Christian Yelich injury provides huge opportunity for two young Brewers outfielders

Injuries are never a good thing, especially when they happen to the best player on your team.

The Milwaukee Brewers have had that nightmare scenario play out, and then get worse, when All-Star starter and former NL MVP Christian Yelich landed back on the injured list with a back injury. The original hope was that he would rehab and return in 2024, but now he will get surgery and miss the remainder of the season.

It's almost impossible for a team to straight up replace a player the caliber of a Christian Yelich. What can happen in these situations, though, is a player, or players, stepping up in the face of adversity and replacing at least some of that production moving forward.

The Brewers have two such young players who are in perfect position to show that they can be the guys to up their game and be relied upon down the stretch. It would not only help the team's playoff run, but their chance at securing a starting spot in the future as well.

Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick have been long thought to be part of the next generation of starting Brewers outfielders. Now, both have officially arrived as they have received significant playing time for the team in 2024.

Mitchell made his MLB debut with the Brewers late in 2022 but injuries have prevented him from getting to fully put his foot forward as he has only played in 81 games in parts of three seasons. Frelick debuted halfway through last season and has been in the big leagues ever since.

The two have put up average to below average numbers in 2024. Mitchell came out of the gates hot after starting the season on the IL but has since come back to earth and is hitting .234 with a 96 OPS+ in 34 games. Frelick has consistently hit this season but hasn't offered much in the extra base hit department, hitting .259 with an 86 OPS+.

Either of them putting up even slightly above average production down the stretch would go a long way toward a possible postseason bye and a better chance at a longer playoff run. It would also go a long way toward making the starting outfield picture for the future much clearer.

Two of those starting spots are spoken for. Yelich will be back once he recovers from his surgery and 20-year-old phenom Jackson Chourio is already proving that he can be the next cornerstone of the franchise for years to come with his incredible performance in his rookie season.

That leaves one more starting spot moving forward. Mitchell was seen as a possible five-tool outfielder when he was drafted in 2020, but can he overcome the injuries and blossom offensively in the way the Brewers envisioned? Frelick was taken in 2021 as a possible on-base machine and table setter. Can he do that consistently at the Major League level?

Currently the focus needs to be on the 2024 season and doing everything they can to complete that quest for a World Series title. But what they do on that quest could determine which one is the face of the outfield in 2025 and beyond.