How Brewers Are Determining Playing Time on Left Side of Infield

[Jack Stern]

Image courtesy of IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When David Hamilton returned from the injured list amid hot streaks by Joey Ortiz and Cooper Pratt, Pat Murphy said the intention was to find playing time for all three, hinting that the Brewers would handle the left side of the infield with more nuance than a straight platoon between Hamilton and Ortiz at third base.

However, since Hamilton's activation, he's started 10 of Milwaukee's 11 games against a right-handed starter. Ortiz, meanwhile, has drawn just one start at third base against a right-hander. His other two starts against righties have come at Pratt's expense at shortstop.

It's the latest sign that the Brewers as an organization remain bullish on the athletic Hamilton's potential, even as he's made very few strides in harnessing that athleticism for more than a couple of plays or at-bats at a time. Earlier in the week, Murphy shed more light on how the Brewers are handling Ortiz. As they have with Andrew Vaughn, they're shielding him from right-handed arsenals with more horizontal movement.

"It's a type of righty," Murphy said. "There are righties that have [a] great two-seam, great sweepers. You don't play Joey as much against them."

Those east-west pitches, Murphy explained, can exploit recurring issues with Ortiz's front side as he strides toward the pitcher. After he gets busted inside with a two-seamer, he opens up early to cheat to it, leaving him unable to stay on a breaking ball moving away from him.

"If you're one of those hitters where wherever the pitcher's going, your eyes go there and don't respond to the other side [of the plate], it's more that than it is [your swing]," Murphy said. "So the swing decisions are affected more when a guy's bearing in on you … You have to be way, way convicted on what you're going to do with that. But in Joey's case, he had that habit for a long time of just his front side going, because he wanted so much to get to how he was being attacked, and it didn't serve him."

Statistically, that doesn't bear out cleanly. In 2026, Ortiz has fared a bit better against right-handed sinkers than right-handed four-seamers, and he's been passable against sweepers.

In a much larger sample for his career, though, Ortiz has done his best work against more vertical right-handed pitches like four-seamers and curveballs, while struggling against sinkers, short sliders, and sweepers.

The Brewers urge their hitters to take pitches they would struggle to hit before they get to two strikes. For Ortiz, that means keeping his focal point toward the outer third of the plate. His swing length is a bit longer (7.5 feet, according to Statcast) than the league average (7.3 feet), and his hands can sometimes lag behind the rest of his body when he opens up. Staying on pitches middle or away can help keep everything in sync.

"Now he's understanding, 'I got to take that and rely on what I can [hit] out over,'" Murphy said. "Or when [the pitcher] mistakes the two-seamer [over the middle], it's staying closed and staying linear, so he can handle everything else."

Bat tracking data reveals Ortiz's inconsistency in keeping himself closed on sweepers. His overall rate of early swings and flails away from the ball are both around the league average, but he's more prone to extreme flails and very early swings than the average right-handed hitter against a righty sweeper.

Ortiz's last two starts against right-handers have come against Tyler Mahle and Bubba Chandler, both of whom lean mostly on four-seam fastballs without much arm-side run. That could change if he becomes more consistent against side-to-side right-handers, but as long as the Brewers continue to believe in Hamilton and the rest of the infield remains healthy, adhering to arsenal matchups will remain the playbook.

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[Ro Mueller]

Here I thought they were selecting Pokémon cards to decide. Thanks

[keephopealive]

Boy, this is some insight about how Murphy is playing chess, while the typical manager is playing checkers.

[Nato_Coles]

I get it, I see the career numbers being not as good against two-seamers and sweepers and "horizontal" movement. My counterpoint is that Joey Ortiz is on fire, he's got the red hot right hand right now. Does that not count for anything? Also, how is Hamilton vs horizontal stuff from righties as opposed to Ortiz - a ton better? Loads better over the past season? Oodles better over the past two months, six weeks, month? The Batter RV/100 chart that shows he's bucked his career trend this season would be best accompanied by some numbers of how he's been against these pitches for the past two months, small sample size be damned. Sometimes guys just figure it out.

Maybe it's a coin toss, maybe these really ought to be Hamilton starts against righties whose arsenal hums with horizontal movement. But Ortiz was hitting SO well recently, and this raises the question: how much better was he hitting while Hamilton was on the IL against the dreaded horizontal movement pitches from righties than Hamilton was when healthy?

One big caveat: nothing against Hamilton, he's a great piece and I wish him many October champagne showers in 2026 and beyond.

[ghostdrew]

Maybe its just that Ortiz has a nagging injury

[Joseph Zarr]

I'm old enough to remember when a head coach rode the hot hand. It was actually a thing. No, really. A player got ridiculously hot and, get this, the coach played him until he cooled down. Wild times.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

What's to say that some tough matchups Ortiz has avoided wouldn't have sent him right back into a slump? Perhaps the past two weeks have saved Ortiz from falling right back out of favor with fans. We could just as easily be sitting here today with the #1 topic on this forum being how the Brewers blew their chance at the deadline to find a solution at 3B once and for all. There's a few singing that tune as it is,

I guess the Brewers decision makers have earned the benefit of the doubt from me. And as much as I wish that was the same for everyone else here I have to accept not everyone will see things from the same perspective