Evolution of the 2025 Brewers’ Third Base Position: April Update

This year, I will be breaking down the evolution of Milwaukee’s third base position. It could be once a month, it could be every few weeks. In my opinion, it’s going to be the most focused on position by fans to see who ends up solidifying that spot. Last year, Sal Frelick got some looks at third base and we weren’t sure if there would be competition over at third between the newly-acquired Joey Ortiz or Andruw Monasterio.

After some injuries in the outfield and with Frelick out of the question, Ortiz took the reigns pretty quickly due to his fast start swinging the bat and his amazing defense. He ended his first full year in the majors by hitting .239 with an OPS of .727, 11 home runs, 60 RBIs, 11 stolen bases and 103 strikeouts over 142 games. A decent rookie season, but didn’t end on the highest note after going 0-10 in the 2024 playoff series.

Now, Ortiz is over at shortstop and will not be going anywhere unless there is a trade or injury. That means the team needs a new everyday third baseman. So, how has the position been lately? Let’s break it down.

Disclaimer: All of the information in this article is accurate as of the afternoon of April 11^th, 2025.

Oliver Dunn

When Opening Day arrived, we knew that Oliver Dunn and Vinny Capra would be splitting duties at third base to start out. Dunn would take on right-handed pitching and Capra would start against lefties. That is why Capra started on Opening Day. Now, keep in mind, we aren’t even at 30 or 50 at-bats yet for these guys. It’s a small sample size, but not the most ideal start from either side of the plate.

Over 26 at-bats, Dunn has a .454 OPS, .192 batting average, five RBIs and zero home runs. He also had a costly error in the Cincinnati Reds series. Starting 0-10 on the year didn’t help. His strikeout percentage at the plate is also sitting at almost 30 percent (28.6% to be exact), with literally zero walks to his name.

There is still time, but we will need to see a little bit more out of Dunn if he wants to stay up. He had a great spring, which lead to him getting a chance at the corner spot. He also has two more options, which means there is a very good chance those will be used if things don’t turn around by May. For what it's worth, though, Dunn is riding a four-game hitting streak; perhaps he's starting to figure things out?

Vinny Capra

The left-handed pitching platoon third baseman hasn’t faired much better since March 27^th. Unlike Dunn, the 28-year-old Florida native is out of options. If he can’t start swinging the bat, I could see a DFA by May. After a powerful spring and a home run on Opening Day, Vinny’s bat has gone cold.

Over 24 at-bats, only two less than Dunn, he has a .375 OPS, .125 batting average, three RBIs and the one homer. No stolen bases, no walks and a 24% strikeout rate. It’s obviously not easy for these guys to platoon, but you can’t strike out 25-30% of the time on a competitive baseball team, especially when you’re not hitting dingers or bringing in runs. Capra will need a few big games soon to be able to stay on this team. I feel like I see everyone rag on Dunn, but his counterpart isn't doing anything special either.

Other Internal Options

There is a very good chance the two platoon players on the Brewers that started on third base will both no longer be on the team or in the majors by the end of the season. Milwaukee has a few more options to look at before they start looking for trade partners.

Caleb Durbin’s call up isn’t really an “if” but a “when”. I wasn’t really against him being sent down and getting everyday at-bats instead of platooning. It seems to be working out so far. And even though it’s Triple-A, he is playing a lot better than Dunn and Capra right now. Since joining Nashville, Durbin has a .754 OPS, .256 batting average, three RBIs and two home runs. He has two walks, one stolen base and only a nine percent strikeout rate. There is a reason they traded for him, and it wasn’t to leave him in the minors. I would guess Memorial Day would be the latest he makes his debut.

Andruw Monasterio could also make a return this year as well. The only real issue is that he is basically a carbon copy of Dunn and Capra. His career OPS is .646. Last year with the Brewers, he had a .575 OPS, .208 batting average, one home run, 16 RBIs and six stolen bases over 125 at-bats.

He’s only played in ten games this year for Nashville. He has a .377 OPS, .150 batting average, three walks and 13 strikeouts. I highly doubt they will bring him up unless they need him. I know they want a platoon, but Durbin looks like future right now, and the best hope is that he can take over the position once he is up. You might see Dunn and Durbin up together, or perhaps even Tyler Black again to try at first and third.

External Options

The best bet is that they will let the Dunn and Capra experiment go until the end of April. After that, Caleb Durbin will be up. I think Dunn stays as well. They still might want a righty and lefty option, but beggars can't be choosers. If Durbin struggles and Joey Ortiz continues to hit below average, the Brewers will definitely make some sort of trade. After watching what a player like Ryan McMahon can do in Colorado, fans definitely left that series wanting more.

And if they do make a trade, I could see it being a shortstop or third baseman. And as much as you'd hope it’s only prospects that you would need to give up, the Brewers have an abundance of outfielders—and that’s with Blake Perkins on the injured list. Milwaukee needs someone on the left side of the infield to get on base and drive in runs. They might need to give away an outfielder to do it, too. You will not go far into the playoffs with hitting like this at the hot corner.

There is plenty of season left and some of these guys might start to play well or surprise everyone. But the Brewers are already in a division battle, and can’t risk losing a series here and there because we wanted to be really, really patient with our third base experiment. Get someone up or on the team that can hit the ball. The team hasn’t had an impact player at third since 2019.

After Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas, Brewers fans have seen Eric Sogard (2020), Luis Urias (2021), Jace Peterson (2022) and Brian Anderson (2023) at the hot corner. This team needs a solid corner infielder, and the fans deserve one too. It's time for Milwaukee to invest in one or find one.

Feel free to send me your thoughts and predictions as well. I assume this position will have lots of changes and upgrades throughout the 2025 season.