Can Caleb Durbin and Oliver Dunn Man the Hot Corner for the 2025 Milwaukee Brewers?

Caleb Durbin and Oliver Dunn share some fascinating similarities and some distinct divergences in their playing styles. Each of them recently won the Arizona Fall League Breakout Player of the Year Award: Dunn in 2023, and Durbin in 2024. Each possesses startling speed on the basepaths; both are surprisingly effective on the infield dirt; and they each have good-to-great plate discipline. Despite this, their approaches at the plate are chalk and cheese.

While Durbin is a contact-oriented hitter who scraps his way on base, Dunn has some of the best bat speed in the majors and can hit for devastating power—if he could only make more in-zone contact. Splitting a right/left platoon matchup may be on the cards for the 2025 season, but could there be another wild card thrown into the mix?

Dunn's back was an enigma in the 2024 season. After barely a whisper was heard about it after he went down in June, he resurfaced playing some winter ball in the Dominican Republic, where he seemed disinclined to get the bat off his shoulder. Dunn barely swung in his 26 plate appearances there, logging just two hits, four walks and nine strikeouts.

To say this will be indicative of Dunn in 2025 is unfair, but it is concerning. The common thought after his early-season efforts was that he needed more time in the upper minors, and skipping Triple A was too much of a leap for him. He has the talent, surprising defense, and power to be a big-league contributor, but without some adjustments, it's hard to see that coming to fruition. As you can see below, if it isn't a meatball, Dunn Struggles to make any form of contact:

Thus, it's possible that (although Durbin's high floor and Dunn's high ceiling seem well-matched) relying on Dunn could be problematic, at least in the short term. When you combine the results from his 2024 debut with a checkered injury history, it's hard to hold much faith in him.

The Brewers do have Andruw Monasterio on their roster, although last season saw him relegated to a bench role with sparse appearances. Monasterio saw some catastrophic defensive frailties exposed and, although he was loosely passable at the plate, he didn't provide a whole lot there, leading to negative bWAR on the season.

Durbin is exciting as a fresh face in the Brewers camp: hard, gritty and with a variety of ways in which he can impact the game. He found some pull-side power at Triple A last season, but his 10.6% home-run rate on fly balls is unsustainable for a player with such low exit velocities. Whether he's truly an everyday player over a long stretch remains to be seen. However, with his speed, contact and plate discipline, even 10 home runs would enable him to be a capable offensive threat—if his defense can remain up to scratch alongside that.

Taking this into account, it seems as though the Brewers will want at least one more infielder in their mix to vie for the third-base role, either as a platoon for Durbin (who had reverse platoon splits in 2024) or on the bench. It seems as though the Brewers, who value that spring training competition, will want at least one other MLB-capable player in the mix.

What do you think Brewers fans? SHould the Brew Crew chase another third baseman, either in the mold of an everyday starter such as Ryan McMahon, or a backup infielder with some intriguing characteristics like Lenyn Sosa or Maikel García? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!