Best and Worst Case Scenarios for the Brewers at Shortstop

[Harold Hutchison]

The Brewers lost a star shortstop to free agency this winter, and haven't yet settled on how to replace him. We certainly know what they'd prefer, though.

Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Roster Situation
Joey Ortiz is the front-runner to be the Brewers’ shortstop on Opening Day, replacing Willy Adames. Vinny Capra, Andruw Monasterio, and Brice Turang have also played shortstop during their professional careers, although Turang is the incumbent second baseman for the Brewers. One storyline this spring is the team's dilemma between starting Ortiz at short and Turang at second or leaving Ortiz at third and sliding Turang to the left side of the infield.

Non-roster invitee Cooper Pratt is a potential future option, if he isn’t moved to the hot corner. Meanwhile, Jesus Made could be the next great Brewers shortstop, following names like Robin Yount, Adames, and J.J. Hardy. Pratt is likely to make the Brewers in 2026, possibly as early as Opening Day.

The Best-Case Scenario: Ortiz Starts At Least 140 Games at Short
Ortiz was a very underrated rookie last season, with a 101 OPS+ over the season despite his power being sapped by the effects of a neck injury. His defense could be Gold Glove-caliber, and in this scenario, the Brewers would have extremely solid defense up the middle, giving them leeway to play bat-first players more often at the corners.

The real hope, though, is that Ortiz can boost his offensive production from 2024’s .726 OPS to something akin to his first-half OPS of .801. That would do a lot to replace the production lost with Willy Adames’s move to the West Coast.

The Worst-Case Scenario: Players Other Than Ortiz Or Turang Total More Than 20 Starts
Brewers fans were spoiled by Adames, who wanted to be out there every day, and who never played fewer than 139 games a season from 2022-2024. But in this case, it will matter a lot if the Brewers are looking for help at shortstop.

It will mean that Ortiz is unavailable due to injury—which would be a minor disaster, in and of itself—or that he is playing a lot at the hot corner because the Brewers can’t get acceptable offensive production or defensive competence at the position. Sliding Turang to short is not a worst-case scenario—his glove would hold up fine under the pressure of that move—but it would just pass the bad penny; the team would be left with gaping uncertainty at second base.

Monasterio would be a solid option at short for some teams, but his offensive ceiling is very limited. Pratt and Made are exciting, but far away, and extended time for Capra at short would mean something went very wrong.

Overview
If there is a position that could decide the Brewers 2025 season, it’s shortstop. If Ortiz locks down the position and the Brewers find an answer at third, the team is in very good shape to pull off an NL Central three-peat, and maybe more. The best outcome is if Ortiz locks it down the way Adames did.

That said, it’s not all on Ortiz. One of Oliver Dunn and Caleb Durbin has to lock down third base for the Brewers, lest Ortiz be moved there, with Turang handling shortstop in that situation. It is not a complete disaster for the Brewers if Turang gets 140 starts at shortstop, but it is a bad development, as it means the Brewers have cycled through multiple options at third base or Ortiz missed significant playing time. If Ortiz or Turang does go down, then the Crew will be counting on two of Dunn, Durbin, Monasterio and Capra to hold down not just the hot corner, but second base as well.

The real worst case, though, is if the Brewers have Monasterio or Capra getting 40-50 starts at shortstop. That would point to a very bad development, perhaps involving multiple injuries. Avoiding that has to be the team's priority.

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