How Might Tyler Black Factor Into The Milwaukee Brewers End Of Season Plans?

The Milwaukee Brewers recently recalled Tyler Black from Triple-A Nashville and placed outfielder Blake Perkins on the injured list with a calf strain. Black is currently the team's top infield/outfield prospect that is healthy, but has been blocked from big league playing time this year. That begs the question as to how might he factor into the teams end of the season plans?

How might Tyler Black factor into the Milwaukee Brewers end of the season plans?

Currently, Tyler Black is the Brewers sixth left-handed bat on the 26-man active roster. He has gotten reps in at first base, third base, center field, and left field since his last stint in the big leagues, but there isn't an easy platoon spot for him because Pat Murphy has used a steady dose of Rhys Hoskins/Jake Bauers at first base, Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz have locked down everyday infield spots, and the outfield already has more left-handed hitters than right.

Speaking of platooning, it is interesting that Tyler Black has reverse splits this season. Through a sample size of 72 at-bats (Major + Minor Leagues this year) he has a .319 batting average and .882 OPS against southpaws. Statistically this gives him an edge over Brice Turang (75 AB, .227 BA, .578 OPS), Sal Frelick (59 AB, .254 BA, .662 OPS), and Joey Ortiz (91 AB, .209 BA, .763 OPS).

That being said does this mean Tyler Black could be utilized in a non-traditional way by getting starts against left-handed pitchers? Of the group mentioned him getting the nod at third base over Joey Ortiz statistically may make the most sense, but the reality is whatever opportunities Black gets he will have to make an immediate impact in order to take playing time away from a player who has been a key contributor to the big league squad all season.

Despite Tyler Black's defensive versatility, the Brewers current roster makeup isn't conducive to him seeing everyday playing time and he will have to earn more opportunities by excelling at the big league level. He is a much better bench, depth and spot starter option than Andruw Monasterio and even has hit left-handed pitchers pretty well this year as through 72 at-bats he has a .319 batting average and .882 OPS.

The future is bright for Tyler Black, but fitting him into this 2024 roster as a regular contributor hasn't been easy.