Brewers: Mark Mathias Quickly Becoming a Fan Favorite

Every year, the Brewers seem to have one of those underdog players who becomes an immediate fan favorite. Mark Mathias is this year’s representative.

The Milwaukee Brewers now have two plucky backups who get to share the nickname “Babe,” as well as the title of popular fan favorite. Those two players are Ben “Babe” Gamel and Mark “Babe” Mathias (The jury is still out on Jacob “Babe” Nottingham).

You might think that Mark Mathias is from the Brewers farm system, but that isn’t the case. He was traded to Milwaukee from the Cleveland Indians on November 20, 2019. And although he’s only played 11 games, he is already becoming a fan favorite and been quite impressive.

First Few Games

Mathias made his major league debut for the Brewers as a pinch runner on August 4th, 2020 after being added to the active roster the day before. The California native right hander had a solid debut on August 5th, going one for three with a run. The next night, he went two for five with two RBIs.

He immediately got the attention of fans and social media pages. A new Brewers player coming out of nowhere and starting to produce. It’s the type of thing every team hopes for; new talent coming to The Show and producing right away.

On August 7th, Mathias goes one for three. On August 8th, he goes one for four with a run. That is solid production. Sadly, on August 11th, he was sent down to the Brewers Alternate Training Site after pinch-hitting on the 10th.

Mathias’ Quick Return

But our triumphant hero was recalled on August 20th, and picked up right where he left off.

His next return to the line-up was August 22nd, going two for four with two doubles, which was huge because the Brewers were struggling on offense at the time and currently being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a bright spot in a very depressing series for the Crew.

After a couple at-bats on August 25th and August 27th, Mathias entered the starting line up on August 28th and lit it up once again. He went two for four with another double and two RBIs.

As of August 29th, Mark Mathias’s batting average is .321. He has a slugging percentage of .429 and an OPS of 750.

The craziest part about his success is that is normally a second basemen. And despite the Brewers being basically stacked with outfielders and needing infield bats, Mathias has played outfielder for every game he’s played except one. And that was just one inning at second during the Brewers double header.

More Playing Time for Mathias?

Mark Mathias has earned a starting spot for the Milwaukee Brewers. He can play infield and outfield, and his bat has been nothing but consistent in 2020. But who do you bench for Mathias? Hiura? Gamel? Arcia? You really can’t.

Right now, Mathias is the perfect plug-in outfielder who is contributing for Milwaukee. If he keeps it up, he has a bright future in Milwaukee and will continue to be a fan favorite for Brewers fans. And with the sad opt-out of Lorenzo Cain and injuries starting to nag Ryan Braun and Avisail Garcia, Mathias might be on the field often the second half of the 2020 season.

And Twitter, would you please verify the man on Twitter? He is a starting Major League Baseball player. If you can verify the cast of Sharknado 4, you can verify Mark Mathias.