Brewers' Lara brings elite glove, breakout bat to Majors

It’s next man up for the Milwaukee Brewers, and has so often been the case for the NL Central leaders of late, that next man is yet another Top 100 prospect.

The Brewers called up No. 67 overall prospect Luis Lara to the Majors on Tuesday, the club announced. Fellow outfielder Blake Perkins was optioned to Triple-A Nashville as the corresponding move to make room for Lara on the 26-man roster.

Four years after he signed for $1.1 million out of his native Venezuela, the 21-year-old switch-hitter is in the midst of a breakout season, having hit .321/.432/.470 with more walks (54) than strikeouts (48) through 78 games with Nashville at the time of Tuesday’s move. His nine homers in that span not only represented a new career high but also more than doubled the previous best mark of four set with High-A Wisconsin in 2024. In fact, Lara hadn’t slugged above .360 over his previous three stateside seasons before blasting way past that mark so far this season. Lara had recently just rediscovered his power stroke in the International League with two homers in his last three games after not going deep at all over his previous 42 contests.

Standing only 5-foot-7, Lara still doesn’t project for massive power at the top level. His 101.8 mph 90th-percentile exit velocity was below-average for Triple-A, and six of his nine homers were hit below 100 mph. As a switch-hitter, he’s been a better slugger as a righty with a .597 SLG from that side, compared to .436 as a lefty.

But his offensive traits that should play immediately in the bigs are his high contact rates and strong swing decisions. Lara whiffed on only 15.9 percent of his swings at Triple-A, the lowest mark of any Nashville player with at least 200 plate appearances and what would be the second-lowest mark of any Brewers Major Leaguer behind only Sal Frelick (10.9). Those strong bat-to-ball skills come against virtually every pitch type too; only sliders cracked a whiff rate above 20 percent and barely that at 20.6. By not expanding the zone either (as evidenced by a 15.6 percent walk rate), Lara hasn’t beaten himself at the plate, and with his plus speed, he’s able to keep opposing defenses on their toes at all times.

On the defensive side, there’s a solid case that Lara has been Major League-ready for quite some time. His wheels allow him to cover acres of grass in the outfield, and he consistently makes quality reads that get him off to good and efficient jumps in the first place. He could be a plus defender in center field, where he’s received the majority of his looks in ‘26, or even plus-plus in right, where he’s made seven starts with the Sounds. His arm can also flash plus; he registered three outfield assists with Nashville and touched as high as 97.3 mph on a throw to third back on April 10.

The Brewers have settled into a starting outfield of Jackson Chourio (left), Garrett Mitchell (center) and Sal Frelick (right) with Jake Bauers rotating in between corners and first base. Lara’s arrival may not affect that group immediately, especially during Mitchell’s breakout season and Frelick showing a nice turnaround in the last month. But it does raise both the floor and the ceiling of Milwaukee’s bench options, considering Perkins was hitting just .157/.250/.258 with one homer in 53 games while providing below-average defense (-2 OAA).

The Brewers signed Lara to a seven-year, $31 million contract (with three club options for 2033-35) last month out of the belief that he could be a piece of the organization’s future sustainable success at the MLB level. As of Tuesday, that future includes the second half of the 2026 season.