Milwaukee Brewers 2026 preview by position: Outfield
We proceed our sequence previewing every place on the Brewers by trying on the outfield, and we’ll additionally focus on the designated hitter spot, as Christian Yelich’s transition into full-time designated hitting continues. As for the present outfield, two of those three spots are firmly spoken for. But the third outfield spot is, if not essentially in flux, a place the place there’s more likely to be a good quantity of rotation all through the season. Let’s have a look.
Jackson Chourio
There is one thing value remembering about Jackson Chourio: he solely simply turned 22 final Wednesday. Anyone hinting at the concept that Chourio’s first two seasons within the huge leagues had been disappointing can be, in a phrase, improper. While some had been maybe hoping for an even bigger leap in his second season, Chourio has nonetheless put collectively two productive seasons, back-to-back 20/20 seasons during which he is averaged about three WAR per season. That makes him one of the crucial productive Brewers, and to deliver it again to the place we began, I need to re-stress that he you haven’t but performed a regular-season sport over the age of 21.
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All of that mentioned, it could be nice to see Chourio degree up in 2026. There have been occasions, together with within the postseason, when Chourio fairly clearly appeared like one of the best hitter on the crew. The protection has been a bit up and down, however there have been encouraging indicators. You’d wish to see him decrease his caught-stealing price, however he is very quick and clearly has some base-stealing capability. And, most encouragingly, after beginning final season with an alarmingly unhealthy stroll price, his plate self-discipline has appeared slightly good this spring.
Chourio can hit a baseball. He has extraordinarily fast palms, and he can get to pitches that perhaps he should not be capable of get to. Simply enhancing his plate self-discipline — which improved fairly a bit over the course of final season — and making modest positive aspects in his consistency within the discipline and on the bottom paths would make him a borderline All-Star.
But we will all form of really feel that he will make positive aspects, certainly one of lately, in batting common (he is hit .275 and .270 in his first two seasons) and homers (21 in each years). Who is aware of? Maybe we’ll get a 30/30 season.
Sal Frelick
Frelick virtually appears like a stable, we-know-what-we’ll-get veteran at this level in his profession, though he isn’t fairly 26 but and he is solely performed two full seasons within the huge leagues. It’s additionally value remembering that Frelick improved fairly a bit final season — his OPS went up by over 100 factors, he hit six occasions as many homers as in 2024, and his wRC+ went from 87 to 114. Defensively, Frelick did not fairly carry out on the degree he did when he gained a Gold Glove in 2024, however he was nonetheless the most effective nook outfielders within the league.
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What can we anticipate from Frelick in 2026? It appears unlikely that his energy goes to creep up an entire lot extra, and he did profit from a stable .317 BABIP (though that was at .306 the yr earlier than, and Frelick, as a result of he is quick and hits loads of bizarre little floor balls, would possibly simply be a man who at all times has a fairly good BABIP). There appears to be a sense that Frelick, with that 114 wRC+ in 2025, was fairly near his ceiling.
I’m not fully certain. Frelick hit solely 20 doubles final yr, and he looks as if a man who may very well be a traditional doubles hitter. Even if he has plateaus close to his .288 batting common and 12 homers from 2025, there’s loads of room for enchancment within the doubles class, and his 2021 school season and 2022 minor league season each make him seem like a man who may simply hit 30 doubles within the majors.
Beyond that, the Brewers simply want Frelick to maintain doing Frelick issues — run exhausting, crash (safely) into partitions, play good protection — and he needs to be one of the crucial dependable contributors on the 2026 squad.
Christian Yelich
We’re going to place Yelich right here as a result of he was an outfielder eleven. He is not anymore, actually. Yelich performed left discipline 19 occasions final season, and it will virtually actually be lower than that in 2026.
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But Yelich would be the Brewers’ most-used designated hitter, and even at age 34 with a balky again, he’ll most likely be certainly one of their greatest offensive contributors when he is obtainable. It was a tough finish to the 2025 season, however Yelich nonetheless completed with an OPS close to .800 (121 OPS+) and team-high 29 homers whereas taking part in in probably the most video games he is appeared in since 2022.
There’s some actual concern concerning the again, although. Yelich missed per week at the start of September to relaxation that again, and upon returning, he hit .233/.291/.370, after which he went 6-for-33 (.182) with 5 singles and a double within the postseason. The optimist would say that Yelich was simply drained and wishes extra relaxation — affordable, provided that he turned 34 in December.
It appears affordable to restrict Yelich to about 135 video games subsequent yr, even when he is more-or-less wholesome the entire yr. They may actually discover methods to place him in an at the least occasional platoon state of affairs; Yelich final season was a official stud towards right-handed pitching (.274/.356/504, 25 homers in 438 plate appearances) and struggled towards lefties (.242/.316/.344, 4 homers in 206 plate appearances, an OPS 200 factors decrease than towards RHP).
Either means, I’m not out on Yelich, irrespective of how tough it appeared on the finish of final season. While I’m hoping that Chourio is able to change into the crew’s greatest hitter, there may be completely no denying that when he was feeling good, that title nonetheless firmly belongs with the previous MVP.
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Blake Perkins and Brandon Lockridge
I’m going to group Perkins and Lockridge as a result of there’s loads of overlap in skillset, right here, and whichever of them is within the huge leagues at any given time, they are going to fill the same function.
