What's behind unheralded Brewer's breakout? Elite bat speed is just the start

The Brewers led the Majors with 97 wins last season and reached the NLCS for the first time since 2018.

With a Major League-leading 67 wins entering Wednesday, Milwaukee is once again one of baseball’s top clubs. It’s more of the same from the Brewers’ elite player development machine in the 2020s, as the club continues to produce talent that few others can match.

In 2026, we’ve seen Jacob Misiorowski become one of baseball’s most dynamic pitchers, Kyle Harrison find his potential in a new home and Jake Bauers become a legitimate everyday bat. And then there’s the story of Garrett Mitchell.

After injuries stalled his development in the Majors for years, Mitchell has already played in a career-high 97 games this season and has a robust .266/.357/.435 slash line.

Selected in the first round of the 2020 Draft out of UCLA, Mitchell has long been a promising prospect since his days at the baseball powerhouse of Orange Lutheran High School in Southern California (he was selected in the 14th round of the 2017 Draft by the A’s, but opted to head to UCLA).

With no Minor League ball in 2020, Mitchell needed only one season in 2021 before he debuted in the Majors in ‘22. While he flashed brilliance at times, injuries and some notable flaws prevented him from tapping into this new level.

With all of this in mind, here’s a breakdown of Mitchell’s progression this season as a vital cog in the Brewers machine and why he’s one of the toolsiest and most extreme players in baseball.

The following numbers are entering Tuesday's games.

Underrated contact quality

When you think of baseball’s premier sluggers -- guys who can hit the ball harder and farther than others -- you’re thinking of players like Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Yordan Alvarez.

While Mitchell certainly isn’t in that group of hitters, his contact quality measures might surprise the average fan.

Mitchell’s contact quality numbers and ranks

77.4 mph bat speed (97th percentile of qualified MLB hitters)
92.7 mph avg. exit velocity (94th percentile)
14.1% barrel rate (89th percentile)
49.5% hard-hit rate (88th percentile)

Perhaps the most jarring number listed there, and one to focus on, is Mitchell’s top-shelf bat speed. Only five qualified hitters swing a faster bat than Mitchell, and they're pretty much who you’d expect: Junior Caminero, Jordan Walker, Oneil Cruz, Nick Kurtz and Cam Smith. Mitchell is swinging a faster bat than the likes of Kyle Schwarber, James Wood and even Alvarez.

Swinging faster is important because it’s directly correlated to power. A fast swing is considered anything tracked at 75 mph. Since bat tracking became available in the middle of the 2023 season, fast swings have produced a cumulative .637 slugging percentage. Swings below that mark, meanwhile, have generated a .340 slugging percentage.

Given that Mitchell is producing swings well above the fast-swing threshold, he’s putting himself in prime position to do damage on baseballs. He’s hit only eight homers, but his .441 SLG is well above the league average mark because he also has 22 doubles and three triples.

Top-shelf speed and defense

Mitchell came up as a speed-and-defense prospect, so it’s not surprising that he’s excelled in those areas.

Much like his bat speed, few players possess the type of speed Mitchell has. With an average sprint speed of 29.8 feet per second, Mitchell ranks in the 98th percentile of all qualified players. Just for reference, any individual run (on the bases or in the field) at 30-plus feet per second is considered elite.

Mitchell has swiped only seven bases this year, but that speed is very much a part of his dazzling defensive metrics. A year after producing 5 Outs Above Average, Mitchell is at +3 this season, firmly making him a quality defender in center field. Just for good measure, Mitchell also possesses an excellent throwing arm -- his 91.6 mph arm strength on "max-effort" throws places him in the 91st percentile.

Extreme tools, noticeable flaws

When we said Mitchell was one of the most extreme players in baseball, that wasn’t hyperbolic.

Mitchell has the combination of power, speed and arm strength that puts him in unique territory. He also swings and misses more than almost every qualified hitter in baseball. Mitchell whiffs on 36.9 percent of his swings, which places him in the 2nd percentile of hitters. His 32.2 percent strikeout rate ranks in the 5th percentile.

Having huge power, in general, comes with this type of swing-and-miss. Some of the sluggers with similar whiff rates include Colson Montgomery, Kurtz, Schwarber, Brandon Lowe and Hunter Goodman. This just comes with the territory for big sluggers in most cases.

And Mitchell’s propensity for whiffs isn’t a byproduct of a bad approach. He’s chasing on only 22.8 percent of pitches out of the zone, which places him in the 89th percentile. When you swing this hard, it’s difficult to not miss a good amount of pitches. Hitters like Caminero, who blend otherworldly bat speed and an ability to make contact, are the exception, not the norm.

Even with those whiffs, Mitchell has proven to be a huge part of the Brewers' success and at 27 years old, there’s ample time for him to mend those issues a bit. He’s also an infatuating player with all-around excellence that makes him one of the more fun players in baseball.