Anthony Seigler Is The Perfect Utility Option To Round Out The Milwaukee Brewers Offense

[Jake McKibbin]

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

Looking at the third base market, there are several clubs in borderline must-win scenarios looking for big third base upgrades. The New York Yankees would ideally move Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second base and find a bigger bat to occupy third base. They currently have DJ LeMahieu and his .640 On Base plus Slugging (OPS) holding down second base while Chisholm covers the hot corner, and Oswaldo Cabrera on the 60-day injured list (and having recorded a .630 OPS of his own this season).

Then you have the Chicago Cubs, who have Matt Shaw holding their third base roster spot, but despite some fantastic defensive acumen, his bat hasn't translated to the big leagues, posting a .593 OPS across 191 plate appearances.

Both teams are looking heavily into the third base market and have the prospect capital and demand to make a big splash. The competition raises prices of assets across the board to the point where rental acquisitions are costing significantly above their actual value. Eugenio Suarez, Ryan McMahon, and even Nolan Arenado could all be moved, but all would require sizeable packages to get the job done.

Instead, the Brewers have been granted a boon. In June, Joey Ortiz and Caleb Durbin have been the Brewers' third and fourth-best hitters by WRC+. Both are capable of being above-average defenders on the left side of the infield, with Durbin looking surprisingly smooth of late, while Ortiz is making more of the "highlight plays" the Brewers have been looking for.

#	Name	Team	G	PA	HR	R	RBI	SB	BB%	K%	ISO	BABIP	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	xwOBA	wRC+	BsR	Off	Def	WAR
1	Christian Yelich	MIL	20	82	3	8	18	2	9.8%	26.8%	.192	.479	.356	.427	.548	.421		172	0.1	7.0	-2.7	0.7
2	Brice Turang	MIL	22	92	1	12	8	2	9.8%	20.7%	.099	.381	.309	.370	.407	.342		119	-0.9	1.1	0.4	0.5
3	Caleb Durbin	MIL	20	78	3	16	8	1	7.7%	14.1%	.147	.273	.265	.346	.412	.336		115	-0.1	1.2	0.3	0.4
4	Joey Ortiz	MIL	22	78	2	11	11	3	3.8%	15.4%	.123	.339	.301	.338	.425	.335		114	0.3	1.6	1.7	0.6
5	Jackson Chourio	MIL	22	98	3	15	12	4	5.1%	17.3%	.185	.274	.250	.286	.435	.310		96	0.3	-0.1	0.1	0.3
6	Sal Frelick	MIL	22	97	1	13	12	4	5.2%	15.5%	.070	.338	.291	.333	.360	.309		96	1.2	0.7	0.5	0.4
7	William Contreras	MIL	20	87	1	5	8	0	14.9%	20.7%	.097	.255	.208	.322	.306	.283		78	-0.4	-2.7	1.4	0.2
8	Rhys Hoskins	MIL	21	82	3	8	5	0	7.3%	29.3%	.153	.170	.153	.232	.306	.240		49	-0.2	-5.2	-1.4	-0.4

The real issue instead is how little depth and time off each of these two is able to get. Caleb Durbin, in particular, has some quite aggressive splits, recording an .838 OPS against lefties and just a .615 OPS against right-handed pitching. Ortiz has also performed better against left-handers this season with a .661 OPS compared to a .526 mark against right-handers. What they could use is a left-handed bat to pinch hit, and occasionally start against right-handers, and for that, the Brewers have the perfect player in the minor leagues.

Anthony Seigler entered the organization as a switch-hitter, playing either catcher or second base for the New York Yankees. Intriguingly, he has quite a large gap in terms of his exit velocities and quality of contact when hitting right-handed compared to when he is a left-handed hitter. The majority of his damage has come as a left-handed hitter, to the point he's now experimenting with ditching the switch-hitting altogether. Still, the important thing is that Seigler is CRUSHING right-handed pitching in Class Triple AAA to the tune of a 1.013 OPS in 207 plate appearances. All 22 of his extra-base hits have come against right-handed pitching, with seven home runs and more walks (38) than strikeouts (37).

The graph above shows data from both sides of the plate, but it accurately represents the hitter Seigler is. He doesn't boast supreme, high-end exit velocities, but what he does have is elite barrel control in the strike zone. His swing decisions are fantastic, resulting in a phenomenal walk rate without being overly passive in the strike zone. When he makes contact, he elevates the ball at an elite level and consistently squares it up, boasting a 48.4% hard hit rate and 45.2% sweet spot launch angle rate.