That function is to play nice protection and run quick.
Neither will hit an entire lot (though Lockridge, surprisingly, has three homers this spring), however each ought to be capable of play Gold-Glove-level protection once they’re on the sphere. Brewers followers are most likely hoping that they will not be on the sphere all that a lot, however proper now it seems to be like certainly one of them — most likely Perkins, who has much more huge league expertise — will probably be within the lineup on Opening Day.
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Perkins appears to be a favourite of supervisor Pat Murphy, and it isn’t tough to see why. Murphy loves a man who would not make errors within the discipline, and Perkins is without doubt one of the smoothest fielders within the league. Offensively, although, Perkins has by no means had an OPS+ above 85, and his offensive shortcomings had been laid particularly naked within the postseason, when the Brewers most likely requested an excessive amount of of him.
Lockridge would not have so much in his profile to counsel that he could be a lot better than Perkins on the plate, however what if the facility he is showcased this spring is considerably actual? Perkins has simply 13 homers in virtually 800 profession plate appearances. And whereas Lockridge has just one in his main league profession (79 plate appearances), he did hit 13 and 14 homers in lower than 110 video games in every of the 2021 and 2022 seasons within the minors.
There’s most likely not room on Milwaukee’s roster for each of those guys, and Perkins ought to have the within observe on the big-league roster spot. But I’m certain we’ll see Lockridge in Milwaukee sooner or later this season, and if he is swinging for the fences, it is perhaps an attention-grabbing wrinkle because the Brewers search for just a bit little bit of offense out of this defensive duo.
Garrett Mitchell
The assumption is that Garrett Mitchell will begin the season on the Brewers’ roster. His pedigree and former flashes have most likely earned him that.
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More than something, Mitchell must show that he can keep wholesome. I needn’t elaborate a lot right here. As a lot promise as he has proven, it would not matter — this can be a good place to drop within the painful cliché that the best capability is availability.
But… Mitchell additionally must show that he is an excellent baseball participant after all of the accidents he is been by means of. It was solely 25 video games, however Mitchell struggled in 2025 with a .206/.286/.294 batting line in 78 plate appearances earlier than his season-ending harm final yr. This spring, Mitchell has hit the ball exhausting when he has hit it, and he is been affected person, however he is additionally struck out an alarming 10 occasions in 22 plate appearances (an unsustainable 45.5% strikeout price, 12 factors greater than his profession common season price).
Mitchell might be nonetheless fairly good, however he is 27 now, and he is actually received one thing to supply. If this season would not go nicely, both due to harm or due to an absence of manufacturing, he might not have a spot with the crew by the top of the summer season.
Who else?
It seems to be like Jake Bauers: left fielder goes to be a factor. (See extra about Bauers in our first base preview.) He appeared in left discipline 21 occasions final season (in comparison with 40 at first base), and it appears extraordinarily possible that he’ll seem within the outfield greater than Yelich will this season. Is he an excellent left fielder? No, I do not assume so. But in the event that they restrict his publicity and needn’t rely an excessive amount of on him, he’ll most likely be okay.
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I’ve already talked about him extensively a few occasions on this sequence, but when I had been a betting man, I’d say that the almost certainly place that Jett Williams will get taking part in time with the Brewers this season is within the outfield. That would possibly imply middle discipline, however we’ll should see how the Brewers select to align from the outset; if Bauers is taking part in so much of left discipline this season, that possible means Chourio performs loads of middle, and if Milwaukee thinks Chourio is a greater middle fielder than Williams, then Williams — who has performed largely shortstop and middle within the minors — may conceivably transfer to a nook.
In a considerably related boat to Williams is Tyler Black who appears to not have an actual place. The normal consensus is that if he will play within the discipline for the Brewers, it is going to be in an outfield nook — he is solely performed 4 video games with the Brewers this spring as a result of he is been away with Team Canada, and he performed three video games at first base and one in left discipline. Black may conceivably slide into the Bauers’ function (a left-handed hitter who performs largely first base and just a little left discipline) if Bauers will get damage, however the almost certainly path to taking part in time for Black is perhaps at designated hitter within the occasion that Yelich misses time. Black nonetheless has time, however he is shortly transferring to the skin of the Brewers’ prospect state of affairs, and it’ll take a number of accidents to get him time in Milwaukee this summer season.
The Brewers signed Akil Baddoo to a small main league contract this season, but it surely’s tough for me to see how he will get into the combination right here. Baddoo additionally injured his quad late final week and will not be prepared for the start of the season. He needs to be again in April, however being not on time would not precisely assist a man who did not have an apparent path to taking part in time anyway.
Steward Berroa can also be nonetheless on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, however he hasn’t performed within the Cactus League and is reportedly nursing a shoulder harm.
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Beyond that, there aren’t many choices close to the highest of the minors, and the outfield is without doubt one of the few locations the place the Brewers lack prospect depth. (This is why I feel Williams almost certainly leads to the outfield.) If Lockridge and/or Perkins weren’t with the crew, Luis Lara may conceivably be a late-season defense-only choice, however he’d be worse — presumably a lot worse — than both of these guys on the plate. There are not any different actual outfield prospects near the massive leagues within the system.
