Is 2026 a Make-or-Break Season for Brewers' Garrett Mitchell?

[Michael Trzinski]

Remember Garrett Mitchell?

That question sounds glib, and almost preposterous. Seriously, though: it's not crazy to ask whether even intense Brewers fans think about Mitchell, these days. He was selected as the 20^th overall pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2020 MLB Draft, out of UCLA. After rocketing through just 132 games at three levels in the minors over two seasons, Mitchell made his big-league debut in August 2022. He started slowly, collecting just four hits in his first 29 at-bats. Then he caught fire, and batted a Hurricane Hazle-like .469/.500/.625 the rest of the way, to finish the year at .311/.373/.459 across 61 at-bats. The Brewers thought they finally had a star center fielder who could anchor the Milwaukee outfield for the next 10 years.

Not so fast, sports fans. Mitchell injured his left shoulder sliding into third base in a mid-April 2023 contest against Seattle, resulting in surgery for a torn labrum. His truncated season lasted all of 19 major-league games and eight minor-league rehab contests.

Misfortune struck early in 2024, as Mitchell suffered a fractured left index finger in a late-March ramp-up ahead of Opening Day. He sat out 10 weeks before a brief rehab stint, and returned to the Brewers on July 1. Mitchell played 69 games and batted .255/.342/.469 over 196 at-bats. He showed glimpses of power and speed, slamming eight round-trippers while swiping 11 bags in 15 attempts.

Mitchell was healthy to start the 2025 season, but suffered a strained left oblique just 25 games into the season. Two months later, he injured his left shoulder again while playing in a rehab game at Nashville. That mishap required another shoulder surgery—his second in three years. Mitchell played in only those 25 contests and batted .206/.286/.294 in 68 at-bats.

Mitchell was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in the third grade, but has been dealing with the disease successfully since. He suffered leg injuries in 2019 and 2021, but seems to have gotten past those. The left shoulder issue could continue to be a concern, though.

Per MLB.com, Mitchell had perhaps the best set of tools of all the players in the 2020 draft class. Overall, his grade was 55, which is considered above-average, as was his ‘hit’ tool. Defensively, his ‘arm’ and ‘field’ tools were both graded at 60, which is considered a plus tool. His 'running' tool was graded at 70, which is considered plus-plus.

In short, Mitchell’s talent is not in question, and never has been. His health will determine whether he realizes his potential. Right now, he's on the bubble to even make the Opening Day roster. If he can stay on the field and flash his superior skills, he would make the decision for Brewers management very interesting.

Is there room on the roster for Mitchell, Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Christian Yelich, Isaac Collins, and Blake Perkins? It would take a lot of finagling, but it would be nice to see the Brewers' outfield live up to the potential that was predicted for them a few short years ago. The others are in various stages of having done so, or still have time to do so. For Mitchell, that time is running short.

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What do you think about Garrett Mitchell? Will he make the Opening Day roster and if so, can he reclaim his starting job? Feel free to start the conversation in the comments section below.

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[JohnBriggs12]

How valid is a 6 year old scouting report on a player after he's missed more games than he's played in the time since.  Meanwhile most his contemporaries have been competing regularly at the highest levels of the game.  In baseball, you are almost never stagnant.  You are either getting better or you're getting worse.  When you hardly ever play, chances are great that your skills are not at the level they once were.  Mitchell looks like a super athlete, but hitting a baseball is a unique skill that takes constant work.  Personally, I would have parted with him already but I understand they figure it's worth the gamble keeping him going into this season.  But I sure hope they don't hesitate pulling the plug if he starts out 2026 like he started 2025 

[Underachiever]

Hard to call this a make or break year. Mitchell’s already broken.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

If Mitchell shows he is healthy in spring, I don't see much of a question really.  I'd take him over Perkins.  Perkins has two options left so can be sent to the minors and await an opportunity.  The talent level is no where close and Mitchell's defense is comparable to Perkins, though maybe slightly less.

[wallus]

Yes, if he doesn't produce and stay on the field the team will non tender him for 2027.

