What is the Milwaukee Brewers' Best Defensive Lineup for October?

[Harold Hutchison]

Image courtesy of Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

October baseball isn't far away, and the Brewers are likely to be in the thick of it again. One thing fueling their MLB-best record of 81-50 after their series victory over visitors from the South this weekend: their shutdown defense. They always catch the ball well; this year is no exception.

Yet, the team isn't elite in the field this season, as they've been in the past. Their .710 Defensive Efficiency (outs per ball in play) ranks eighth in the big leagues. How can the Brewers double down on this strength in October and become their most suffocating selves on defense? It’s not so hard, when you think about it. Let’s go over each of the positions in question.

Catcher: William Contreras
Contreras was a bat-first catcher when he was acquired by the Brewers, after David Stearns inserted himself into negotiations between Atlanta and Oakland. That's no longer the case. Contreras (like Jonathan Lucroy, Omar Narvaez and Victor Caratini before him) has emerged as a very solid defensive backstop. This year, he’s thrown out 39% of would-be basestealers. This was an easy choice.

First Base: Jake Bauers
Bauers has gotten attention for his massive offensive breakout in 2026, but in his two previous seasons with Milwaukee, he also provided above-average defense at first base with his athleticism, giving him a clear edge over Andrew Vaughn on the defensive side of the ledger. He's not a defensive ace there, at this point, but he doesn't hurt you.

Second Base: Brice Turang
He’s got a Gold Glove and Platinum Glove from 2024, and is still arguably the best defender among Brewers infielders. This one doesn't take much hand-wringing or worrying. Turang anchors this defense at its best.

Shortstop: Cooper Pratt
The rookie has hardware from the minors (a Minor League Gold Glove for the 2024 season), but he’s also made only two errors in 46 games. Any ball hit in his vicinity is pretty much a guaranteed out. The smoothness of his transition to the majors at a young age and a demanding position has been profoundly impressive.

Third Base: Joey Ortiz
Ortiz has come alive since he began platooning with David Hamilton at the hot corner. He’s got a slight edge in terms of defense, although he and Hamilton are tied for the team lead in errors at eight apiece. As we all know, defense is about much more than error rates; Ortiz shows good range and a strong arm at the hot corner.

Left Field: Jackson Chourio
Chourio has improved at tracking and getting jumps on fly balls, and his arm has become more of a weapon this season, to boot. Considering that he competently held down center field for the Brewers in 2025, he’s likely the best choice for left field, particularly given whom they have in center and right.

Center Field: Luis Lara
The Brewers obviously see Lara as a key part of the future. They committed $31 million over seven years, and could end up paying him more than double that amount. His rookie season has already delivered some highlight-reel catches, and he’s also shown quite the arm in just 34 games, gunning down two runners with no errors. Pitchers can feel very good knowing Lara has their back.

Right Field: Sal Frelick
Frelick won a Gold Glove in 2024, and if he proves he's fully healthy again before the start of the postseason, he should be that caliber of defender once more. This year, playing through a shoulder malady, he was both more tentative in pursuit of difficult fly balls and much less able to control the running game with his arm. If a prolonged stint on the IL fixes that, though, he's the best right fielder on the team.

Overview
This lineup maximizes the Brewers defense, but have no fear, none of these guys are automatic outs at the plate, either. This exact lineup could take the field a few times, but it's more likely that Garrett Mitchell holds onto the bulk of the playing time in center. Lara might soak up Frelick's time in right, unless and until the older of the two diminutive stars proves his shoulder trouble is behind him. In any case, this is how the team can best stifle offense when opponents put the ball in play. Of course, they also benefit hugely when Jacob Misiorowski or Kyle Harrison is on the mound, because then, they don't have as many balls in play to worry about, anyway.

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[wiguy94]

Mitchell in CF is the Brewers best defensive setup.

[Harold Hutchison]

Mitchell's not bad, but Lara is something special out there on defense. Prior to 2026, I saw him as Blake Perkins with a higher offensive floor. If the power surge is for real, though... then he becomes a potential leadoff option.

But defensively, I think Lara is the best. The Brewers certainly seem willing to commit big bucks to him over seven years. He's not replacing Frelick in right, he's going to anchor the outfield defense, and there's a play or two every day that shows why.

