2026 Brewers Positional Analysis: Third Base

[Ray Stuedemann]

Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The surprising trade of Caleb Durbin and Andruw Monasterio to the Red Sox in early February cleared an unexpected hole on the diamond for the Brewers. Rumors of Isaac Paredes and CJ Abrams swirled around the internet, but all of fans’ questions were soon answered when the Brewers signed Luis Rengifo to a one-year deal to be the starter at the hot corner on Opening Day.

BREWERS THIRD BASEMEN AT A GLANCE:
Starter: Luis Rengifo
Backup: David Hamilton
Depth: Joey Ortiz, Eddys Leonard
Prospects: Jett Williams, Brock Wilken

Brewers fWAR Ranking Last Year: 20th out of 30
Brewers fWAR Projection This Year: 29th out of 30

THE GOOD
Rengifo brings major-league experience to the position. He has played in parts of seven MLB seasons and owns a career .250/.307/.382 slash line. He's looking for a bit of a bounce-back year with the Crew, as his 2025 OPS was the lowest it has been since 2021. He doesn’t walk a lot—only 6.1% of the time in 2025—and doesn’t steal much, with only 10 stolen bases last year. However, when healthy, he's shown better speed utility than that.

A returning piece from the Caleb Durbin trade, David Hamilton hasn’t had the previous offensive success that Rengifo has had. However, Pat Murphy and the coaching staff believe there's "a whole other level" to unlock for him. That remains to be seen, as Hamilton brings a career slash line of .222/.283/.359 to Milwaukee. However, he offers the consistent speed threat Rengifo likely can't. The Brewers have been known to find underwhelming hitters and make them serviceable, so don’t rule out offensive production from Hamilton. He's also the better defender of the two main options, despite spending most of his time on the middle infield.

THE BAD
Defensively, Rengifo doesn’t grade out well. He's neither big nor exceptionally quick, and his arm is just average. In 568 innings at third base last year, he posted -5 Defensive Runs Saved, according to Sports Info Solutions. Rengifo could end up being an adequate defender at the hot corner with the help of infield coach Matt Erickson, who helped develop Caleb Durbin into a capable glove, but that would be a big leap. Hamilton has already shown that moving to third will be no problem for him, but he lacks experience at the spot and won't get frequent enough reps there to get as comfortable as Durbin was by the end of last season.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Rengifo is a serviceable replacement for Durbin, but probably just a placeholder. The main thing the Brewers should focus on is finding the third baseman of the future, as many thought that could be Durbin himself. That player may be in the upper minors when the season begins, as Jett Williams and Brock Wilken could be pushing toward major-league at-bats soon. Williams, too, is better suited to other positions and has limited experience at third, while Wilken is close to being too big and burly for the spot. Each will put the good kind of pressure on Rengifo and Hamilton, though. Jesús Made, Cooper Pratt and Luis Peña all still want to prove themselves capable shortstops, but they, too, are candidates to be helpful at the hot corner—be that this year or next. While the Durbin trade left the team without as clear-cut an answer at the spot as they appeared to have, their organizational depth at third base is impressive.

View full article

[Bashopolis]

Or maybe Andrew Fischer?

[Profbratsch]

1 hour ago, Bashopolis said:

Or maybe Andrew Fischer?

He certainly proved he could perform when the lights were on. It would be worth a try!

[Team Canada]

He's had a few at bats in A+. He's very unlikely to be an option this year. If he tears up AA, then it gets interesting.

[jay87shot]

I think Rengifo does ok the first month or so, but Hamilton slowly gain PT over him as he get better and better defensively at 3B. At some point, Jett will get a call up at SS or 3B (maybe both) and push Rengifo out of the platoon. Maybe a little like last year but not as much struggles as last year. Rengifo=Dunn/Capra   Hamilton=Mone  Jett/Wilken/Pratt=Durbs

I would love to see Brock Wilken destroy AAA and be ready by say July but that one is may more hoping than what I think will really happen.

[Robert The Bruce]

The answers at third and short will be here soon, but not just yet.  Check back in after the lockout of 2027