Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell is entering an important 2026 season. Calling it a make-or-break season for the 27-year-old outfielder might be taking it a step too far, seeing as Mitchell's salary will remain reasonable and he will still have minor league options remaining in 2027, but nevertheless, the former UCLA Bruin needs a healthy campaign after the start of his MLB career has been mired with injuries.
The Brewers selected Mitchell with the 20th overall pick in the 2020 draft, and it immediately became clear why Milwaukee was willing to spend the draft capital on the toolsy outfielder. Mitchell's blend of speed, power, and strong defensive skills made him a unique talent during a time when that combination has become especially coveted in MLB. Mitchell rose quickly through the minor leagues and by the second half of the 2022 campaign -- just two years removed from his selection in the MLB Draft -- he made his MLB debut.
Mitchell burst onto the scene, posting an .832 OPS in 28 games down the stretch in 2022, seemingly validating the Brewers' decision to select him with their first pick in the 2020 draft. Unfortunately, what followed in the next three seasons was a disheartening string of injuries for the talented young outfielder that has limited Mitchell to just 113 total games over the last three seasons.
However, despite his lack of availability, Mitchell's ceiling remains intact. The former first-round pick was excellent in 2024, when he finally joined the Brewers in July after a broken finger kept him off the field for the first three months of the season. In 69 games during the 2024 campaign, Mitchell slashed .255/.342/.469 with 23 extra-base hits and 11 stolen bases. He capped it off with a massive home run in Game 2 of the 2024 NL Wild Card series that gave the Brewers the lead in the bottom of the 8th inning.
Hope was high among Brewers fans that Mitchell would put together a healthy 2025 season, during which he would finally lived up to his full potential, but another devastating shoulder injury cut his season to just 25 games. Now Mitchell is back, entering an all-important 2026 season, and while some fans might be quick to dismiss the former first-round pick because of his recent string of injuries, one popular MLB analyst remains bullish on Mitchell's raw skills heading into the season.
MLB analyst Eno Sarris cites Garrett Mitchell's unique bat speed as a reason for him to breakout in 2026
Mitchell's tools have never been a concern. As previously mentioned, the talented young outfielder's unique blend of speed and power continues to have Brewers fans excited about the potential that he possesses. However, Brewers fans aren't the only ones who are intrigued by what Mitchell could bring to the table if he can stay on the field in 2026.
The brilliant Eno Sarris -- an MLB analyst who currently writes for The Athletic -- recently published an article using advanced metrics to detail which hitters he believed were due for a breakout season in 2026. Among the statistics that Sarris cited was bat speed, and among the best hitters in the game when it comes to bat speed is Mitchell. Bat speed, in general, translates to power, though Sarris notes that not every power hitter has high bat speed, and not every player with a high bat speed immediately becomes a power hitter. However, in Mitchell's case, the power potential that he possesses is easy to see; his career slugging percentage of .433 in MLB suggests that Mitchell can rack up extra-base hits so long as he can stay on the field.
Using bat speed, swing shape to find potential MLB breakout stars
Bat speed certainly isn't the only indication of whether or not a player will have a breakout season, and there's still plenty of flaws in Mitchell's offensive profile that he needs to work out -- the most notable being his concerningly high strikeout rate. However, Sarris' analysis is a great reminder that Mitchell is a unique player and there's a reason why the Brewers took him in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft.
If Mitchell can put together a full season, the raw tools that he possesses suggest that the Brewers' outfielder could be a huge piece of the team's offense in 2026. For a Brewers team that has weathered the storm without Mitchell in each of the last three seasons, a productive and healthy season from the former top prospect would be a huge boost in 2026.