Around two weeks ago, Brewers manager Craig Counsell informed Lorenzo Cain during a conversation that the veteran outfielder’s role was going to decrease. At the plate, Cain, 36 and in the final year of his contract, was struggling while Tyrone Taylor, 28, was starting to produce. The way Cain tells it, playing time in center field was set to change.
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Things didn’t work out that way. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe left the game on May 23 and promptly landed on the injured list because of a strained hamstring. The plan then changed, with Cain playing nearly every day since. The offensive results for Cain, however, remain mostly the same.
Cain on Friday went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. In a game like that one, he had some company. Padres starter Joe Musgrove racked up nine called strikes on just 21 four-seam fastballs during eight innings in which he allowed only one hit. Kolten Wong’s double in the eighth was the Brewers’ only hit in their 7-0 loss. But games like that can also magnify concerns. Among them for the Brewers (33-21) is what to make of Cain. With Renfroe set to soon return — he was eligible to do so Friday, and Counsell said the target is Tuesday — Cain’s role is a consequential decision.
Cain’s batting average dropped to .175. Among players with at least 130 plate appearances heading into action Friday, only Oakland’s Cristian Pache (.450) had a lower OPS than Cain (.475). Cain is slugging .230.
“I haven’t been playing well this year, so I get it,” Cain told The Athletic after Friday’s game. “'(Renfroe) will be coming back soon, so I am sure I won’t be getting as many at-bats, but, hey, it is what it is; when you don’t play well, it’s what you have to deal with. I completely understand.”
On May 29 against the Cardinals, Cain hit his only home run. He went 3-for-4 in that game.
“That was probably the only good game I’ve had all season, honestly,” Cain said.
Since then, he’s 0-for-15 with three strikeouts. Since Renfroe has been out, Cain is just 5-for-34 (.147).
“It’s been a rough season for me,” Cain said. “I just haven’t been able to figure things out on my swing. It’s kind of been like I feel good one day, feel like crap the next few days or a week or whatever. It’s just how it’s been going for me. Just have to continue to go out there, be aggressive, swing the bat and hopefully things turn. But if they don’t, hey, it is what it is. I’m going to continue to battle and continue to fight. As long as I am in that lineup, we will see what happens.”
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It’s not as if the Brewers’ entire outfield has been hitting. Since Christian Yelich hit for the cycle against the Reds on May 11, he’s gone 14-for-81 (.173) with one RBI and has struck out 31 percent of the time. Andrew McCutchen hit a walk-off single Thursday night, but before that, he was hitless in his previous 32 at-bats. Between those two and Cain, there are differences, though. Even as his OPS dips to.682, as long as Yelich, 30, is healthy, he’s going to play; he’s at least produced at some points of the season and is locked into a long-term deal. McCutchen has just a .557 OPS, but it’s higher than Cain’s and McCutchen has at least barreled a handful of balls. On the season, Cain has zero barrels, something Statcast defines as a batted ball with the perfect combination of exit velocity and launch angle.
Before his injury, Renfroe was starting to heat up. He has nine home runs and a .807 OPS. The other bright spot offensively has been Taylor, who has a .733 OPS on the season and is hitting .283 since May 18. With Renfroe out, Taylor has taken advantage of the larger opportunity. He has made a few impressive catches, too, and runs well. For most of the season before Renfroe’s injury, Taylor and Cain mostly alternated starts, splitting time in center field.
Even in spring training, Cain supported the idea that Taylor deserved a bigger role. That’s the kind of veteran leader Cain is. He’s the kind of guy who proactively asks the media inside the clubhouse — even after a game in which the Brewers were no-hit going into the eighth inning — if they need to speak with him, and is typically interactive with fans. As a Brewer, he quickly built a reputation for playing through pain and keeping an upbeat attitude. Those things helped him become a fan favorite in addition to his penchant for making a ton of contact and playing a heck of a center field.
On the field, the defense is the part that hasn’t changed.
“When we’re talking about Lorenzo, we have to talk about two different sides of the ball,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “So offensively, I don’t think he’s happy with the way he’s performed. He hasn’t performed well. He’d be the first to admit that. Defensively, he’s performed at a very high level. And so there’s still contributions when he’s going out on the field, and we need to recognize that. It’s just not showing up in the batter’s box right now. We know that. He knows that. He’s trying to get there. And we’ll see if it happens.”
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The other reserves are playing well, and the Brewers’ injuries continue to mount, particularly on the mound and in the infield. Luis Urías left Friday’s game with right thumb discomfort.
So how long can the Brewers afford to be patient? What is the value of a defensive center fielder? What does Cain’s ongoing role look like? Is he a candidate to be designated for assignment? For the Brewers, these can be hard questions for a veteran with a track record and who is set to make $18 million this year. But that’s the thing, too; Cain, who had a .729 OPS in 286 plate appearances last year after opting out in 2020, even said he is at a point in his career where he’s “either going to get it done or I’m not.” Will he? How long will Milwaukee wait to find out?
“A lot depends on a number of different factors, including how you balance the various aspects of his contribution,” Stearns said when asked that last question. “That defensive production is real. That defensive production saves runs and helps us win games. We do value that. At some point, we are going to need more offensive production. We understand that. Lo has been around a long time, and he certainly understands that. And so we believe that he can get there.”
(Photo of Lorenzo Cain from May 21: John Fisher / Getty Images)