Photo Credit: Arturo Pardavila III
Every spring training features a few new faces, but as the Brewers report to Maryvale Baseball Park this week, they may need to issue name tags to go with the new jerseys and way-finding signage to help newcomers navigate the facility.
It’s nearly unprecedented for a playoff team from the previous season to experience the level of roster churn the Brewers have undertaken this winter. Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Keston Hiura, Brandon Woodruff and Josh Hader are all back as the core of the Brewers’ second back-to-back postseason qualifying team in franchise history, but the supporting cast around them and the likely early Cactus League lineups will be dramatically different.
The Brewers’ outfield stands out as an exception, as it is largely untouched from a year ago, with Yelich, Cain, Ryan Braun and Ben Gamel all returning for 2020. Even there, however, the Brewers have a newcomer that raises a question: Craig Counsell and David Stearns have repeatedly spoken positively about new addition Avisail Garcia, a 28-year-old who has played in at least 120 MLB games in four of the last five seasons. Finding playing time for him may depend on Ryan Braun spending more time at first base or Garcia proving serviceable in center field, a position he’s played just 45 times in 763 MLB games.
Speaking of first base, seven Brewers played at the position at least once in 2019, but six of them (Eric Thames, Jesus Aguilar, Yasmani Grandal, Tyler Austin, Travis Shaw and Hernan Perez) are no longer with the organization, and the seventh, Jacob Nottingham, played less than two innings there. The likely candidate to soak up most of that playing time is 33-year-old switch hitter Justin Smoak, but he’ll have some work to do to prove he can bounce back from a disappointing 2019 season. The Brewers have made it clear that they believe bad luck was a factor in his .208 batting average and .406 slugging with Toronto a year ago, but he’ll need to prove that if he’s going to stick in the organization beyond this season. He also could see his playing time diminish if Ryan Braun is able to transition to playing first base part time.
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Across the infield, the question marks are even bigger and the candidates seem at best unlikely to make up the production lost by Mike Moustakas’ departure. Former Cardinal Jedd Gyorko could have the inside track to playing time at the position this spring and has some experience there defensively, but he hit just .174 with a .248 on-base percentage and .250 slugging across 62 games with the Cardinals and Dodgers in 2019. Eric Sogard, Mark Mathias and Ryon Healy could also have an opportunity to win some playing time here, but none of them have played this position primarily in recent years.
Elsewhere, on the left side of the infield, one position battle might be settled for now. Offseason trade acquisition Luis Urias will be limited in camp and possibly the early portion of the season as he recovers from surgery to repair a broken hamate bone. His delay could give Orlando Arcia one last chance to demonstrate his value at shortstop, which has proven inconsistent over time. Arcia is still only 25 but has already spent three-and-a-half seasons in the majors, and his contributions have declined since his first full year in 2017. It remains to be seen if the push of competition will drive Arcia to improve or if Urias will take his place later this season.
The Brewers also have a question at catcher but it’s not “Who?” so much as “How much?” The Brewers hope to recover some of Yasmani Grandal’s offensive production with newcomer Omar Narvaez, who had a very productive season in a pitcher-friendly environment with the Mariners last season. Grandal also rated as one of the game’s top defensive backstops, however, while Narvaez was among the worst. It remains to be seen if the Brewers can improve Narvaez’s defense or, at bare minimum, absorb his shortcomings to keep his bat in the lineup. In the meantime, Manny Piña continues to be a strong defensive back up and is poised to take on playing time when or if the Brewers opt to prioritize that aspect of the game. As noted previously, the Brewers have an opportunity to innovate with their mix-and-matching here, but the level of need to do so might come into focus in the next month or two.
All told, the Brewers and their fans have less than six weeks to familiarize themselves with all these new faces and their roles before seeing some of them in the Opening Day lineup on March 26. In the meantime, Cactus League playing time will likely reveal some of the team’s priorities and considerations.
