Brewers' Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios for 2026: Center Field

In 2025, the Brewers had a revolving door in center field, due to injuries to Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins early in the season. The result was that Jackson Chourio ended up spending most of his games being flanked on both sides in the outfield, and he acquitted himself fairly well. That said, could center field go much better for the Brewers?

2025 Review
Blake Perkins’s broken leg late in spring training was just the start. Shortly into the season, Garrett Mitchell was lost for a while, and then for the season. Eventually, the Brewers settled on Chourio in center, keeping Gold Glover Sal Frelick in right. It worked out, mostly because Isaac Collins turned out to be a capable option in left with above-average offense and near-Gold Glove defense. But now, Collins is gone and Chourio appears to be headed back to left field. So, whom do the Brewers have slated for center?

Current Roster Situation
On the 40-man roster, the Brewers have Mitchell, Perkins, Chourio, and Frelick, all of whom are solid options for just about any major-league team. Akil Baddoo had some flashes of playing capably in center field during his time in Detroit, though he was quickly shifted to left and hasn't even been great in a corner the last two seasons. Brandon Lockridge and Steward Berroa will likely be at Triple-A Nashville, but did have appearances for the Brewers in center field last season. Recent free-agent signee Luis Rengifo also has seen MLB action in center field, while former top-100 prospect Tyler Black has played the position in the minor leagues. Realistically, neither Rengifo nor Black is a credible center fielder at this point, but they're behind the glass the team can break if a true emergency occurs.

On the NRI side, Luis Lara is a top prospect, continuing to do more than his size suggests is possible. Jett Williams has a future as a regular for the Brewers, be it on the infield or in center, and Eduardo Garcia has proven a capable option when he isn’t playing on the left side of the infield. Minor-league free agent Greg Jones is deeper down the depth chart.

Best-Case Scenario
Garrett Mitchell starts at least 120 games in center field. Mitchell is a dynamic offensive player whose potential was just emerging. If he's healthy and undiminished by the injuries that have wrecked his last three years, he’s a legitimate 20-20 threat alongside Chourio. Mitchell may need some rest, with Blake Perkins being a Gold Glove finalist (and competent offensively), and it’s likely that Jett Williams will see time in center when he arrives at The Ueck.

This is not the only good-news scenario for the Brewers in center field, but at this time, Mitchell is the player the Brewers would most like to see put together a healthy season, if for no other reason than the potential return in a trade (the Brewers dealt both Collins and Durbin) could be maximized, as opposed to seeing Mitchell designated for assignment or non-tendered after the season.

Worst-Case Scenario
Jackson Chourio is the primary starter in center field for the second straight season. As is the case when we covered this in 2025, there are 29 managers in MLB who would happily have him playing center field. In Milwaukee’s case, though, it means that Mitchell, Perkins and Williams, among others, are either on the injured list or slumping.

The Brewers survived 2025, thanks to the emergence of Isaac Collins and contributions from Jake Bauers, who handled left field with an assist from Christian Yelich. They don’t want to have their outfield held together by duct tape and panic transactions in 2026.

Overview
As was the case in 2025, the Brewers have a lot of good options in center field—at least when you look at it on paper. The team prefers to get a lot of center fielders and to move some to the corner spots, depending on their individual skills, giving them a lot of capable players.

But the games are played on dirt and grass, not paper. The 2025 season showed that. The team seemed to run out of gas in the playoffs, and the early-season injuries may have led manager Pat Murphy to lean heavily on the players who were healthy. As was the case in 2025, the real question of whether things go well or poorly in 2026 is how far down the depth chart the Brewers have to go.