The Brewers are calling the shots Luis Larareports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Milwaukee recently extended Lara to a seven-year, $31MM contract before he made his major league debut. The 21-year-old was officially selected from the 40-man roster and selected when he signed that deal. Now he is about to be called up for his league debut. The Brewers will need to open up an active roster spot to accommodate him. Manager Pat Murphy lifted that midfielder last night David Hamilton could be bound for IL (via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy).
Despite his youth, Lara spent Triple-A pitching this season. The Venezuelan-born speedster is hitting .321/.432/.470 with nine home runs, 10 doubles, three triples, 24 stolen bases (in 31 attempts), and more walks (15.6%) than strikeouts (13.9%).
Baseball America currently ranks Lara as the game’s No. 47 prospect. He’s 67 on MLB.com. Scouting reports will often list concerns surrounding Lara’s 5’7″ frame, but he is respected as a mix-and-match runner and central defender with above-average dribbling ability and good knowledge of the strike zone. Lara hasn’t hit for much power in the past, but he has dropped his ground ball rate by a few percentage points this season (48.1%) and has hit nine home runs. For a player who entered the season with just 10 homers, dating back to his 2022 debut in pro ball, that’s a significant improvement.
Lara’s speed, defense, communication skills and plate discipline have already earned him the upper hand. If he can sustain his recent power gains, there is potential stardom in the young switch hitter.
Lara’s exact role remains to be seen. He has played exclusively in the outfield in his professional career, along with three major leaguers for the Brewers. Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell again Sal Frelick all give a group value.
Maybe it’ll just be a quick one-day addition like today’s Brewers 27th man. It’s always possible that there are currently unknown injuries among those three outfielders and that the Brewers will need to replace an outfielder. again Hamilton. For more speculation, Milwaukee also thought they might have Frelick look at third base in the past. He’s a right fielder, but the Brewers brass may feel that adding another elite glove, Lara, makes Frelick’s third-base test easier to try and fly. Frelick has pitched five major league innings at the position and has served as a shortstop during spring training in the past.
Hamilton, 28, pulled out of last night’s game with a hamstring strain. He appeared in 74 games this year and posted a .240/.317/.333 batting line in 238 trips to the plate. Hamilton has three homers and swiped 18 bases in 23 attempts. The Brewers have battled him in the middle of the field this season, but he has been splitting time at third base Joey Ortiz since Milwaukee called the shortstop Cooper Pratt – another top prospect they passed on before one game in the majors – to take over quickly.
Hamilton came out particularly well in the hot corner, as did Ortiz. Neither brings much to the table offensively, however, and Pratt has struggled a bit at the plate himself. Even if the plan is actually to try Frelick at the hot corner with Lara taking the outfield spot, Frelick has a season low (.242 /.311 /.332) on the heels of last year’s outing performance (.288 / .351 / .405). Regardless of how long Hamilton is kept and how long Lara is in the big leagues, one can imagine the Milwaukee front office will be scouting the market for an upgrade to the left side of the infield over the next four weeks.
