Milwaukee might have a new leadoff batter
PHOENIX – Pat Murphy has said this spring that he would prefer to have his best power hitters in the middle of the lineup, which would create a different look than the past two seasons when Christian Yelich hit leadoff.
The key to making that work, though, is having someone at the top who gets on base at a high clip.
It seems that Garrett Mitchell will get his chance to be the one to try and make it work.
Most of Mitchell’s playing time this spring has come at the leadoff spot, where he batted again Friday and launched a grand slam in an 11-5 Brewers win over the Kansas City Royals at American Family Fields of Phoenix.
Mitchell has spent most of the spring in the leadoff spot, which may be an attempt to maximize his plate appearances as much as a test run by Murphy. But the results – a .319 average and .811 OPS – might lead to a final result that features Mitchell’s name in the No. 1 spot.
“I hope so. I’d love to,” Mitchell said. “It’s what I did in college, too, so I feel really confident in the leadoff spot. You get a lot less time to think about it too, starting off the game. For me, it’s trying to be aggressive early in the count and not necessarily get to two strikes. I feel like doing that in the leadoff spot is a little bit easier sometimes. I feel confident in the leadoff spot but I’m good wherever.”
Mitchell has yet to bat leadoff in a major-league game, spending most of his time instead toward the bottom of the order with Yelich batting at the top.
Mitchell entered camp making some subtle swing adjustments – loading a bit early and not as far back to try and get on time for fastballs – and feels they are trending in the right direction.
“I feel great,” Mitchell said. “Still finetuning of course. That’s never, ever done, but right now I’m really happy with being able to use left-center as a place to go when I need to go there. But I also feel like I’m getting the ball in the air to the right side as well. Still mishitting them slightly, but just how hard I’m hitting the baseball and not really a ton on the ground, I’m really happy with that.”
With the Brewers outfield picture containing only two right-handed bats at most (with one of them, Blake Perkins, being a switch hitter), perhaps there is some playing time for Mitchell ahead against lefties. It was a southpaw that Mitchell took deep for the grand slam Friday, and that’s something he would like more of.
“The goal is to be out there every single day,” Mitchell said. “I want to help the team in any way that I can. I think part of that is being able to go out there and face lefties, have those opportunities. How that looks throughout the year, that’s not my decision. But when I step up to the plate, I feel as confident as I do with anyone else.”
Wilken hits first Cactus League homer
Brewers 2023 first-round pick Brock Wilken flashed early in spring when playing regularly and in big-league camp. He was quickly reassigned to minor league camp, but came off the bench Friday to blast his first spring homer, a two-run shot in the seventh inning.
Brewers tie Mariners in second split-squad game
While Mitchell hit a grand slam to lead the Brewers to a win at home, Freddy Peralta was on the road against the Mariners to make his final tune-up start before pitching opening day.
Peralta struck out nine and allowed three runs over 4 innings as the Brewers tied the Mariners, 4-4.
Jake Bauers drove in a run with a double, Joey Wiemer had a run-scoring single, Vinny Capra homered and the go-ahead run came across in the ninth inning on a throwing error.
Junis scratched with shoulder discomfort
Brewers right-hander Jakob Junis was initially scheduled to pitch Friday but was ultimately kept from throwing with what Murphy described as a “scratchy shoulder.” Murphy said Junis wasn’t 100% and that’s why they opted to keep him from pitching, but indicated the team doesn’t believe it is a serious issue.
Jackson Chourio watch
The Brewers officially announced Chourio had made the opening day roster, which the Journal Sentinel reported on Monday, earlier in the day. Chourio then proceeded to go 2 for 3 with a walk, two singles and a run scored.