Garrett Mitchell injury scare comes after Brewers' outfielder reached key milestone

The first four seasons of Garrett Mitchell's major league career have been mired by injuries. The Milwaukee Brewers' dynamic center fielder, who, when healthy, offers a unique combination of speed, power, and defensive excellence, has been the victim of a number of frustrating injuries, which have kept him away from the field for a majority of the last four campaigns. In fact, entering the 2026 season, Mitchell had yet to amass 162 games of big-league experience, despite making his debut back in 2022.

Prior to this year, the healthiest stretch of Mitchell's career came back in 2024. After missing the first three months of the season with a fractured index finger on his left hand, Mitchell was healthy from July 1 through the end of the season, appearing in 69 games during that stretch. With a 124 OPS+ and 2.1 bWAR during that stretch, Mitchell also proved that his polarizing offensive profile can play at the major league level, which, when paired with his elite defense and baserunning, made him a truly exciting piece of the Brewers' roster.

Unfortunately, Mitchell wasn't able to build on that momentum during the 2025 season as he went down with an oblique strain in late April, and while rehabbing in the minor leagues, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. However, given his stretch during the second half of the 2024 campaign, the Brewers and their fans alike kept faith in their oft-injured center fielder, knowing that if he could just stay healthy, his ceiling as a major leaguer was among the highest on the roster.

Through the first months of the 2026 season, Mitchell has done just that: stayed healthy. As the entire Milwaukee Brewers' fanbase collectively knocks on wood, Mitchell is putting together his healthiest stretch of baseball since his MLB debut four years ago, but last night, his injury-free stint was briefly put in jeopardy.

Garrett Mitchell expected to fine after hamstring cramp on Saturday night

Entering Saturday night's game against the Chicago Cubs, Mitchell had already logged 69 games this season, matching his total from the second half of the 2024 season. Despite hitting a two-run go-ahead homer in Friday night's game, Mitchell wasn't in the starting lineup against the left-handed David Peterson. However, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Pat Murphy called on Mitchell to pinch-hit, despite the Brewers trailing by six runs.

Mitchell's pinch-hit at-bat meant that he had officially appeared in his 70th game of the season, a new career high for the most amount of games played in a single campaign. However, after swinging and missing at the first offering from Cubs' reliever Vince Velasquez, Mitchell grabbed his left hamstring, and the hearts of Brewers fans immediately sank. With no position players left on their bench, the Brewers opted to have Mitchell finish out the at-bat. After watching two balls, Mitchell bounced a groundball to first, and barely jogged down to first base, leading to increased concerns from Brewers fans.

After the game, however, manager Pat Murphy told reporters that it was just a cramp for Mitchell, and there are no long-term concerns. Mitchell isn't in the lineup for this afternoon's series finale against the Cubs, but he avoided the injured list and could be back for tomorrow's series opener against the Cincinnati Reds.

For a player who has experienced as many frustrating injuries as Mitchell, it appeared for a brief moment that after reaching a new career-high of games played in a single season, the Brewers' outfielder had once again been the victim of bad luck. However, maybe the fact that yesterday's injury scare turned out to just be a cramp is a sign that Mitchell's luck is starting to change.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow