Brewers' demotion of struggling third baseman foreshadows roster shake-up

The Milwaukee Brewers announced half of a roster move on Thursday morning, optioning a player to the minor leagues without yet revealing who will replace him on the major-league roster. Oliver Dunn, the team's starting third baseman against right-handed pitchers, will get an opportunity to find his swing again with his new bat, while earning everyday at-bats in Triple-A Nashville.

Dunn, who was the team's Opening Day third baseman in 2024, was off to a slow start for the Crew in 2025. Across 41 plate appearances in the 14 games that he appeared in, Dunn posted a slash line of .167/.205/.222. What was most concerning about Dunn's early-season performance were his unsustainable walk and strikeout rates.

According to FanGraphs, Dunn was striking out 26.8% of the time, which was down from his 38.5% strikeout rate last season, but still too high for someone who doesn't counteract his swing-and-miss with a high slugging percentage. Additionally, Dunn didn't draw a walk until the team's 16th game of the season, and has collected just one more base-on-balls since, putting his walk-rate at an underwhelming 4.9%.

Last season, the Brewers opted to have Dunn skip Triple-A, promoting him to the big leagues after his impressive 2023 season in Double-A. While Triple-A is often seen as an unnecessary step in a player’s development and is often viewed simply as a reserve roster for the major leagues, it could serve Dunn well to get everyday at-bats, which he wasn't getting on the big league roster.

Oliver Dunn's demotion could mean the highly-anticipated promotion of a notable offseason acquisition

While the team has yet to announce a corresponding roster move, Caleb Durbin, the infield prospect that the Brewers received in the Devin Williams trade, is the most deserving replacement. Durbin has posted an impressive slash line of .278/.316/.482 in 13 games with the Nashville Sounds this season. He's smacked two home runs and swiped three bases while striking out just five times in 58 plate appearances. However, a Durbin promotion would leave the Brewers with two right-handed options at third base, joining Vinny Capra on the third base depth chart.

Other candidates for a promotion include Andruw Monasterio and Raynel Delgado, with Delgado being the only left-handed option of the three. However, both Monasterio and Delgado are off to slow starts in Triple-A, making a promotion of either one of them a head-scratching move by the Brewers' front office.

Word on the corresponding roster move should come sometime either today or tomorrow morning, so stay tuned to find out who the Brewers will be starting at the hot corner for the foreseeable future.

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