In short, while he won't hit the ball 115 mph, he'll quite regularly hit it between 95-100 mph and elevate the ball on a line to the outfield. As a pinch hitter, that provides a lot of value in a variety of circumstances whether you need to get a runner on base to start a rally, push in a runner from third with less than two outs, or just keep the line moving, Seigler's quality of at bats suggests a more than capable utility bench option capable of replacing either Durbin or Ortiz in late game situations, as well as starting games at third base against right handers.

The Brewers have had the same thought, giving Seigler experience over the last three weeks at the hot corner. He's started 10 games there and is looking smoother with each passing week. He has a solid arm and decent range to the point the Brewers should feel comfortable with him defensively, and his bat profiles a whole lot better than Andruw Monasterio's off the bench. The other role Monasterio has occasionally been used in is to pinch run for Rhys Hoskins, and Seigler brings some value here as well. He has 19 stolen bases in Triple-A so far this year.

All in all, Seigler is the complement that should add some nuance and variety to the Brewers' offense. He gives them added variety off the bench and a high-quality at-bat that can be used in tight situations, something the Brewers are not comfortable doing with Monasterio right now. 

It shouldn't be long before Anthony Seigler is up with the Milwaukee Brewers. He won't provide the type of boom that you may get from Eugenio Suarez, but he does round out the offense with some consistent high-quality contact and high-class pitch recognition, giving an advantage in tight games when the Brewers want to mix and match. In what's shaping up to be a closely fought season, these fine margins can make all the difference.

What would you think of adding Anthony Seigler to the Brewers roster in short order? How much of a boost do you think he can bring? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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[izzi]

Or Freddy Zamora...

[Brian]

Nashville Averages.

https://www.milb.com/nashville/stats/batting-average?playerPool=ALL

[wiguy94]

14 minutes ago, izzi said:

Or Freddy Zamora...

Freddy Zamora is a league average AAA hitter with very poor underlying numbers. He has a .284 xwOBA, 21% hard hit rate, and 0% barrel rate. He's org depth/roster filler. Not an MLB roster candidate.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

If Seigler replaces Monasterio, who is the backup SS?  I dont think Durbin has played Short.  Turang obviously can, but that did not go well in spring.  Not sure the Brewers would want to experiment with that and risk an arm injury.  Otherwise, I would agree, this is an obvious move.

[Jake McKibbin]

1 hour ago, izzi said:

Or Freddy Zamora...

As Wiguy said, Zamora's underlying numbers and surface level numbers don't come even remotely close to what Seigler is producing at present. He's unlikely to get  a call up barring injury desperation

59 minutes ago, ClosetBrewerFan said:

If Seigler replaces Monasterio, who is the backup SS?  I dont think Durbin has played Short.  Turang obviously can, but that did not go well in spring.  Not sure the Brewers would want to experiment with that and risk an arm injury.  Otherwise, I would agree, this is an obvious move.

I'd say Monasterio isn't an ideal SS to begin with, however in the situation I'm proposing it would be very late in games, more on the comeback trail than anything. My idea would be to use Turang ideally for the next inning at short but if it increases their chances of staying in the game when behind late (8th at a push, more often the 9th inning), I'd be happy with literally anyone fielding the following inning because at least you're still playing.

For starting games, he would get to spell Durbin on occasion vs right handed starters

[Joseph Zarr]

When you watch Seigler play regularly you just learn to really appreciate what he brings. He is a net positive impact across the board. Agreed on the improved defense from 3B - definitely has the arm...it's a bit of a cannon. He brings a scrappiness. He brings immense skill. He brings an upbeat smile to the game. As manager Rick Sweet has now said on more than one occasion: "We call these types of players 'Outdoor Cats'." In other words: Seigler is a born natural old school baseball player. 

[Babe Ruth is Dead]

Seigler began as a catcher and still occasionally does for Nashville.  Also can throw with either arm. Mainly has played 2ndbase the last two years. 3rdbase is a new position for him but he's an athletic type guy.  3rd might be his spot. And a former 1st round pick.  He's having easily his best season at the plate this year.  Maybe finally putting it all together? 

[SoCalBrewfan]

Probably this won't happen, but what about setting up a short Contreras DL stint (maybe around the AS break) and letting Haase and Seigler handle the catching for a week or so? I don't know whether he has much experience with the pitchers or how his defense is rated, but it is kind of spicy to have a C/2B/3B guy on the bench.

Zamora has had a year I didn't think he had in him, but it's mostly batting average as others have said. With elite defense that could maybe work out, but I feel like he's been more erratic than was anticipated when he was drafted...happy to be wrong. I assume they are mostly holding him as the break glass in case of Ortiz injury plan. 