[Brian]

1 hour ago, ClosetBrewerFan said:

If Mitchell shows he is healthy in spring, I don't see much of a question really.  I'd take him over Perkins.  Perkins has two options left so can be sent to the minors and await an opportunity.  The talent level is no where close and Mitchell's defense is comparable to Perkins, though maybe slightly less.

If Mitchell can stay healthy I'd take him over Collins also.  Type 1 diabetes at 8 years old is a rough deal with constant monitoring and insulin injections. 

[jay87shot]

I still have some faith in Mitchell's abilities. The problem is he will likely never stay healthy long enough to be a trusted long term piece. I agree with most of you who would rather have him as the 4th OF over Perkins. However the switch hitting end of Perkins does split better with Collins. I doubt they would keep Lockridge as a 5th OF with Yeli and Bauers as OF options.

Perkins should have a little trade value where Mitchell likely doesn't have any. That added to Mitchell's still potential upside and depth to sustain an injury do give Mitchell the edge if healthy in my book.

[duewizard]

If healthy, keep him over Perkins. However, this is 100% his last chance. He was bad when healthy last year and is going to start making arbitration money. 

Another shoulder injury would be the end of his time in Milwaukee though.

[Michael Trzinski]

14 hours ago, JohnBriggs12 said:

How valid is a 6 year old scouting report on a player after he's missed more games than he's played in the time since.  

That was meant more to say how good he 'was,' than how good he is now. He had the elite tools, which have eroded somewhat. He is still a borderline #3 or #4 OF. He needs to stay healthy this year to prove it.

[Robert The Bruce]

Garrett Mitchell is in danger of becoming the best player you never heard of because he couldn't stay out of the trainer's room.  His potential is worth trying again on a modest salary.  He's under team control until 2028.  He has to earn his way but if healthy, he will.

 

[Turning2]

Dude has had some crazy bad luck. Wonder how he managed to stay mostly healthy through all his other levels of ball. The thought from various posts the past year seems to be that Type 1 leads to being more fragile, less durable. If that is medically accurate, one assumes the Brewers would have known that prior to drafting him. Maybe they gambled on his health holding up regardless. 

[Turning2]

When I reemerged from a decade's long disinterest / boycott of MLB, the Brewers had just traded Hader. The stars on the horizon I kept hearing about were Tyler Black and Mitchell. Still waiting for either to live up to the hype, and expecting both to wash out.

[sveumrules]

24 minutes ago, Turning2 said:

When I reemerged from a decade's long disinterest / boycott of MLB, the Brewers had just traded Hader. The stars on the horizon I kept hearing about were Tyler Black and Mitchell. Still waiting for either to live up to the hype, and expecting both to wash out.

When Hader was traded at the deadline in 2022 Chourio had already emerged as more or less the biggest star on the horizon after laying waste to the Carolina League at age 18.

Here's how MLB ordered them for 2023...

#1 Chourio (6.9 WAR so far)
#2 Frelick (6.2 WAR)
#3 Wiemer (0.6 WAR)
#4 Mitchell (3.3 WAR)
#5 Turang (6.8 WAR)
#6 Quero (yet to debut)
#7 Misio (0.7 rWAR)
#8 Black (-0.1 WAR)
#9 Brown Jr. (yet to reach AAA)
#10 Gasser (0.7 rWAR)
#12 Uribe (3.2 rWAR)
#26 Henderson (1.2 rWAR)

That's five core guys (Jackson, Sal, Brice, Jacob, Abner), three yet to be determined (Logan, Robert, Jeferson), one guy who's been effective when healthy (Garrett), and three looking like busts (Joey, Tyler, Eric).

Pretty hard to complain about the overall results even with Mitchell and Black not fulfilling their hype.

