Luis Lara has spent most of his prospect life wearing the familiar label: speed, contact, defense. The kind of player who survives on singles, helps in the field and usually settles into the bottom of the order. That picture still fits in a lot of ways, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
What’s starting to show in his first week in the majors is something more dangerous. Lara, who is 5-foot-7 and under 170 pounds right now, has a swing that can surprise you.
It’s compact, it’s not built in an obvious power-hitter mold, and it has the kind of defensive feel the Brewers like from young hitters. But it also has real whip to it, and that’s where the intrigue begins.
One swing in particular says plenty. On a 1-2 pitch, with Lara clearly sitting back to protect against offspeed, he still got to a 97 MPH fastball on the outer third, turned on it and drove it into the gap in right-center field.
That kind of damage won’t happen often once pitchers adjust and stop making that mistake with two strikes, but the ability to force that adjustment matters. If a pitcher has to think twice about challenging you there, that’s value.
The numbers back up the eye test. Since reaching the big leagues, Lara has 17 tracked, competitive swings from the left side.
His average swing speed is 71.0 MPH, and his swing length is 6.8 feet. That puts him in a pretty interesting spot: a very short swing, but one that still generates more bat speed than you’d expect for its length.
In that way, he lines up with a group that includes Brice Turang, Freddie Freeman and Otto Lopez.
That kind of quickness matters because it means the bat is moving fast without a huge load or a long path to the ball. Lara’s issue right now is timing.
He’s hitting the ball so deep in his zone that he’s often just starting to work uphill to it when contact comes, or when he misses. The Brewers have asked rookies to let the ball travel and make good swing decisions early in their major league time, and that’s leaving Lara late more often than not.
Still, the underlying stick speed is there.
And that’s why the power conversation is getting interesting. In time, Lara looks capable of hitting for more power than Sal Frelick, even if Frelick remains the better overall player for now.
Lara is already under a long-term contract on team-friendly terms, and he’s expected to be the better defender. If he also becomes a disciplined hitter who can slug even .050 better than Frelick, then the Brewers have a real decision on their hands.
That decision could come sooner rather than later. Frelick is part of what could already be a logjam in the outfield.
Milwaukee has Garrett Mitchell, Jackson Chourio, Jake Bauers, Brandon Lockridge, Jett Williams, Braylon Payne and Adamczewski in the mix, and Lara’s presence only adds to the crowd. The Brewers have also turned enough prospects into big leaguers lately that they can think about dealing from strength, and Frelick could have real trade value in the right deal.
A contender looking for pitching might prefer Frelick over a more distant, riskier upside play like Josh Adamczewski or even Luis Peña. Losing Frelick would sting - he’s a great competitor and well-liked in the clubhouse - but the Brewers have enough glue guys to absorb it. Lara, for his part, brings intensity and positivity of his own, and his bat may end up giving Milwaukee something Frelick can’t: more power.
In Other News...
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Brewers Just Got A Costly New Reality On Jacob Misiorowski
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Misiorowskis rise has put him in a different class of extension candidate, and the timing matters because the market for young pitchers keeps moving. Milwaukee has not yet gotten into extension talks with him, but the Burns contract makes clear that any serious effort to buy out Misiorowskis future is going to come with a hefty price tag and a lot more urgency than it might have just a few weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Civale's Exit From Milwaukee Keeps Looking Worse
Aaron Civales path since asking out of Milwaukee last June has only gotten bumpier. The right-hander was designated for assignment by the Athletics after 16 appearances and a 5.82 ERA, another rough stop for a pitcher who once looked like a useful rotation piece and has instead spent the last year bouncing from one roster crunch to the next.
The latest move also brings back an uncomfortable pattern for the Brewers to watch from afar. Civale was DFAd by the White Sox last summer after the trade out of Milwaukee, and this is the third time in a little over a year that he has landed in DFA limbo, a striking turn for a veteran who has already worn six big league uniforms in eight seasons. [Read more 🡒]