Why, Specifically, Have the Brewers Forgotten How to Defend?

The Milwaukee Brewers' loss on Thursday afternoon was a painful one, but it exposed a series of flaws we have seen since the start of the season from this Brewers defense. The reigning Team Gold Glove winners, led by the premium infield pairing of Joey Ortiz and Brice Turang, have made poor decisions, bobbled balls and displayed a lack of the range that drove their defensive excellence last year. So where exactly has it gone wrong so far?

The first is that they led all of baseball in "range", per Statcast measurements, saving an estimated 27 runs from this alone. Willy Adames struggled in this regard in 2024, so you would think replacing him with the talented Ortiz at shortstop and the superbly athletic Oliver Dunn at third base (at least early in the season; Caleb Durbin is a new variable in the equation) would be an upgrade. Couple that with more DH days for Christian Yelich, and an outfield of young dynamos in Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell would make them even more dominant.

Unfortunately, this hasn't been the case. Early individual statistics defensively are tough to rely on, but team metrics can be more telling, due to the larger sample size involved. In the first month of 2025, only three players are above 0 for the Brewers in defensive range, per Statcast: Mitchell, Chourio and... Isaac Collins.

Frelick has the lowest mark on the team, at -2, while Ortiz and Turang—a supposedly electric infield—are stuck on 0. The Brewers' combined talents at third base has a mark of -3. 

The infield is more of a concern than the outfield, with Frelick's marks likely to rebound. He's passing the eye test in the outfield, at least. Arguably, the best model for marking infield defense is Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). By its reckoning, both Ortiz and Turang have been subpar defenders, with -3 and -1 DRS, respectively. By now, you'd sooner have guessed the pair would have added four or five runs to the Brewers' ledgers. It hasn't worked that way.

The thing is, Ortiz has made some very impressive plays. This may not grade out well, as defensive models don't often factor in the wind effect, but it's remarkable athleticism:

The problem is the indecisiveness that has plagued both Ortiz and Turang. Both have fumbled easy plays on multiple occasions, bobbling double-play balls and making poor choices on which base to go to. It was the Brewers' metronomic ruthlessness that brought them success last season. They found outs they had no right to in 2024. This year, they've failed to convert some outs that seemed to be there for the taking.

All in all, the Brewers seem to be forcing it, chasing some spectacular plays rather than retaining their zen-like, monotonous approach to getting outs. If they can alter that mentality, they should be able to rediscover the infield excellence they were known for last season.

I twould also be unfair to dismiss the early work of Garrett Mitchell in all of this. Mitchell has accrued 6 outs above average in just 176 innings of baseball, leading center fielders on a per-inning basis (of those with 100+ innings). He's been the saving grace for the Brewers defensively so far. It's been a joy to watch—especially behind the likes of Quinn Priester and Jose Quintana.

This is perhaps one of the best catches this season, with just a 20% catch probability:

The Brewers aren't a spent force defensively, but they do need to get back to basics. If they can stop forcing the great plays at the expense of the easy plays, they should return to those lofty heights of yesteryear.