Best Looking Boys
Something happened that no one expected; it reminds us of what the Milwaukee Brewers were once, and might be again.
Just 24 hours ago, it was shaping up to be another sleepy weekday affair for the Milwaukee Brewers. Then, something happened that few, if anyone, expected.
Wait…is that? BAH GAWD, THAT’S GARRETT MITCHELL’S MUSIC! HE’S BACK! MITCHELL IS BACK!
Garrett Mitchell came into 2023 with a bunch of question marks. The swing and miss, the chase rate, the K rate, diabeetus. The speed, instincts in the outfield and glove were never in doubt. His ability to translate into a well-rounded major league player was, in all fairness, of concern.
Mitchell played 16 games in April and amassed just short of a [Baseball Reference] win above replacement, slashing an .830 OPS. Small sample size, yeah yeah yeah. What is undeniable — and has been largely forgotten in a summer of double plays and a frustrating inability to beat bad teams — is that the Brewers looked markedly different after Mitchell departed with a shoulder injury on April 18. They won to complete the sweep in Seattle the following day (never an easy feat for a visiting team).
The following 17 games: 5-12, -26 run differential and all while playing some stinker teams (Boston, Detroit, Colorado, San Francisco). The loose, speedy, contact-driven Crew disappeared. The four-game winning streak that culminated in Seattle? The Brewers wouldn’t have another one until July, then one more in August, followed by that nine-gamer a month ago when things were rolling. But the clear fact is that it took the Brewers two months, several acquisitions and departures and black-bagging Brian Anderson (player, not broadcaster) to sort out a Mitchell-less clubhouse.
Mitchell returned September 28 to a warm home crowd reception. I give Brewers fans plenty of grief, but I love how much they embrace the players. And we went from what looked like a few days out, to a season-ending injury, to a faster-than-expected rehab (never a sure thing!), to a not-fully-committed 104.4 MPH frozen rope double and feel-good moment to the left-center warning track.
This team that has tended this season to play casual, if not load managed baseball for sparse matinee crowds played assured, confident ball Thursday. It helped me remember how good and fun this team was in April. It also contextualized the season without Mitchell’s presence in the lineup and the clubhouse.
And it gives me a pang of hope that, if the April/September 28 version of the Brewers shows up next month, we could be looking at something much more hopeful and special than I was forecasting earlier this week. I don’t know what it is about Garrett Mitchell — talent, confidence, charisma or some blend of the three — that makes this club work, but he makes this team work, and his absence was the negative space within the roster.
William Contreras might be this team’s statistically most effective player, but Garrett Mitchell in a real sense may have been its most valuable. He demonstrated that in 17 games; the Brewers did as well in 142 others.
Long story short: the difference between a real pennant contender and the club that was mired in inconsistency for four months appears to be the difference between whether or not Mitchell makes the postseason roster.
Get the tables.