5 teams that could use Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Lorenzo Cain

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There’s no other way to describe it: Lorenzo Cain has been flat-out awful for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022. He hasn’t been great through the duration of his five-year, $80 million contract but he has been really bad in 2022.

He has hit .175/.234/.230 with an OPS+ of 32. The Brewers told him that his playing time would be reduced (before Hunter Renfroe’s injury). The Brewers still could look to get rid of him, even though Cain has been performing at a “very high level,” in the words of GM David Stearns.

With that in mind, there are five MLB teams that could use Cain defensively and/or fix him offensively.

The Philadelphia Phillies could use Lorenzo Cain

If you’ve followed the Philadelphia Phillies at all this year or, really, at all in the last decade, you know that they are an atrocious defensive team.

They are in the bottom five in nearly every defensive statistic out there, especially in the outfield. The team’s primary outfielders Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, and Odubel Herrera have a combined has -14 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) on the season already (-10 for Castellanos, -3 for Schwarber, and -1 for Herrera).

Cain has 3 DRS already on the season and he has had a positive DRS in every season in his career (even in the five games he played in 2020).

Citizens Bank Park is also a bandbox so maybe that could help fix his bat too.

Aug 7, 2021; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain (6) hits a sacrifice fly to drive in a run in the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /

The San Francisco Giants could also use Lorenzo Cain

One team that might be worse than the Phillies on defense is the San Francisco Giants and they have a huge outfield.

They have -27 DRS as a team, which is the worst in baseball and a number of outfielders are negative. In fact, their outfielders have -16 DRS, which is also the worst in baseball. Cain would obviously help them out in that department but offensively, hitting at Oracle Park will not be an easy task.

Lorenzo Cain could help out the Colorado Rockies

One of the biggest stories for the Colorado Rockies on the season has been their drastic downturn in defense.

In 2021, their team was in the top 5 in nearly all defensive categories but in 2022, they are in the bottom five in nearly all of the same categories.

Garrett Hampson (who also plays the infield), Charlie Blackmon, Yonathan Daza, Randal Grichuk and Kris Bryant (who has been injured for most of the season) have combined to have -20 DRS thus far on the season.

Lorenzo Cain would help solve some of that issue and with playing at Coors Field, maybe he could find his swing. The problem would be that Colorado already has too many outfielders and they already have a good defensive outfield who hasn’t hit well (Sam Hilliard).

Jul 30, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Lorenzo Cain (6) reacts after the win against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /

Lorenzo Cain could also help the Chicago White Sox

Like the Phillies, the Chicago White Sox have been a big disappointment to start the 2022 season and part of that is because of their outfield.

Defensively, they have -11 DRS in the outfield, which is 26th in baseball. The problem is that they have also been bad offensively (outside of Luis Robert). Even with Robert’s 124 wRC+, their wRC+ as an outfield is still below league average (99 wRC+). Cain, at least right now, would not help that.

But Cain could provide a veteran presence on that team, especially for an outfield that is young (outside of A.J. Pollock).

The reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves could use Lorenzo Cain

The reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves have been off to a slow start and their outfield has been bad offensively and defensively, with Ronald Acuna Jr. primarily DH’ing.

Their outfield has -14 DRS, which is 27th in baseball and offensively, their wRC+ is 75, or 28th in baseball.

Center fielder Adam Duvall is only hitting .186/.251/.266, which is very similar to Cain but he has -1 DRS. Cain would, arguably, be an upgrade over him right now.

Cain might not be able to be the bat that he once was for the Kansas City Royals in their successful seasons in the mid-2010s or even the bat he was for Milwaukee in 2018 but he could be a good defensive outfielder that is a fourth outfielder for some team as a late-inning defensive replacement, even on a contender.

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