Looking back at our shortstop preview from 2024, talk about major changes. Willy Adames is now a San Francisco Giant, and Eric Brown Jr. doesn’t figure to be anywhere close to the fold. Instead, this will be a battle (though it seems like it’s leaning heavily toward one of them) between Joey Ortiz and Brice Turang.
Ortiz seems to be the assumed shortstop at this point — the Brewers’ depth chart doesn’t even list him as a backup at third base — but we’ve also seen Turang and Vinny Capra take reps there. The Brewers also have Andruw Monasterio and Caleb Durbin as guys who can play second, third, or shortstop as needed.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at Milwaukee’s shortstop depth heading into 2025.
Joey Ortiz
After coming up primarily as a shortstop, Ortiz spent almost all of 2024 as Milwaukee’s third baseman (134 games vs. 10 games at shortstop and six games at second base). Ortiz will seemingly flip those numbers around in 2025, spending the bulk of the season at shortstop in his second full MLB season.
While he didn’t have a great second half (.211/.283/.362 with four homers, 31 RBIs, 25 runs, and six steals in 65 games), Ortiz turned in a solid season overall, finishing with 2.7 bWAR as he hit .239/.329/.398 with 11 homers, 60 RBIs, 58 runs, and 11 steals across 142 games while providing above-average defense (96th percentile in range per Baseball Savant).
Moving over to shortstop, Ortiz should continue to provide solid defensive value as his combination with Turang at second creates for one of the better defensive double play combos in the majors. If Ortiz can put together a full season of his first-half stats, he may be one of the top shortstops in the league.
Ortiz has raked thus far in spring training, hitting .348/.423/.696 with a homer, two triples, a double, five RBIs, five runs, and three steals across 26 plate appearances. Baseball Reference projects Ortiz to finish with a similar season to 2024, hitting .244/.324/.398 with 11 homers, 54 RBIs, 53 runs, and 10 steals across 459 plate appearances.
Brice Turang
I already wrote about Turang in-depth in last week’s second base preview, but it should be mentioned that he also came up through the minors as a shortstop. Given that he’s now a Platinum Glove Award winner at second base, though, I think it’s no surprise that the Brewers are satisfied with him there.
Like Ortiz, if Turang can pair his plus-plus defense with a solid offensive stat line, he could become one of the best second basemen in the majors.
Read more on Turang from last week’s second base preview.
Vinny Capra
I’ve written about Capra twice in the past week, but I think he’s made his case even more clear since last Thursday. Through 30 spring plate appearances, he’s hitting .320/.393/.960 with five homers, 12 RBIs, five runs, and two steals. With no minor league options remaining, Capra continues to make his case for a spot on the Opening Day roster in a utility role.
Read more on Capra from last week’s second base preview.
Andruw Monasterio
As with Capra, I’ve already written about Monasterio twice in the past week. Monasterio seems like he could be the odd man out among infield options heading into the final few weeks of spring training, especially given that he still has minor league options remaining. He’ll likely have to make his case at Triple-A Nashville before we see him at American Family Field again.
Read more on Monasterio from last week’s second base preview.
Caleb Durbin
Durbin is an interesting case here. He still hasn’t made his MLB debut and, with Capra and Oliver Dunn likely on the roster, he may have to wait just a tad longer. Thinking roster-building wise, the Brewers aren’t likely to hold more than six infielders, and Durbin would probably cross that threshold (thinking Rhys Hoskins, Turang, Dunn, Ortiz, Capra, Tyler Black). But I’ve been wrong plenty of times before — we’ll see.
Read more on Durbin from last week’s second base preview.
Cooper Pratt
On to the most fun name on this list. Pratt, still just 20, had a solid spring showing before being sent back to minor league camp, as he went 5-for-15 with four RBIs and three doubles. The former sixth-round pick will start the season at either High-A or Double-A, with a slim chance to make the majors later this season.
He’s had a solid minor league career thus far, hitting .286/.370/.411 with eight homers, 53 RBIs, 65 runs, and 31 steals across 108 games.
