Luis Lara's playing time...

[TURBO]

I said this in another thread, but it seems like a decent topic for discussion.

Since we have too many cooks for the kitchen now that Lockridge will be returning shortly, what does this mean for Lara's playing time?  At some point, Frelick will be back as well, and I don't see him being sent down to AAA, probably a short rehab, maybe?

In all seriousness, we might as well send Lara back down to Nashville.  Lockridge being back is probably going to cut Lara's playing time down even more.

There is no sense in having Lara on the roster if he gets 2-3 starts a week, and gets pinch hit for in the later innings in the games he does start.

I was really hoping he'd get regular playing time from the get-go, but that isn't how Murphy does things.

[long ball]

I’m probably in the minority, but I don’t really mind him being the 4th outfielder.

who knows what happens at the deadline. If the Brewers add a complementary bat who plays corner outfield, Lara may get optioned if Frelick returns at some point. 

[adambr2]

I’m super frustrated with Murphy’s handling of Lara. When they called him up, I assumed there was some sort of plan for him to get playing time. Pratt was handled well in that regard. 

Lara, not so much. And it’s not like he’s just been riding the struggle bus. He got some playing time early and did well with it. Since then he’s been jerked around in every OF position and has played sparingly. His ABs are still far too small of a sample to read into at all, but he’s never given any impression of being overmatched at the plate. There’s been some up and downs in the field. You’d expect that right now.

If they really just see him as a 4th outfielder then that’s fine, but I don’t really believe they did this long-term contract with him with that in mind. 

Yesterday was kind of the tip of the iceberg for me. You’ve got a guy who is known for being a platoon bat and you pull Lara to go righty/righty with Vaughn. Had a lefty reliever been brought into the game I would have understood and supported it. Just option Lara if you aren’t even going to give him the opportunity to hit there. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

I mentioned yesterday that I wouldn't have hit for Lara with Vaughn yesterday. But I think it's a little too early to get upset about the way he's being handled; let's see it play out. Vaughn had a couple games where he was swinging the bat well & we had a couple men on, that might've played into going against the platoon advantage there.

I'm not surprised Lara has been moved around. before coming to Milwaukee they were throwing him in RF a little in Nashville. That, and Mitchell's emergence kinda wrote that script.

It'll be an interesting week. There's always the possibility of adding another OF via trade (doubtful IMO). You also hopefully get a better sense of where Frelick is at. As for Lockridge, I saw an AB or two last night & he looked pretty rusty. That's not surprising, but I just wanted to mention it in case some think he may play only a couple games there & return to the roster. Right now is the opportunity for Lara & I agree I'd like to see him get a little more run.

[gregmag]

It doesn’t have to be a problem. You have 18-21 outfield starts each week; let’s call it 20. It’s late in the season with October coming, so guys can use the occasional day off – certainly a historically fragile guy like Mitchell and a guy who seems prone to slip into bad habits like Chourio. With Frelick out, you can go with something like

Chourio 6

Mitchell 6

Lara 4

Lockridge 4

If Lockridge takes time to shake the rust off, finding starts for Lara gets even easier. The immediate problem arises if you want to keep playing Bauers in the outfield. I don’t think his recent offense justifies playing him there over a bunch of guys who can defend rings around him, but that’s me. 

(It would sure be nice to have the DH spot available for some Bauers and Vaughn starts.)

When Frelick gets back, that’s a different conversation. But really, what are the odds of Chourio, Frelick, Lockridge, AND Mitchell staying healthy through the World Series?

[Jim French Stepstool]

25 minutes ago, gregmag said:

It doesn’t have to be a problem. You have 18-21 outfield starts each week; let’s call it 20. It’s late in the season with October coming, so guys can use the occasional day off – certainly a historically fragile guy like Mitchell and a guy who seems prone to slip into bad habits like Chourio. With Frelick out, you can go with something like

Chourio 6

Mitchell 6

Lara 4

Lockridge 4

If Lockridge takes time to shake the rust off, finding starts for Lara gets even easier. The immediate problem arises if you want to keep playing Bauers in the outfield. I don’t think his recent offense justifies playing him there over a bunch of guys who can defend rings around him, but that’s me. 

(It would sure be nice to have the DH spot available for some Bauers and Vaughn starts.)

When Frelick gets back, that’s a different conversation. But really, what are the odds of Chourio, Frelick, Lockridge, AND Mitchell staying healthy through the World Series?

Great point re Bauers in the OF. It hasn't really stung us yet, and hopefully won't. And I feel mostly OK when he's in LF. But Bauers in right scares me a little.

