"Tools-Wise He Has A Much As Anybody" - How Does Pat Murphy See Oliver Dunn's Role Developing In 2025?

[Jake McKibbin]

The Brewers' belief in Oliver Dunn's talent hasn't wavered. Given his injury turmoil and lack of experience against top-quality opposition, how do the Brewers see his role developing this year?

Pat Murphy speaks as highly of Oliver Dunn as many of his most fervent supporters, who have full faith in his toolset and natural abilities. With Matt Trueblood on site, we've been able to get some firsthand insight into how the Brewers see Dunn progressing this year. It seems they've seen positive signs in spring training and have a clear goal in mind for the athletic infielder this season. 

"We put him in a tough role. Young player, never played above Double A and we're pinch-hitting him. It's pretty tough for a kid to walk in and do that." 
The 2024 season was a baptism of fire for Oliver Dunn. As Murphy alluded to, his lack of top-flight experience combined with how the Brewers used him made it difficult to feel settled and at home in the big leagues. Murphy went on to talk about some tentativeness in his at-bats, which bears out with many called strikes and passiveness inside the strike zone. It's something Dunn himself has said he intends to put right this season; as a player with a great eye at the plate, you would expect it to be more of a state of mind than any sort of major decision-making overhaul.

"The injury set him back. He hasn't had the at-bats. So we're trying to get him as many at-bats in spring as possible."
The Brewers saw Dunn's talent. Still, his overall lack of seasoning meant that he struggled to put his best foot forward in the majors through a lack of experience with big league "stuff" and his internal confidence with how he might fare against such quality of opposition. Having spent all of 2023 in Double-A, it was a big ask, and the Brewers wanted to get him significant playing time in Nashville to help bridge that transition. Sadly, Dunn has a checkered injury past, and it reared its ugly head once more, sidelining him for the rest of the season.

So this spring, the Brewers are trying to get him as many at-bats as possible early in games, facing off against the highest caliber of stuff they can get. More than anything, this is what Dunn needs to take the next step, but these at-bats might not indicate an Opening Day roster spot in the same way it might have for someone like Jake Bauers were he in the same situation. Dunn has played a lot in the early goings of spring, and it may be more for developmental reasons than competitive reasons at this point.

"He's had a terrific spring so far, and I don't mean just the results."
Pat Murphy waxed lyrical about the ability Dunn has talent-wise and tools-wise, and it seems the spring performances have stood out to the Brewers manager. Murphy referenced the quality of his ball strike recognition, the lowered swing and miss in the zone, and the absence of the tentativeness Murphy says plagued him in 2024. Note that some stats on this matter are slightly skewed as parks without Trackman/Statcast show up as three swinging strikes, but having followed Dunn's televised appearances, he does seem to be swinging and missing less.

Part of this is due to the fact that many pitchers are pounding the strike zone, but even then, Dunn whiffed a heck of a lot in-zone during 2024, so it doesn't make the observation moot. It is tough to quantify any spring training results; however, so he may need more time in competitive gameplay to show that the changes he's worked on this offseason around his contact point and zone coverage are providing tangible benefits.

Oliver Dunn remains one of the most enigmatic, tantalizing talents on the Brewers' 40-man roster. Pat Murphy seems to agree, but perhaps as more of an impact player later in the season after some more "seasoning" in Triple-A. What do you think? Have his early spring performances won you over? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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[rafa]

Dunn is a lefty that the infield needs.  His bat has the best power potential of the infielders trying to make the team.  As for at bats needed, he would get his share since most teams have more right handed pitchers.  He is not THE answer but definitely a nice fit for this year and better than the other players. 

[BrewerFan]

1 hour ago, rafa said:

Dunn is a lefty that the infield needs.  His bat has the best power potential of the infielders trying to make the team.  As for at bats needed, he would get his share since most teams have more right handed pitchers.  He is not THE answer but definitely a nice fit for this year and better than the other players. 

I didn't think we needed to do much this off-season...and I didn't expect much, but Moncada would have been a very nice signing to pair with Dunn.

As for him having more power than any of our IFers...I keep hearing people speak very highly of Dunn, I just don't see why. He had a big year in AA for Philly at 25. Pretty similar to Ortiz in AA/AAA at 23 . 

He really project to have that much more power than Ortiz?

[rafa]

43 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

I didn't think we needed to do much this off-season...and I didn't expect much, but Moncada would have been a very nice signing to pair with Dunn.

As for him having more power than any of our IFers...I keep hearing people speak very highly of Dunn, I just don't see why. He had a big year in AA for Philly at 25. Pretty similar to Ortiz in AA/AAA at 23 . 

He really project to have that much more power than Ortiz?

Infielders TRYING to make the team.. Ortiz is already on the team, set.  My comment meant Durbin, Capra, Monasterio and even Black. 

[BrewerFan]

6 hours ago, rafa said:

Infielders TRYING to make the team.. Ortiz is already on the team, set.  My comment meant Durbin, Capra, Monasterio and even Black. 

Ok...well, that's a decidedly lower bar. I assumed you meant IF outside of 1B(obviously not including Bauers or Martinez for instance)...which Black would mainly fit into as well.

If he can play good defense and just put up a ~700 OPS...even without much power but a good OBP, I'd take that. Any power...even better. I think Hoskins will bounce back, Yelich, Chourio...hopefully Mitchell can stay healthy, Contreras and then I like Turang to take another step offensively.

I like that lineup and if there's an issue, you can always make a move for a 3B.

 

[Jake McKibbin]

7 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

I didn't think we needed to do much this off-season...and I didn't expect much, but Moncada would have been a very nice signing to pair with Dunn.

As for him having more power than any of our IFers...I keep hearing people speak very highly of Dunn, I just don't see why. He had a big year in AA for Philly at 25. Pretty similar to Ortiz in AA/AAA at 23 . 

He really project to have that much more power than Ortiz?

He would have more in game power and shade more raw power of using the scouting grades I believe. Ortiz doesn't elevate all that well (and statistically it's easier to hit balls "hard" when pummeling them into the ground), BT if Orti can find a way to elevate more consistently there is pop there.

Dunn on the other hand had real swing and miss issues but has shown last year and so far in ST that when he does connect, he's crushing balls. He has big time bat speed and has hit a number of balls 110+ so far this spring (and that's only using statcast data which isn't in many spring training grounds)

[jesusoftheapes]

On 3/8/2025 at 9:17 PM, BrewerFan said:

I didn't think we needed to do much this off-season...and I didn't expect much, but Moncada would have been a very nice signing to pair with Dunn.

As for him having more power than any of our IFers...I keep hearing people speak very highly of Dunn, I just don't see why. He had a big year in AA for Philly at 25. Pretty similar to Ortiz in AA/AAA at 23 . 

He really project to have that much more power than Ortiz?

by LOADS .  YEs Oliver when tooled and polished is a 30 homerun hitter.   He is also a guy who can mirror the numbers Willy Averaged if not be a tad better .   There is no reason to believe Oliver Dunn could not just come out and bat .275+ for the season with a full bill of health.     The guy is a better batter than Ortiz is for sure in all ways .  Ortiz is a contact guy more than a guy who will hit to power much even when he is contacting things well.  

Oliver has tools on the level of our best hitters.  You will like it when he puts it together.  We all will!