitchell also seeing significant playing time in that spot. In essence, these three young outfielders are almost interchangeable. Frelick, of course, won a Gold Glove, and he also provided competent offense and excellent baserunning.

Fringe roster options Brewer Hicklen, Isaac Collins and Jake Bauers will provide emergency depth at this spot. Especially encouraging campaigns by minor-league signee Jimmy Herron or prospects Tyler Black or Luis Lara could see them get a sliver of playing time, but several things have to go very wrong for Frelick, Chourio and Mitchell not to combine to cover most of the innings in right this season.

The Best-Case Scenario: Frelick Or Chourio Get The Bulk Of Starts
The Brewers have two best-case scenarios in right field, each centered around Frelick and Chourio. Frelick has a combination of bat-to-ball skills, baserunning acumen, and defense that makes him a very valuable player. After losing weight and wearing down in 2024, he came to spring training in much better shape.

Chourio’s a potential franchise player, blessed with a dreamy blend of power and speed. If he’s getting a lot of starts in right field, that would make Frelick the Crew’s fourth outfielder, meaning some top prospect's bat has forced its way into the lineup, leading to lots of playing time for Christian Yelich in left, rather than at DH.

Any scenario wherein Yelich, Frelick, Chourio, Mitchell and Blake Perkins largely share just three spots in the lineup is a sign of good things for the Milwaukee Brewers, since it would mean they have a lot of very good options, leading to a fun debate for fans to have.

The Worst-Case Scenario: Jake Bauers Sees Significant Time In Right Field
Was Bauers horrible in 2024? Not necessarily. He was hot for a bit, then slumped, but still has good OBP skills and defense. The big issue is that his batting average for 2024 was below the Uecker line.

As is the case with left field and center field, the worst-case scenario means that while the Brewers would likely have a competent player in the position, they would have gone far down their depth chart due to injuries and/or ineffectiveness, a sign that the 2025 season will be a disappointing one. If Bauers is getting his at-bats with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, the Brewers will be much more likely to be gunning for a deep playoff run, instead of having to pray the draft lottery goes their way.

Overview
There are a number of ways for right field to go well for the Brewers in 2025, but there are real risks. Mitchell and Yelich have major injury histories to consider. Perkins is hurt right now. If that problem piles up on them, the team could end up stretched thin all the way around from left field to right.

Still, it can go very right. If Luis Lara gets red hot, he could force his way to the majors in 2025. In that case, perhaps Mitchell would slide over. A fully healthy Jeferson Quero could become a key role player in the second half, which would mean him or William Contreras taking up the DH spot more often and the aforementioned chain reaction of abundance for the outfield. Right is probably the outfield position where things are most likely to go wrong for the team this year, but even there, the depth is solid and intriguing.

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[jay87shot]

Meh, Best case Chourio plays 162 games in RF win a gold glove and places in top 3 mvp. Worst case, Yeli and Mitchell get hurt Sal in left, Perk in CF, Chourio in RF has a season like last year (I can't see him being worse than last year at this point. I would think we would have Hicklen or Black play OF before giving Bauers more than a few games in the OF.