Also a great point re the DH role. Like everyone else I hope Yelich can get hot & maybe his last couple games are a precursor, but a roster sure can flow a lot more freely when you don't have someone that can only DH.

[Matt]

If there's someone whose playing time should take a hit, it's Bauers. He should never see the OF.

[Samurai Bucky]

Lots of interesting thoughts.  It seems like I have seen something similar to:

Lara should play every day, and Vaughn shouldn't hit for him.

Vaughn should play, but he shouldn't hit for Lara and should play for Bauers!

Bauers is raking (or at least he was), so now that he is in a slump, Lara and Vaughn should be playing every day.  DFA Bauers! (nobody has said that... yet)

Here is an honest question:  how many games would it take of every day playing to determine if the young player has earned his spot?  Hypothetically, Lara (or whomever) would play every inning of every game for X games.

[owbc]

He has a good eye at the plate but his batted ball profile is not of the level needed to get consistent starts on an MLB roster. Back to AAA. 

[rickh150]

With Frelick out, there are plenty of days for four or five guys to get playing time in outfield or DH.  I really don't want Mitchell playing 3 consecutive days with his injury history. Yelich can sit a day or two every week. Bauers can play RF/LF once or twice a week to help get Vaughn in there more....Lara is fine with playing 2 games or 3 games in a series and then 1 in another.  

 

[Jopal78]

16 hours ago, owbc said:

He has a good eye at the plate but his batted ball profile is not of the level needed to get consistent starts on an MLB roster. Back to AAA. 

Lara’s batted balls  have had more authority and better expected results than Frelick but in a microscopic sample. 

Neither project as power hitters, but with Lara there is at least a plausible path to more offensive impact than Frelick because Lara appears capable of matching Frelick’s contact skills while batting the ball a little harder and getting it airborne more often.

Coupled with the fact, Lara has a $31 million dollar guarantee while Sal does not, I would imagine Lara gets every chance to claim RF as his with Frelick and Lockridge as the OF backups. 

[TURBO]

1 minute ago, Jopal78 said:

I would imagine Lara gets every chance to claim RF as his with Frelick and Lockridge as the OF backups. 

I hope this happens, but so far, that has not been the case.  Even with Frelick out, Lara has not had a chance to claim anything.  Maybe you mean next year?

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, TURBO said:

I hope this happens, but so far, that has not been the case.  Even with Frelick out, Lara has not had a chance to claim anything.  Maybe you mean next year?

Frelick does not have a time table to return right now. So if Lara can turn in a couple more 3 for 4s while scoring runners from 3rd with less than two outs, Ol’ Sal might find things have changed by the time he gets back. 

[Playing Catch]

I'm not worried about it yet. After the deadline, and all of the most recent injuries/promotions shake out, the Brewers FO and Murph will nail down how they want their rotations to look for the stretch/playoffs, and begin meting out their preferred mix. If that mix doesn't include a lot of Lara, then I suspect they'll send him back to Nashville.

While getting ABs is paramount, we don't have to freak out each time Lara is watching the game next to one of the 3 dozen coaches/vets in the dugout to talk ball for 3 straight hours. He's soaking it all in, and getting paid for it. The Brewers have every incentive to develop him properly, and part of that development for someone so young is to see the game from the top-down sometimes, and to watch how the other players do it.

But based on the eye-test, I think he's my starter in RF right now, playing with Mitchell/Chourio in CF/LF, and he's one tweaked Mitchell hamstring away from taking over CF for the next ten years.

His mastery of the zone is palpable, and it puts real pressure on pitchers to hit their spot. I think it's almost as good as Bauers that way, but pitchers are risking Lara slashing/dashing instead of risking a Bauers blast. I think it puts just as much pressure on the pitcher as Frelick flailing and fouling his way to an effective AB as well. So if he can battle against the best as well as those two, I think the only question is if you are willing to live with BauerPower on the bench or live with his glove in the field.

[Fear The Chorizo]

The longterm solution for this is to either find a way to include Lockridge in a trade package for a reliever/fringe prospect from a team in need of a utility OF in wildcard contention, or be bold and move frelick now as part of a package for an impact arm even if he's injured.  Out of it teams looking for a quick mlb roster upgrade with years left of control would value frelick.  I wouldnt mind seeing him in a tiger or padre uniform....or he would be a perfect add for Boston this offseason (if there is an offseason)

 

I say this not because I dislike Frelick and what he can bring to the brewers when he's healthy and playing well - its because Lara is a much better player than Frelick right now and I want the best players on the field as much as possible at the MLB level when theyre ready.  Mitchell is proving what he can do when he is healthy and playing most days and frelick should not take starts away from him, either.

