3 factors that will determine the odd man out when Garrett Mitchell returns

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell has not logged an at-bat this regular season. He unfortunately fractured a finger at the tail end of Spring Training and had to spend a prolonged period of time in a splint.

Towards the end of May Mitchell got clearance to remove the splint on his hand. Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel then reported on June 1 that Mitchell had participated in a full batting practice. MLB.com indicates that his next steps include logging at bats in Arizona and that the soonest we could see him return is June 17-19 for a series against the Los Angeles Angels.

With Garrett Mitchell's return to the Milwaukee Brewers on the horizon it's time to start thinking about who could be the odd man out when he returns.

Pending any other injuries a few factors to consider when looking at who may be the odd man out when Garrett Mitchell returns is: what side of the plate all these outfielders bat from, the number of outfielders, and performance. Currently, the Brewers have four outfielders on their active roster in which Sal Frelick and Christian Yelich are left-handed, Blake Perkins is a switch hitter. and Jackson Chourio is the lone righty. Garrett Mitchell bats from the left side of the plate.

In regard to to the number of outfielders it would be somewhat unusual to carry five on the active roster. There are a few different scenarios where Milwaukee could make it work, but the only practical possibility that comes to mind would be moving Christian Yelich to near full time DH. If the Brewers went this route, their corresponding roster move would likely be parting ways with Jake Bauers and having Rhys Hoskins play the field daily with Gary Sanchez as the backup. One downfall with this is that Pat Murphy would be giving up his ability to freely use William Contreras and Rhys Hoskins at DH.

Lastly, performance could be a factor that comes into play. Jackson Chourio has contributed the least offensively and has had a few defensive lapses. The danger in sending him down is that it could completely kill his confidence and wouldn't help his development at all.

One last possibility is that perhaps Mitchell himself is the odd man out. If he maxes out his allotted injury rehab days there could be a scenario where he is optioned to the minor leagues until he shows the Brewers enough to call him up. It will be interesting to see how this situation gets handled.