The glue that’s been holding it all together: Garrett Mitchell

Doubted from the very start, Garrett Mitchell fell from a projected top 10 draft pick to the Milwaukee Brewers at No. 20 during the 2020 Major League Baseball draft.

Battling injuries and diabetes, Mitchell has not had the easiest path to the Brewers. Entering his fifth season in a Brewers uniform, the most Mitchell had played in a season was 69 games, and that came in 2024. During that season, he missed the start of the season due to a fractured left hand that he suffered during spring training.

Mitchell rejoined the team on July 1, when he was a regular for the rest of the season. Brewers fans finally saw what Mitchell’s potential was on a larger slate. Mitchell had a line of .255/.342/.469 and had a memorable moment when he hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the New York Mets to keep their season alive in the NL Wild Card Series.

After it looked like things were turning around for Mitchell, he suffered a shoulder injury. He muscled out 25 games before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. Entering 2026, fans, media, and the front office didn’t know what to expect.

“When you’re looking at our team, maybe the reason we didn’t get picked early on to be as successful in the regular season was because of the unknown about Mitchell,” Manager Pat Murphy said. “He had been injured for four years basically.”

Was Mitchell going to be able to pick back up where he left off a year ago? Would we finally see the fully homegrown outfield roster of Jackson Chourio, Mitchell, and Sal Frelick? Would Mitchell be dealt at the deadline if he found himself injured again?

These were all real, genuine questions. When Mitchell hasn’t been healthy enough to take the field, the Brewers have had a revolving door at that position, especially since Lorenzo Cain retired following the 2022 season. Chourio spent the majority of the time in center field last year, with Isaac Collins, Brandon Lockridge, and Blake Perkins making appearances as well. Before that, Joey Wiemer, Tyrone Taylor, and Jonathan Davis. None of those pieces were quite the right fit in center like Mitchell has been.

During the regular season, Mitchell played in 145 games, surpassing the total number of games (141) that he played between the 2022-2025 seasons. Never in his playing career — going all the way back to the first collegiate pitching he saw with the Walla Walla Sweets in 2017 — had Mitchell played in more than 69 games in a year.

There’s no doubt that playing center field is one of the harder positions to play on the field, especially when 81 games out of the year you’ve got to navigate the unique dimensions of American Family Field’s wall and warning track. A day ago, the 2026 Gold Glove finalists were announced, and Mitchell did not find himself on that list. Mitchell had committed three errors all season, which is three fewer than Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was nominated and will more than likely take home the award. After a full and healthy 2026, the Brewers finally got what they’ve been waiting for in Mitchell. A no-doubt lockdown defender in center field, right in the middle of a Gold Glove finalist (Chourio) and a former Gold Glove winner (Frelick).

His presence in the postseason has been up and down, but he established himself in Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Padres. With the Brewers leading by two, Manny Machado launched a ball into the San Diego night sky, which seemed destined to tie the game. Instead, Mitchell stood right against the wall and made a mini leap to make the grab, stealing the moment and sending Milwaukee to the NLCS. Two years earlier, Mitchell used his bat to extend the Brewers’ life by one more game; after a flood of injuries, he was right back on the field making an impact in the postseason again.

Despite spending more time on the injured list than on the field, Mitchell hasn’t allowed that to impact his first full healthy season as a Brewer, which just makes you wonder how different the last four postseason results could’ve been with a healthy Mitchell.

Although he’s had his struggles at the plate this season, he has come in clutch when the Brewers needed it most. The latest example was Wednesday night’s solo home run to follow Jake Bauers go-ahead shot, extending Milwaukee’s lead and helping them extend the series lead to 3-0. That brings his postseason totals to five hits, two RBIs, four walks, and 12 strikeouts. The strikeouts have been concerning, yes, but it’s nothing that we haven’t seen from him throughout the season. Mitchell has become the missing piece that the Brewers have needed since the moment he was drafted.