 

Optioning Lara to make room for lockridge cannot happen - perkins needs to go back down

[cragi]

I'd be surprised seeing Lara sent back, the way he has performed. Frelick would be tough to sell low on right now, but I could see a late return for a backup role followed by an offseason deal.

If there is any reasonable value, I also have been thinking Lockridge in a package. Sell high after putting up a healthy 0.4 WAR in 28 games. We just dont need another RHB long term, and we have guys like Adamczewski and Ragsdale knocking in 2027/2028.

[crossface2311]

I don't think Frelick will be back this year. The fact that they are getting 2nd opinions tells me they are looking for an option that may not be surgical and thus take him out the rest of the year. 

I think it'll be Chourio, Mitchell, Lara, Lockridge the rest of the way with Bauers getting some spot starts(yuck) based on what Murph is doing with the lineup. 

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Frelick has options as well.  I would not eliminate that as an option if Lara continues to rake

[adambr2]

1 hour ago, ClosetBrewerFan said:

Frelick has options as well.  I would not eliminate that as an option if Lara continues to rake

I would caution both Frelick and David Hamilton against thinking either of them is above being optioned.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Vaughn should also only face lefties moving forward.  Let him mash there, but if a lefty starter gets pulled for a RH reliever, pull Vaughn.

easy enough to slide Bauers in from the outfield or off the bench.

i wouldn’t mind what a strict platoon for 4-3/Vaughn could do

[cragi]

By the sound of it, frelick did himself no favors by trying to tough it out and play through injury. One injury turning into a second and so on. I’m guessing we didn’t get to see the real frelick this year. If his resulting trade value is low, i would like to hang onto him at least long enough to turn things around. A healthy frelick to start 2027 is better than lockridge or Perkins. Up his value. He could still be a solid CF for someone and that’s worth something.

[LouisEly]

On 7/25/2026 at 2:00 PM, Matt said:

If there's someone whose playing time should take a hit, it's Bauers. He should never see the OF.

Bauers has the 2nd highest OPS on the team behind only Vaughn and has a .944 OPS over the last seven days.

His bat needs to be in the lineup.

[DonBarclay]

6 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Bauers has the 2nd highest OPS on the team behind only Vaughn and has a .944 OPS over the last seven days.

His bat needs to be in the lineup.

I think Bauers should not see any OF time in the playoffs. For him to be there a couple days a week in the regular season isn’t ideal, but oh well.
 

And if that means Yeli hasn’t shown life by then, he sits. The best lineup currently has Turang, Chourio, Mitchell, Vaughn, Lara, Bauers, Pratt, Contreras, and Ortiz in it. Come playoff time, Hamilton is a pinch runner, Yeli/Sanchez are late game platoon matchup pinch hitters, and Perkins/Sal/Lockridge are pinch runner/defensive replacements after PH situations. 

[shanedog19]

19 minutes ago, DonBarclay said:

I think Bauers should not see any OF time in the playoffs. For him to be there a couple days a week in the regular season isn’t ideal, but oh well.
 

And if that means Yeli hasn’t shown life by then, he sits. The best lineup currently has Turang, Chourio, Mitchell, Vaughn, Lara, Bauers, Pratt, Contreras, and Ortiz in it. Come playoff time, Hamilton is a pinch runner, Yeli/Sanchez are late game platoon matchup pinch hitters, and Perkins/Sal/Lockridge are pinch runner/defensive replacements after PH situations. 

This is the brutally honest and correct answer. Yelich's playing time at DH shouldn't be a given anymore. The team should still look to improve offensively at 3rd base. The lineup last night would struggle to push runs across against the Dodgers in a playoff scenario, which should be the barometer come October.

[adambr2]

32 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Bauers has the 2nd highest OPS on the team behind only Vaughn and has a .944 OPS over the last seven days.

His bat needs to be in the lineup.

He’s also a really bad defender. 

A straight platoon is fine at 1st, both Bauers and Vaughn have done decently enough against same handed pitching this year, but neither is so good at it that it offsets their defensive shortcomings.

There is no need for Bauers to play outfield in any situation that isn’t a blowout or emergency situation. I guess I would be okay with it occasionally on Miz’s days when you expect a minimal number of balls in play with the assumption that he’ll be removed late. 

Other than that, if you want to work them both into the lineup, talk to the 96 wRC+ player who is hogging all the DH starts over Bauers’ 135 and Vaughn’s 143.