Who Should Get Garrett Mitchell's Roster Spot to Open 2024 for Brewers?

After a strong showing in the Cactus League and lots of reps from the leadoff spot, Garrett Mitchell seemed all but locked in as the Brewers' Opening Day center fielder. Then, over the weekend, he suffered a fractured hand during a batting practice session, sidelining him for what could be more than a month of action to begin the season. 

Mitchell's absence creates an unfortunate scramble, within what had gelled into an encouraging and nicely constructed positional roster for Pat Murphy and his staff. For all the volatility of his offensive profile, Mitchell is a tremendous defender and good baserunner, and replacing him means trying to juggle some things. There are good solutions available to the problems this loss poses, but latching onto the right one will be both crucial and difficult.

Keeping Powder Dry
The move that would preserve all the current talent within the organization and allow them to kick the really tough decisions down the road would be to put Eric Haase in Mitchell's place on the roster. There's no way in which Haase (a 32-year-old, righty-hitting backup catcher) neatly replaces Mitchell (a lefty swinger with graceful defense at any outfield spot), but Haase had a sizzling spring showing. By now, the whole baseball world knows better than to set store by spring statistics, and that includes fans. Still, Haase made a strong case to be retained. The team would almost surely lose him on waivers if they were forced to place him there.

Leveraging Versatility and Handedness
To directly replace Mitchell's left-handed bat, the logical choice would be to call Oliver Dunn back up, after he was optioned earlier in camp. Dunn, too, looked good this spring, and especially earned Murphy's trust as a defender at third base. That's the key, because to accommodate this maneuver, the Crew would need to move Sal Frelick back to the outfield on virtually a full-time basis, until Mitchell returns.

With Frelick patrolling the grassy expanses, it would be up to Dunn and Joey Ortiz to lock down the close confines and flying dust of the hot corner. This way, though, the defensive utility of the roster would be preserved (thanks mostly to Frelick's newfound versatility) and the team would still have a bevy of left-handed bats available at all times: Christian Yelich, Jake Bauers, Brice Turang, Frelick, and Dunn, with Blake Perkins as a switch-hitter, to boot. That platoon balance would be valuable.

If You Absolutely Must Have an Outfielder
Losing Mitchell stings mostly because he was coming into focus as a linchpin of the team's defensive alignment. To sustain a sense of good depth and defensive competence in the outfield, the team could bring back Joey Wiemer (one of the last players optioned to Triple-A as camp wound down), Chris Roller, or Brewer Hicklen.

There are drawbacks to each of these alternatives. Wiemer is an important part of the Brewers' long-term future, and not much of a step down from Mitchell. On the other hand, he needs the everyday playing time he would surely get in Nashville. His offensive game still has such rough edges that asking him to work through them in what could be a part-time role (and to smooth out the wrinkles in a new swing, to boot) seems like an iffy choice.

Neither Hicklen nor Roller profile as great center fielders, though. Hicklen also isn't on the 40-man roster, so another move would be required to bring him up right away. At the same time, it's Hicklen who had the best Cactus League of the three, and he could play some right field against lefties, with Frelick, Jackson Chourio, and Perkins rotating through both right and center.

If I were making the call, it would be to keep Haase. It's possible to use Frelick primarily in the outfield under that configuration, while pulling him in to third base in certain matchups and having Perkins plug the defensive gap in the outfield. Haase is a welcome presence in the clubhouse, and keeping him around as a contributor both at the plate and in game planning for pitchers makes the most sense. He'll probably still be the first cut when exigencies force one on the Crew, but Mitchell's injury means they can afford to hang onto him, use Gary Sánchez more liberally as a DH, and play a wait-and-see game.

I liked Haase's fit with the team's catching instruction group and their hitting philosophies when they signed him this winter, and he was impressive on and off the field in camp. None of the other options available to the team are intriguing enough for me to be comfortable losing Haase altogether. Soon, though, we'll find out whether the Brewers agree.

How would you fill out the Brewers' roster in the wake of the Mitchell news? What traits are you most focused on? Let us know below.