Brewers have another infield option who is tearing the cover off the ball in Triple-A

It's been a slow start to the season for the left side of the Milwaukee Brewers' infield. The duo of Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton have manned the shortstop position for the Crew through the first month of the season, while Hamilton and offseason free agent signee Luis Rengifo have covered third base.

Defensively, the trio has been solid. Ortiz remains one of the strongest defensive shortstops in the game. Hamilton has been a league-average defender despite never playing third base in his career prior to this season. Rengifo, who came with question marks regarding his defensive abilities, has been better than league average himself.

However, while the sure-handed trio impresses with their defensive abilities, their offensive production has been minimal through the first four weeks of the regular season. Hamilton has certainly been the best of the group, in large part due to his .366 on-base percentage. His .603 OPS is certainly playable, especially given how much value he adds on the basepaths. However, a .237 slugging percentage doesn't foreshadow a "quantum leap" like Pat Murphy and Brewers fans were hoping for. In fact, it's bunt hits -- the opposite of slug -- that are boosting Hamilton's numbers. Of his 14 hits on the season, four have been of the "bunt single" variety.

Meanwhile, Ortiz and Rengifo's production at the plate leaves very little to be excited about as April quickly comes to a close. Ortiz, after a brutal 2025 season at the plate, is starting out even worse than he did a year ago. In 2025, Ortiz sported a .508 OPS in the month of April, and this year that number has fallen to .344 through the first 24 days of the month. He has just 11 hits in 66 plate appearances on the season, and all 11 of them have been singles. Rengifo has shown flashes of production, he posted a five-game hitting streak last week, and he's cut down on his strikeout and chase rates, but he's still slashing just .171/.244/.257 for a lackluster .501 OPS.

Though the Brewers have been able to weather the storm without hardly any offensive production from the left side of their infield, it's by no means a sustainable approach. At some point, without improvements from Rengifo and Ortiz, and to some extent Hamilton, some difficult decisions may have to be made. Taking a look at Milwaukee's Triple-A depth, there is one name who might be able to help with this issue in the near future.

Eddys Leonard is off to a strong start in Triple-A and may be deserving of a promotion to the big leagues

Down in Nashville, where the Brewers' Triple-A affiliate is off to an even 12-12 start through their first 24 games, one overlooked infield option is off to a scorching hot start: Eddys Leonard. The 25-year-old Leonard, who the Brewers signed to a minor league deal this offseason, currently leads the Sounds with four home runs, six doubles, and a .988 OPS. He's currently riding an eight-game hitting streak and crushed two homers in last night's game against the Charlotte Knights.

The power is nothing new for Leonard, who has posted double-digit home run numbers in each of his last five seasons. He's pairing it with decent plate discipline this year, with a 21% strikeout rate and an average 26.42% chase rate to prove it. He doesn't walk a ton, which has harmed his on-base numbers at times throughout his minor league career, but he possesses exciting bat speed and has consistently hit the ball hard throughout his pro career.

Where question marks lie is Leonard's defensive abilities. He can play all four infield positions and has plenty of experience in the corner outfield spots, but he's a jack of all trades, master of none type defender. He's by no means the type of defender that Ortiz is at shortstop, but could probably hold his own at the hot corner under the guidance of Matt Erickson in the same way Rengifo has. It is telling, however, that Leonard is playing mostly left field for the Nashville Sounds, though that could be in part due to their crowded infield group.

With an open 40-man roster spot following yesterday's DFA of Luis Matos, a promotion of Leonard could be relatively harmless for the Brewers right now. It would involve optioning someone like Blake Perkins or Tyler Black to Triple-A, as both of them still have minor league options remaining, or designating someone like Greg Jones, who doesn't have options, for assignment. With the way things are currently going for the left side of the Brewers infield, giving Leonard some big-league reps might not be a bad idea.

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