Luis Lara’s role has changed fast since Sal Frelick came back, and the Brewers are now trying to thread a very narrow needle in the outfield.
For the first 50 days of Lara’s major league career, the rookie had 125 plate appearances and a real runway to show what he could do. He wasn’t an everyday player, but with Frelick out injured, Milwaukee had a clear opening and Lara stepped into it.
His speed, defense and contact ability stood out, and he backed that up at the plate by hitting .259/.328/.375 with a 9.6% walk rate and a 19.2% strikeout rate. He also made a habit of turning in impressive catches in the outfield.
Then Frelick returned from the injured list on August 26, and the setup shifted. Frelick is still young in the grand scheme of the league, but in Milwaukee he’s a trusted clubhouse voice and a more experienced presence in a roster that always skews young.
He’s not putting together the kind of season he had in 2025, and Pat Murphy is running the team with a moderated meritocracy, so Frelick didn’t simply reclaim an automatic everyday job. Even so, he’s been used almost like a regular.
Over the last 18 days, he has gotten 48 plate appearances despite hitting just .205 with little patience or power. Milwaukee’s schedule has featured an unusual number of left-handed starters, but in the 10 games against righties, Frelick has started seven times.
That has squeezed Lara into part-time work, and the split has been especially odd for a switch-hitter. Since Frelick returned, Lara has 26 plate appearances against righties and 25 against lefties.
Before that, he had 91 plate appearances against righties and only 34 against lefties. Normally, a switch-hitter would get about 70% of his trips to the plate against right-handed pitching, unless the league is actively trying to flip him around.
Here, the balance is being driven by Frelick, a left-handed hitter whom Murphy is using mostly against righties. Garrett Mitchell, another lefty bat and another candidate to lose some outfield time, makes that arrangement even more likely to stick.
If that became a permanent setup, it would be a problem for Lara, because he has clearly been better hitting left-handed. In the majors, he is batting .272/.350/.369 against righties and .236/.288/.309 against lefties.
Since this recent squeeze began, he’s batting .261 and slugging .283. Even so, he’s handled the challenge well enough to keep a .333 OBP over that stretch by developing a workable, on-the-fly plate approach.
That matters a lot for a player whose biggest value comes from his glove, who has two swings to keep in sync, who still has plenty to learn about big-league pitching, who is not playing every day, and who is being asked to hit more often than usual from his weaker side. Under those circumstances, holding that line is a real accomplishment.
Murphy and the coaching staff deserve a share of the credit, too. They have a strong track record of getting rookies comfortable and productive even when the playing time isn’t ideal. Lara has benefited from the team’s emphasis on patience and using the opposite field, and he has also shown solid bat speed from his weaker side, especially considering how irregular his opportunities have been.
The Brewers’ final two weeks should provide a better sense of how they want to handle this in the postseason. They should see a few more right-handed starters, and it will be worth watching whether Lara gets meaningful chances against them at the expense of Frelick or Mitchell. For now, though, his value as a late-inning defensive piece and as a source of just enough offense to swing a few games gives both the rookie and the team a good look.
In Other News...
Brewers Fans Had One Immediate Concern After Garrett Mitchells Early Exit
Garrett Mitchells early exit in the Brewers game against the Reds sent a ripple through the fan base almost immediately, but Pat Murphy said the center fielder was pulled as a precaution after his blood sugar got too high. Mitchell, who has Type 1 diabetes and wears an insulin pump during games, left after going 0-for-2 with a walk, and the explanation was enough to calm the first wave of concern around his availability.
For Milwaukee, the episode was a reminder of how carefully Mitchells situation has to be monitored even on a routine night in the middle of the schedule. Murphy also weighed in on the bullpen and the teams recent stretch of games, but the larger focus after Mitchells departure was simply making sure this was a health issue being managed the right way, not a setback that would linger. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Trade Is Already Raising Questions About Their Catching Bet
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Yoho has been productive for Cleveland, which has only added to the sense that the Guardians came out ahead in the short term. Naylor, meanwhile, has logged only limited major league time in Milwaukee but has shown enough promise in Triple-A to keep the long view alive, leaving the Brewers to wait and see whether the trade starts looking different as his role grows. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Suddenly Have A Postseason Rotation Decision They Didnt Expect
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Kyle Harrisons move to the bullpen after struggling since returning from injury changed the picture, while rookie Logan Henderson has kept forcing his way into the conversation with steady starts. Dustin May is expected to be part of the postseason mix in a significant starting role alongside Henderson and Jacob Misiorowski, leaving the Brewers with more options than they may have expected but also a decision theyll have to get right before the games count for real. [Read more 🡒]