Brewers’ third-straight loss compounded by injury to Garrett Mitchell

Coming off a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants, the Milwaukee Brewers immediately traveled to St. Louis to face their division foe, the Cardinals. It marks the second time in the young 2025 season that the team has played on the subsequent day after completing a series on the West Coast, leaving Brewers fans wondering what was going on in the heads of the MLB schedule-makers when they planned out this grueling schedule.

Understandably, the Brewers were a little slow out of the gates, not scoring their first run until the sixth inning when Christian Yelich drove in Jackson Chourio, who doubled the batter prior, with an RBI-single through the left side of the infield. While the Crew scored again the following inning thanks to a pinch-hit RBI-groundout from Jake Bauers, the game-deciding play came in the top of the eighth inning, when Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado made a ridiculous play to nab Chourio at the plate on a chopper hit by Sal Frelick.

Although rookie Chad Patrick was pitching well once again, he was pulled after just 70 pitches before he could face the Cardinals' lineup for a third time, turning the ball over to Tyler Alexander. Alexander allowed one inherited runner and one runner of his own to score before being replaced by Craig Yoho, who looked sharp in his 1.2 innings of work. Ultimately, the three runs that the pitching staff allowed were enough to give St. Louis the win in the series opener.

While dropping a third straight game is disappointing in its own right, the most concerning development during Friday's loss came when center fielder Garrett Mitchell did not return to the field in the fourth inning.

Garrett Mitchell leaves game early with left oblique tightness

As initially reported by Brewers' reporter Sophia Minnaert on the Fan Duel Sports Network Wisconsin broadcast, the Brewers’ talented young outfielder was experiencing left oblique tightness leading to his removal from Friday's contest. Following the loss, Brewers manager Pat Murphy confirmed that Mitchell will undergo an MRI on Saturday morning to determine the severity of the injury, according to Journal Sentinel Brewers beat reporter Todd Rosiak on X.

A prolonged absence for Mitchell would not only be a tough pill to swallow for a Brewers team that doesn't have a clear replacement, but it would be even tougher for Mitchell himself, who has dealt with injuries throughout his career. Mitchell appeared in just 19 games in 2023 due to a shoulder injury that required mid-season surgery and was sidelined through the first three months of the 2024 season after fracturing his left hand in spring training.

The Brewers not only need Mitchell's elite glove in center field, but his unique mix of speed on the base paths and power at the plate, which he has yet to tap into this season, is a coveted combination that makes him an important part of the Brewers’ roster and their long-term plans. Though he will almost certainly miss some time, as the team will exercise caution in an effort to avoid making the injury worse, for the team's sake and more importantly for Mitchell's sake, one can only hope that his time away from the Brewers' starting lineup is short-lived.