MILWAUKEE -- How did Garrett Mitchell's injury change things for Joey Wiemer, the rookie outfielder finding his footing in the big leagues with the Brewers?
Not at all, to hear Wiemer tell it.
“I was going to stand there,” Wiemer said, pointing toward right field.
He slid his extended finger toward center.
“Now,” he said, “I’m going to stand there.”
That’s a good glimpse into how Wiemer views the challenge at hand as he makes the leap -- all 6-foot-4, 220 pounds of him -- into Major League Baseball.
With Mitchell facing shoulder surgery next week and probably out for the remainder of the year, and fellow outfield prospect Sal Frelick down for the next 6-8 weeks following thumb surgery, the Brewers are relying on Wiemer to shoulder a heavy burden as their starting center fielder while he grapples with big league pitching.
Maybe Wednesday was the start of something. Wiemer homered for the first time since Milwaukee's opening series at home and delivered multiple extra-base hits in a game for the first time in his career as the Brewers beat the Tigers, 6-2, and avoided being swept at American Family Field.
Freddy Peralta pitched six innings without allowing an earned run, Brian Anderson became the first Brewers hitter to reach the 20-RBI plateau with a two-run single in the first inning and Victor Caratini hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Brewers a much-needed win following their first losing streak all year. It was also the best game of the year at the plate for Wiemer, the 24-year-old who ranks third on MLB Pipeline’s list of Milwaukee’s top prospects.
“I’m doing good in the field, but I suck at the plate right now,” Wiemer said at the start of this homestand.
This is not a hitter who overanalyzes at-bats. He thinks of baseball in simple terms, success or failure. Then, on to the next thing.
“The last two weeks have been an example of that. I’ve sucked,” Wiemer said. “There’s no hiding that. But it’s all good. I’ll be alright.”
Does he do anything differently when he’s in that sort of slump?
“You don’t think about it,” he said. “The swing feels good, I’m just not putting the right part of the bat on the ball. I’ll be alright.”
On Wednesday, he was alright.
“Especially the last week, I’ve felt more like myself,” Wiemer said. “I think there was a time when I was up there trying to do too much, trying to do too little, trying to guess, [or] feeling things out instead of just being myself and getting in there and hitting.”
In his last seven games, Wiemer is hitting .348 (8-for-23) with four extra-base hits.
The only blip was a mixup in right-center field between Wiemer and right fielder Anderson in the fourth inning on Wednesday, when a routine fly ball fell for an error charged to Anderson and led to two unearned runs. Thanks to Peralta and relievers Bryse Wilson, Hoby Milner, Peter Strzelecki and Devin Williams, those were the Tigers’ only runs.
For Wiemer, it was a win over the team he cheered on while growing up in Temperance, Mich., less than an hour's drive from Comerica Park. His favorite Tigers player was Magglio Ordonez, though Wiemer saw only a game or two in person. He was usually busy playing baseball.
“He’s a very confident individual,” said Brewers hitting coach Connor Dawson. “I think that carries into preparation because there is no doubt about what he wants to do. In the game, he thinks he can hit anybody. Usually, confident people are pretty direct in what they want to do.”
“Joey’s fearless," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell. "I think that’s the thing that’s impressed [me] the most. He keeps it simple and he’s fearless. That’s how he plays. And I think the way he plays is very entertaining.
"[He's] a big man, [he's] a really good athlete, who, frankly, is able to do things with his body that’s different, that we don’t see on the baseball field very often. There’s the smooth player that we all appreciate, who glides on the field and makes everything look effortless and easy, and Joey is kind of the opposite.”
What about how hard he swings?
“You have to be very careful about that. That’s who he is,” Counsell said. “People have probably been trying to change that for a long time. You can ask him. It just looks different than other people, so you have to respect that and appreciate it. There are small adjustments within that which he will have to make. But that’s how he swings a baseball bat. That’s how it’s going to happen.”
The Brewers will continue letting it happen.
“Stockpiling at-bats is the best thing for Joey Wiemer,” Counsell said. “He’s going to improve as he gets at-bats.”