Garrett Mitchell is back

The Milwaukee Brewers have activated Garrett Mitchell from the 60-day injured list and added him to the active roster, setting him up for his season debut tonight in Denver. Tyler Black has been optioned back to Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move, and in a somewhat surprising move, Owen Miller has been designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster for Mitchell.

Mitchell has been tearing it up at Triple-A Nashville on a rehab assignment: in 12 games there, he hit .318/.404/.636 with four homers and 10 RBI. He also stole four of five bases and showed off his arm in the outfield, picking up a couple of outfield assists. In limited duty in two major league seasons, Mitchell has performed well, though samples are tiny: in 47 games and 141 plate appearances across the 2022-23 seasons, Mitchell hit .278/.343/.452 (a 118 OPS+) and earned 1.6 bWAR.

Mitchell spent the maximum allotted time on his rehab assignment, suggesting that the Brewers don’t know exactly what to do with their outfield with him in the mix. A few weeks ago, that may have been an easier question to answer, but both Jackson Chourio and Sal Frelick have heated up considerably over the past few weeks.

With Chourio and Frelick hitting and Christian Yelich a likely All-Star starter, Blake Perkins may end up as the guy who sees his playing time decrease significantly. Perkins started the season well offensively but has been struggling as of late, and while he remains an elite defender, tough choices are going to have to be made. Particularly against right-handed pitching, I would expect that Perkins won’t see much playing time. Yelich is also likely to spend more time as the designated hitter, which likely means less playing time for Jake Bauers, as Rhys Hoskins will need to spend more time in the field.

Another wrinkle here is the spring training plan of utilizing Frelick at third base. Joey Ortiz’s emergence as a reliable everyday player means that this isn’t as big of an issue, but it does seem possible that Frelick could still see a game every now and then at the hot corner to give one of Ortiz or Willy Adames (who never rests) a day off against a right-handed pitcher. We haven’t really heard anything about Frelick as an infielder since Mitchell got hurt at the end of spring training, though, and if he hasn’t been working out there since March, I do not expect that the Brewers are likely to thrust him back into that position at this point in the season.

Milwaukee might just have to make it work with a five-man rotation in the outfield. Perkins will still likely see plenty of time as a defensive sub, but as long as Mitchell, Frelick, Yelich, and Chourio are all healthy, expect Perkins’ plate appearances to plummet.

Miller, who is 27, appeared in 90 games with the Brewers last season and 14 this season. In 104 games as a Brewer, he has hit .231/.283/.338 with five home runs, 18 doubles, and 13 stolen bases in 15 tries. He has hit .259/.344/.382 in 46 games with Nashville this season; if he goes unclaimed, he could end up back there.

One other roster note for today: the Brewers are expected to use their 15th different starting pitcher tonight. Rob Zastryzny, who was added to the active roster when Jared Koenig was placed on the IL on Saturday, is slated to appear as the opener for Bryse Wilson.