[wallus]

There isn't much doubt that Seigler would provide more offensively than Monasterio. If Turang is okay with the occasional shortstop appearance, than why not try it? 

I know they are young but I wish our every day players would get more days off.

[rafa]

I'm late to the show on this one even though I saw this article earlier.  Regardless, it's an interesting concept, Brewers getting better internally without a trade.  

Miz is a huge boost but small pluses to come like Perkins in 3 weeks or so, Woodruff in another week to 10 days, maybe Seigler with what's been mentioned here.  By themselves, none of the moves do a lot but altogether they definitely move the needle in a positive direction without giving anyone up.  This also doesn't include the potential help from Yoho, Henderson or Myers when the Brewers can add another pitcher.

Also, I'm well aware of Turang's scary arm injury during Spring Training.  However, after playing 364 games at shortstop, I don't think the throw all of a sudden is a problem. I too think he can fill in once in a while for Ortiz who simply can use a day off like Turang, Frelick, and Chourio once in a while.

 

 

[gregmag]

Whatever we all think, does anyone have any sense of what the team thinks at this point about treating Turang as the backup / emergency ss?  That clearly seems to be the sticking point to an otherwise obvious move.
 

The only other possibility I can think of would be to give Siegler Bauers’ spot, but then you lose power and outfield depth (except do you, really, much?). You also lose your backup 1b, but *somebody* else on the roster must be able to play over there, right?  If the Brewers are considering that course of action, could it actually make some sense to then replace Mona with Zamora?  I fully cosign others’ accounts of Zamora’s limitations.  However, if (a) the team were hell-bent on not using Turang at shortstop and (b) they were willing to swap out Bauers for Siegler, then wouldn’t Zamora maybe be a better use of Mona’s roster spot?

 

[BrewerFan]

On 6/28/2025 at 9:23 AM, ClosetBrewerFan said:

If Seigler replaces Monasterio, who is the backup SS?  I dont think Durbin has played Short.  Turang obviously can, but that did not go well in spring.  Not sure the Brewers would want to experiment with that and risk an arm injury.  Otherwise, I would agree, this is an obvious move.

It's Turang. He'd be an elite defensive SS. You just slide in one or the other at 2B.

On 6/28/2025 at 8:51 AM, izzi said:

Or Freddy Zamora...

I wouldn't add Zamora over Siegler in this scenario, but it's nice to have a SS/2B with his defense and at least the ability to walk and get on base ready to get called up.

Not as nice as it'll be to have Cooper Pratt, Made, Pena, etc... ready to come up. 

But this is more about offense and Siegler is crushing it right now at 3 really important positions while Turang/Ortiz are pretty entrenched (though, Ortiz looked to be losing that grasp until recently). 

[BrewerFan]

15 hours ago, rafa said:

Also, I'm well aware of Turang's scary arm injury during Spring Training.  However, after playing 364 games at shortstop, I don't think the throw all of a sudden is a problem. I too think he can fill in once in a while for Ortiz who simply can use a day off like Turang, Frelick, and Chourio once in a while.

I can't believe this is even an issue. 

I feel like doing the Allen Iverson. 'We're talking about Spring Training? Spring Training? Not the season, not the regular season when everyone's shaken the rust of, but Spring Training? C'mon man! Spring Training!'

 

Yeah, I agree, he'd handle it. I think he'd be a great SS. I think he'd be the same as Ortiz for the most part. I think he was always going to be the SS until the Brewers found a deal with Baltimore and then it just made more sense to keep Turang, 2 years in and the "Platinum glove winner," at 2B. 

 

[Jake McKibbin]

 

This is the first time my timing has been impeccable with a move, and I'm going to enjoy it

[rafa]

Hell yeah Jake, props to you and definitely enjoy it!

[JohnBriggs12]

On 6/28/2025 at 9:23 AM, ClosetBrewerFan said:

If Seigler replaces Monasterio, who is the backup SS?  I dont think Durbin has played Short.  Turang obviously can, but that did not go well in spring.  Not sure the Brewers would want to experiment with that and risk an arm injury.  Otherwise, I would agree, this is an obvious move.

Durbin has experience at SS in the minors, and I think Turang is fully capable of playing there from time to time as prior to this season, Durbin was primarily a 2B.

[Brian]

57 minutes ago, JohnBriggs12 said:

Durbin has experience at SS in the minors, and I think Turang is fully capable of playing there from time to time as prior to this season, Durbin was primarily a 2B.

My hope is Seigler takes over for Contreras who's avg is almost 10 points lower than Caleb Durbins. Please let his hand heal, PLEASE!