[wiguy94]

5 minutes ago, Harold Hutchison said:

Mitchell's not bad, but Lara is something special out there on defense. Prior to 2026, I saw him as Blake Perkins with a higher offensive floor. If the power surge is for real, though... then he becomes a potential leadoff option.

But defensively, I think Lara is the best. The Brewers certainly seem willing to commit big bucks to him over seven years. He's not replacing Frelick in right, he's going to anchor the outfield defense, and there's a play or two every day that shows why.

Yet Lara has never played CF over Mitchell. Lara has made some nice defensive plays but he consistently has made plays look tougher than they actually are which in turn makes fans think his defense is better than it is.

[Harold Hutchison]

4 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Yet Lara has never played CF over Mitchell. Lara has made some nice defensive plays but he consistently has made plays look tougher than they actually are which in turn makes fans think his defense is better than it is.

I agree, Mitchell is not horrible in center field and he is the best offensive option in center (unless you want Chourio in there). On defense, he's third of four CF-capable players on defense, ahead of Chourio, but behind Lara and Frelick.

[wiguy94]

1 minute ago, Harold Hutchison said:

I agree, Mitchell is not horrible in center field and he is the best offensive option in center (unless you want Chourio in there). On defense, he's third of four CF-capable players on defense, ahead of Chourio, but behind Lara and Frelick.

Mitchell is far better defensively than both Lara and Frelick because he's far more athletic than them. Lara has fringe-average speed if you compare him to CF as he's only 77th percentile at 28.3 ft/sec while Mitchell is 98th percentile at 29.9 ft/sec. That's a huge gap and it's a big reason why Lara makes plays look tougher defensively than they actually are.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I agree Mitchell is the better CF right now (as do the Brewers), but I would not say he is far better. Sprint speed is one metric for speed but I'm not sure that is the best one to identify defensive athleticism. Savant calculates sprint speed based on certain baserunning plays, which would also account for how well a player cuts the bases.  He also has much fewer samples so I think that could be throwing off his average. If you look at Lara's pure straight-line speed (HP to 1b) numbers he has a 4.16, which would make him tied for 15 among all of baseball (Hamilton is 2nd and Mitchell is 4th).  I agree that Mitchell is more athletic but I don't think Lara is that far off.  Defense is also more than just pure speed (positioning, reads, etc.). Lara is primarily playing out of position in RF so some of his awkward plays may be a result of seeing the ball differently, as he has had very little time in RF prior to being in Milwaukee.

The Brewers are in good shape no matter who plays in CF. Way too many good defensive CFs is a problem most teams would be happy to have.

[Jake McKibbin]

11 hours ago, Harold Hutchison said:

I agree, Mitchell is not horrible in center field and he is the best offensive option in center (unless you want Chourio in there). On defense, he's third of four CF-capable players on defense, ahead of Chourio, but behind Lara and Frelick.

Do you think "not horrible" is severely under-stating this Harold?

While you could argue Mitchell, for all his athleticism, is a little stiff at times, he's been really good out there especially since June onwards when the fear of an impact injury has slowly dissipated.

Lara is a great center fielder, but he's also never dealt with the third level of stadiums before which does impact a players reads and takes some getting used to. For now, it seems clear the Brewers value Mitchell's CF defense higher than Lara's, and we should be judging it on the here and now, not for future occasions.

@wiguy94is right, for example the highlight reel catches over the weekend were all 1* catches

More to the point, there's been absolutely nothing to suggest, in any way, that Frelick is a better defensive outfielder than Garrett Mitchell. When healthy, Mitchell has far better range and a far better arm than Frelick, it's not close

Also Mitchell has only failed to snag one play of 4* difficulty or below since May 10th. It was an error off Thomas Pannone, so while he hasn't made a 5* grab, he's been remarkably effect at anything from 25-75% catch probability

This one in particular vs the Padres was a 30% probability, just an awesome grab

Garrett Mitchell's incredible game-saving catch | Baseball Savant Videos | baseballsavant.com

 

Meanwhile in 2025 (to help Frelick here with health), Sal made 10/45 grabs from 2*-4* difficulty. Sal is a solid, above average outfielder. He is not Garrett Mitchell