[Outlander]

Would love to see one healthy full season of Mitchell someday whether with the Brewers or somebody else. WIll see if that ever happens. Would keep Mitchell around though as the talent level is still high and think he will be a difference maker in the playoffs for somebody in the future.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Below is Mitchell's injury history. I'm not sure how diabetes could make a knee injury or fractured finger more likely.  Even shoulder/muscle injuries seem like a stretch to me. I have diabetes and the main issue is recovery time, but not really more frequent injuries. Poor circulation, results in slower healing. Sure, if you are unhealthy, you may risk more falls due to low blood sugar, but that isnt his problem. He is in peak athletic condition.  I think he is just unlucky.  But if he does get injured, its going to take him much longer to recover than the typical athlete.

2021: Left knee injury, sidelined for nearly two months.
2022: Oblique issue.
2023: Played only 16 games before injuring his left shoulder.
2024: Fractured left index finger during Spring Training.
2025: Left oblique strain followed by shoulder surgery.

[Brian]

10 hours ago, Robert The Bruce said:

Garrett Mitchell is in danger of becoming the best player you never heard of because he couldn't stay out of the trainer's room.  His potential is worth trying again on a modest salary.  He's under team control until 2028.  He has to earn his way but if healthy, he will.

 

Garrett Mitchell's sprint speed is listed as around \(29.0\) to \(30.0\) feet per second, which is considered elite in baseball.  His sprint speed is measured in feet per second and not a rating out of \(100\).

[endaround]

Mitchell has three options left.  Hard not to see the Brewers at least trying to see if he can stay healthy for some time in AAA before having him earn another year of service time on the MLB IL all season.

[Jim French Stepstool]

The fortunate thing here is that your two best CFs (Mitchell & Perkins) have options remaining. It would suck if Mitchell had a fantastic spring, Perkins was out of options & you dealt him, and three weeks later Mitchell was back on the IL. So they can just bide their time for now & see how things look in Feb & March.

As to the original question, I'd say yeah. It does seem to be sort of a make-or-break year for him AFA being able to stay on the field, whether it's here or in Nashville.

[sveumrules]

Mitchell staying healthy enough to put up even like three hundred some PA at his career levels, plus Ortiz bouncing back closer to the midpoint between his 105 wRC+ from 2024 and 67 wRC+ from last year would pretty much cover for the likely regression incoming from Collins (122 wRC+) & Vaughn (142 wRC+) who could each lose twenty some points off their surprising 2025 marks.

You get that plus breakout seasons from Contreras & Chourio? Whoo boy, could be some kind of fun summer.

[Brian]

On 12/3/2025 at 11:09 AM, Turning2 said:

Dude has had some crazy bad luck. Wonder how he managed to stay mostly healthy through all his other levels of ball. The thought from various posts the past year seems to be that Type 1 leads to being more fragile, less durable. If that is medically accurate, one assumes the Brewers would have known that prior to drafting him. Maybe they gambled on his health holding up regardless. 

Garrett's mom (Shannon) said:

“As a kid he had excessive urination, thirst, hunger, some mood changes, a little bit of weight loss,” Antony said. “When we took him in, we thought maybe it was a UTI or something like that? And then he was diagnosed.

“I just remember that night in the hospital, him and his mom (Shannon) and I. I knew enough about (Type I Diabetes), but at the same time it was like, ‘How normal does he get to be?’ Story below.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/garrett-mitchell-is-a-unique-talent-in-many-ways/ 

 

[BrewerFan]

On 12/2/2025 at 6:58 PM, JohnBriggs12 said:

How valid is a 6 year old scouting report on a player after he's missed more games than he's played in the time since. 

Perfectly valid when you're writing an article starting at when he was drafted and working forward to answer the question posed in the article, "Is 2026 a make or break season for Garrett Mitchell." 

But aside from that, which of those tools are not applicable to him?

If the majority of the article hadn't' been about his injury history, it'd be out of place, but that's what it was about. 

 

On 12/4/2025 at 8:55 AM, endaround said:

Mitchell has three options left.  Hard not to see the Brewers at least trying to see if he can stay healthy for some time in AAA before having him earn another year of service time on the MLB IL all season.

He's never shown the ability to stay healthy. I wouldn't waste him in AAA if he can this year. If he can stay healthy and he's productive... great. Use him and then trade him.