Garrett Mitchell returns from shoulder injury for Brewers

MILWAUKEE -- Garrett Mitchell beat the odds just by making it onto the Brewers’ lineup card for Thursday afternoon's 3-0 victory over the Cardinals at American Family Field. It gave him four days to show that he warrants a spot on the roster for the opening round of the postseason.

He didn’t waste any time. Mitchell lined the first big league pitch he’d seen in more than five months for a double, then worked a pair of walks in a victory that pushed the Brewers to 90 wins for the 10th time in 55 seasons as a franchise.

“Everything is working out the way it was supposed to,” Mitchell said. “I was telling myself, 'Just get back here, be yourself, do what you can to help the team.' I’m glad that we’re here.”

• Games remaining (3): vs. CHC (3)
• Standings update: The Brewers (90-69) won the NL Central and are locked in as the NL’s No. 3 seed, meaning they will host a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series against the final NL Wild Card entrant starting on Oct. 3 at American Family Field. Tickets are on sale now.

When Mitchell underwent surgery in early May to repair significant damage in his left shoulder, the odds were stacked against him making it this far. Mitchell didn’t even swing a bat until August. He didn’t play in a game until the middle of September. He wasn’t cleared by his high-profile surgeon, Los Angeles-based Dr. Neal ElAttrache, for headfirst slides until a virtual visit on Wednesday.

One day later, Mitchell was on Milwaukee's active roster. Infielder Brian Anderson was designated for assignment to clear a spot, with the Brewers believing that taking a look at Mitchell was worth taking a chunk out of their infield depth.

“We're green light on him,” general manager Matt Arnold said. “I mean, we want to be cautious with him, obviously. But from our perspective, this is the time of year where you need to be all in.”

Mitchell was all for that.

“I’ve got the gameday juices flowing again, and I haven’t had that in a while,” he said. “I’m trying to get my feet down on the ground and go through my process.”

When he’s right, Mitchell can be a difference maker. The 25-year-old first-round Draft pick from 2020 entered the year as the Brewers' No. 4 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, after a 28-game Major League debut late last season in which he delivered an .832 OPS. He was Milwaukee’s Opening Day center fielder this year, homered three times in the Brewers’ first series at home against the Mets, including his first career walk-off homer, and was settling into the season when he separated his left shoulder on a dive back to third base on April 18 in Seattle.

If Mitchell does make the 26-man roster for the NL Wild Card Series, which begins Tuesday at American Family Field, it would be in a limited role, manager Craig Counsell said earlier this week.

But at the time Counsell said that, the Brewers didn’t necessarily intend to activate Mitchell before the end of the regular season, so clearly things can change at this time of year as club officials continue to debate the makeup of the roster for the opening round. Regular-season rules apply to postseason rosters, meaning teams are limited to 13 pitchers. Few, though, will carry that many for the best-of-three Wild Card Series. Most of the Brewers’ conversations so far are about whether to carry 11 pitchers and 15 position players or 12 pitchers and 14 position players.

The opponent is one factor in that decision. It could be the Marlins, Cubs or Reds -- or even the D-backs.

Mitchell’s availability is another factor. The best way to know, Arnold said, is to see it.

“We all know he wants to be out there and he's done an amazing job getting back,” Arnold said. “So if it’s not there, it's not any issue with him or his work or anything like that. It’s a good problem to have because we have a lot of good players and we're going to have to make tough decisions on the roster.”

The Brewers face a number of tricky decisions in the coming days. Besides kicking around the playoff roster, they have been debating the best way to navigate their final regular-season series against the Cubs, which has zero implications for Milwaukee -- and enormous implications for the Cubs.

Most of the questions center on pitching. Corbin Burnes threw 66 pitches in four innings and reached the 200-strikeout milestone for the third straight season in his final tune-up on Thursday against the Cardinals. It was a short outing by design as he wrapped his 32-start regular season with a 3.39 ERA and a .199 opponents’ average that ranked second among qualifying pitchers.

Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta, too, are done for the regular season. Rather than pitch this weekend against the Cubs, a potential oppenent in the NL Wild Card Series just days later, Woodruff will throw live batting practice on Friday, while Peralta opts for rest.

The weekend workload will have to be spread around since teams no longer have the luxury of using anyone on the 40-man roster in September. Colin Rea will start Friday and Adrian Houser will start Sunday; Saturday is to be determined.

“In another era, this was easy,” Counsell said. “We don’t have unlimited pitchers to go out there. We want to play good games this weekend.”

Mitchell is hoping to play his part in giving the Cubs a tough time.

“I know physically, [my shoulder] is stronger than it was before the injury,” Mitchell said. “I’ve passed all the tests. I feel good. I’m confident about all the stuff that I’ve done.

“I’m going out there with no thoughts about what’s happened in the past or what could happen in the game. I’m just going to go out there and be a baseball player and compete.”