Garrett Mitchell Has His Opening Day Roster Spot. What Will the Brewers Get From Him?

For three straight years, the Brewers intended to start the regular season with Garrett Mitchell as their starting center fielder. Mitchell started up the middle on Opening Day in 2023 and 2025, and he would have in 2024, had he not broken his hand in the final days of spring training.

It became apparent that they wanted Mitchell to return to that spot for the 2026 opener. They've certainly given him every opportunity to claim the position. While Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins, and Brandon Lockridge have all gotten starts in the outfield corners this spring, all eight of Mitchell's Cactus League appearances have come in center field.

The club has taken things slowly with the injury-prone Mitchell, though, and has only recently ramped up his playing time. Pat Murphy rehashed those durability concerns to reporters in Arizona earlier this week, officially raising the possibility that the 27-year-old might not make the Opening Day roster if the Brewers believed he was not ready for regular playing time.    

Ultimately, though, the Brewers did not reach that point. By optioning Perkins to Triple-A Nashville on Thursday, the club effectively locked Mitchell and Lockridge into its Opening Day outfield mix. While Mitchell could still receive frequent days off to manage his health, he'll presumably take most of the playing time up the middle to open the year.

The choice apparently came down to Lockridge vs. Perkins, but it arguably could have been Mitchell on the outside looking in. There are still concerns about how productive he'll be when healthy, given the flaws in his profile—concerns that have only been exacerbated by his frequent and extended absences and unsuccessful attempts to close those holes.

Because his playing time has been so disjointed due to injury, it's been impossible to determine whether Mitchell is actually a viable big-league hitter. His elite bat speed and swing decisions give him one of the highest offensive ceilings in the organization, but the holes in his swing have produced a bloated 33.9% strikeout rate in 443 career plate appearances. Mitchell has hit .254/.333/.433 (114 wRC+) in the big leagues, but with a far less inspiring deserved line of .208/.289/.355 (80 DRC+), according to Baseball Prospectus.

Mitchell can hit fastballs at or below the belt, and he has destroyed hanging breaking balls, but he's been a near-automatic out against anything elevated. For his career, he has whiffed on a whopping 52.1% of swings on fastballs within the top third of the strike zone or higher.

He'll never need to crush those pitches to succeed, and with a 39.1% swing rate against them (including just a 14.4% swing rate against fastballs above the zone), Mitchell has done a decent job of forcing pitchers back into his hot zones. However, he must prove he can make some contact with elevated velocity. He's made it a focus, but his efforts have not yielded much improvement.

Earlier this spring, Mitchell experimented with raising his hands in his stance before switching back to his usual setup. He's since looked caught in-between in many of his Cactus League plate appearances: gearing up for the fastball, but still missing it, while being ahead of softer stuff.

The sample is still very small, but Mitchell has whiffed on 37.5% of swings against fastballs this spring, including a 52.6% whiff rate against high heaters. For his career, Mitchell has posted a capable 79.6% contact rate against in-zone breaking balls, with most of his whiffs coming on pitches below the zone. In Arizona, he's whiffed on 53.8% of in-zone breaking balls. Most alarmingly, Mitchell has been hopelessly in front of slower pitches moving away from him, whiffing on 71.4% of swings against offspeed pitches.

In 30 Cactus League plate appearances, Mitchell entered Thursday hitting just .080/.233/.240 (24 wRC+) with a 50% strikeout rate. He's still flashed his upside when putting the ball in play, launching a 462-foot home run earlier this month for one of his two hits, but after sporadic time on the field last year, his bat does not look big-league ready with Opening Day approaching. Meanwhile, Lockridge has showcased tangible improvements at the plate.

Clearly, Mitchell can make an impact for the Brewers at some point in 2026, but between his uneven production, injury history, and how his bat currently looks, they should be prepared for other options to take a healthy share of reps in center field. For now, though, Mitchell has the opportunity to dial himself in by Opening Day and establish himself up the middle.