Best and Worst Case Scenarios for the Brewers at Third Base

The Roster Situation
For all the questions about the hot corner, the one thing the Brewers don’t lack is depth. Vinny Capra, Caleb Durbin, Oliver Dunn, and Andruw Monasterio are all plausible candidates for at least part-time work there. The Brewers are obviously intrigued by Dunn’s power bat and defense, while Monasterio held the hot corner down during the team’s 2023 NL Central championship run.

Tyler Black, Isaac Collins and Sal Frelick are all, technically, emergency plans, with varying amounts of experience and proficiency. Frelick is too badly needed in the outfield, though, while neither Black nor Collins looks capable of actually handling the position. Non-roster invitee Raynel Delgado has seen action at third base this spring and looked good. The Brewers also have potential options in the minors, including Mike Boeve, Brock Wilken, and Cooper Pratt—although, for various reasons, don't expect to see any of them play in the majors this year.

The Best-Case Scenario: Oliver Dunn or Caleb Durbin Locks Things Down
The Brewers have two ways third base could go really well for them in 2025. One is for Oliver Dunn to emerge as the kind of player he's shown some promise to be, and that manager Pat Murphy sees in him. His offensive ceiling is that of a left-handed power threat who could help make up a good portion of the 65 extra-base hits the Brewers lost when Willy Adames went to San Francisco. Dunn’s defense is also well-regarded.

Durbin's upside looks wholly different. There's some pop there, but his game is centered on contact and speed, and his defensive work at third this spring has been less than inspiring.

Black is the dark horse, in that he has a higher offensive floor than either Dunn or Durbin. His OBP skills and baserunning have been superb throughout his professional career, even if he lacks power. The former Top-100 prospect could be a valuable contributor for the Brewers if he gets on the field, but his defense has not met (or even approached) the Brewers' standard. He hasn't played an inning at third base in the Cactus League thus far, which tells you how feasible he is as an option.

The Worst Case Scenario: Monasterio is Forced into a Full-Time Role
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Monasterio was a competent third baseman in the second half of the 2023 season, and acquitted himself pretty well. But if he is taking the majority of starts at third base, it’s either because the Crew has tried the other options with higher ceilings and found them wanting, or because injuries have rendered them unavailable.

Monasterio’s floor might be the highest among the potential options at third for the Crew. That said, his offensive ceiling is arguably the lowest.

Frelick playing third could end up being the truly catastrophic scenario, if the move is due to injuries and ineffectiveness among the other options—especially if it's compounded by a Blake Perkins regression at the plate.

Overview
The Brewers could have any number of outcomes at third base. That’s because they have a lot of choices. While none appear bad on paper, what happens on the field can be very different than what any projection might say. We've glossed over the possibility that Joey Ortiz will stay at third, with Brice Turang moving to shortstop and Durbin taking over at second base, instead of third. That's probably not quite the best-case scenario, and it's certainly not the worst-case, so it hasn't been within our scope here, but it's increasingly plausible. Durbin has not only played more innings at second base (26) than at third (22) this spring, but looked better at the keystone, too.

If Dunn wins the job at the hot corner, he'd push Durbin to the bench, where the rookie would be able to spell both Dunn and Brice Turang. That's why, in all likelihood, it's the best possible option for the Brewers. To have it actually happen, though, will require some players with shaky health histories to avoid injuries—and some with uneven track records to achieve consistency in their performances.