What Should Know About Garrett Mitchell, Brewers First-Round Pick

MLB Draft does not get the same amount of attention and love as the other drafts in professional sports. Why? Well, it’s similar to hockey in the sense that players get drafted from high school and college. Further, college baseball is the least-watched version of the four major sports. This means most of you are wondering who is Garrett Mitchell, the player that the Brewers drafted last night from UCLA. I can help you out with that and give you some things to know about the outfielder.
Mitchell is a defensive star – The UCLA product is a great defensive outfielder. Some consider him an 80-grade defensive outfielder (The scouts use a 20-80 scale. He has a strong arm and can cover a lot of ground in the outfield.
This kid is a burner too – Mitchell can run. He is one of the faster guys that was in the pool of draft picks. You cannot teach speed or stealing bases. This is something that can be utilized right away. There is a difference though in being fast and being able to steal bases.
The hitting isn’t all there – If Mitchell could hit, he would have likely gone top 10. There are some concerns with the way he swings the bat. To me, this is fixable stuff. Brewers can work with him right away and try to unlock his power at 6’3, 205. Another thing worth noting ie he excelled in the Northwoods League which uses wood bats.
He is diabetic – One of the reasons that he fell in the draft was Type 1 diabetes. Mitchell knows how to play through it and has most of his career. It is not something that concerns me in the long-term. With no minor leagues and diabetes being a bad thing for COVID, I wonder if Mitchell will not train with the team this summer.
Looking through Mitchell’s profile, he gives me a lot of Carlos Gomez memories. Mitchell can field, super-fast, raw power potential but hasn’t unlocked it. That’s basically what Gomez was when Brewers traded for him then Milwaukee unlocked Gomez’s power leading to an All-Star appearance.
Charlie.