Jackson Chourio's Athleticism Will Save Brewers' Matchups While Blake Perkins is Out

Blake Perkins is likely to miss at least the first month of the season after a foul tip fractured a bone in his leg early in spring training. That fell on the Brewers as a major blow, despite the fact that Perkins is not a full-time player or any kind of star. His glove work in center field over the last two years has been invaluable, and for a team built around superb defense, losing him would hurt no matter what, but there's another dynamic at play, too.

Perkins is a switch-hitter, and if anything, he's slightly better as a right-handed batter, facing lefty pitchers. Meanwhile, Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, and even rotational outfield piece Jake Bauers all bat left-handed. One reason why the team has been slow to move defensively inept infielder Tyler Black to the outfield is that they don't need another lefty bat out there. Perkins became a key cog in their attack at times over the last two years, despite being a below-average hitter, simply because he could hold his own against lefties better than some of his younger, left-hitting teammates.

With Perkins out, the only right-hitting outfielder projected to make the Opening Day roster was Jackson Chourio, until the team signed both Manuel Margot and Mark Canha to minor-league deals. Since neither of those guys can play viable defense in center field at this stage of their careers, though, they didn't automatically solve the problem of replacing Perkins. Chourio covered that gap. He's now getting time in center in Cactus League games, and while that might have happened anyway, it's taken on new significance. He mostly played center in the minors, and has all the speed and ball-tracking skills needed to play that position. With some time to brush up, he's likely to be a fine center fielder again, which gives the team the flexibility it only momentarily lost in the move from Perkins to (most likely) Canha.

With Chourio playing center against lefties, Rhys Hoskins can stay at first base. Canha can DH sometimes, and occasionally slide to left field, making room for William Contreras as the DH and Eric Haase to catch. On any given day when the opponent has a lefty on the mound, the team can get away with playing no more than two—and sometimes just one—of Yelich, Frelick, and Mitchell. Yelich hangs in just fine against lefties, but as he continues to age and returns from a major back injury, days off will be needed, and fitting them in when he'd be at a platoon disadvantage anyway just makes sense.

Like most lefty batters, Frelick and Mitchell struggle against southpaws. They have very different swing paths and approaches, though, so they don't necessarily struggle against the same kinds of same-handed hurlers. Having Chourio move to center and Canha as a lineup brace allows Pat Murphy to play matchups judiciously. Most of the time, he'll still be able to shield whichever of Frelick and Mitchell profiles worse against that day's opposing moundsman from the bad matchup, thanks to the versatility of his best player.

It will still be welcome, wonderful news when Perkins returns, restoring to full strength the two-time defending Team Gold Glove winners. Until then, though, the Crew should thank their lucky stars that Chourio is such a unique mixture of athleticism and baseball acumen. He'll easily adapt to playing center again, which will allow them to minimize the pain they feel in the absence of Perkins. He effectively levels up the addition of Canha.