There's No Need to Move Tyler Black Around to Get Him Playing Time Next Year

One school of thought is to use Tyler Black as a supersub: have him split time at multiple positions to give Christian Yelich time off in left field and at DH; to platoon with Rhys Hoskins at first base; to spell a third baseman to be named later this offseason; and to rotate through the outfield with Jackson Chourio and Sal Frelick.

Assuming Willy Adames departs in free agency and Joey Ortiz moves to shortstop, though, the Brewers will have a hole at the hot corner. Why not have Black hold down third base in 2025? It could solve both the problem of getting him regular playing time at the MLB level and of replacing Ortiz, when he slides over to replace Adames. While Black saw limited action (nine games) at third in 2024, he held it down for most of 2023 between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville.

We know Black is below-average defensively at the hot corner. We also know he won't be an elite hitter. His bat, though, is not a liability. In 529 Triple-A at-bats, Black’s posted a .278/.389/.452 slash line, with 23 doubles, nine triples, 18 homers, 92 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases in 34 attempts. As a replacement for Adames in the lineup, he offers more contact skills and speed, with less power. Still, if he can provide an OPS close to Chourio’s .791 for 2024, that would be very good news for the Brewers.

The Brewers missed the chance to break Black in when Yelich was out with back surgery in 2024. This means Black will have to make adjustments to MLB pitching in 2025, as Chourio had to in 2024. The good news here is that Black has seen a lot more of Triple-A pitching than Chourio did, and he had some exposure to MLB pitching in 2024. The hope is that Black’s adjustment will be shorter than Chourio’s.

In addition, as an “in-house” solution, having Tyler Black at third will greatly ease the payroll issues the Brewers are facing. Ryan McMahon, a possible trade target, is owed $44 million over the next three years. Black’s salary will be the MLB minimum for at least two of those years (with the prospect of “Super-Two” status in the worst case), so the Brewers will get a huge discount on the total salary for Black’s contributions as opposed to McMahon.

In short, if the Brewers need a third baseman in 2025, they could do far worse than making it Black’s job to lose in spring training.