Brewers make surprising infield roster cuts that defied everyone's expectations

The state and arrangement of the Milwaukee Brewers infield has been influx since this off-season, when Willy Adames entered free agency and eventually signed with the San Francisco Giants.

From a shortstop standpoint, Adames' departure left Joey Ortiz and Brice Turang as the favorites to takeover at the position, in which there are strong arguments for either player. However, a recent issue with Turang's throwing shoulder has since pushed him towards staying put at second base, at least for now.

At third base, Oliver Dunn, Vinny Capra, Tyler Black, and Andruw Monasterio are all returners capable of manning the hot corner. Milwaukee also brought in more competition as Caleb Durbin was acquired during the Devin Williams trade.

Over at first base, Rhys Hoskins opted in to return to the organization, but was still involved in numerous off-season trade rumors. Black, who was mentioned as a third baseman, also is a first baseman. Lastly, Milwaukee brought back Jake Bauers on a minor league deal and also signed Mark Canha to a minors deal in late February.

Of the players mentioned above, Monasterio had been optioned to the minor leagues earlier in camp and Canha was recently traded to the Kansas City Royals. This left Dunn, Capra, and Durbin battling for a spot at third base and Black + Bauers toying for a roster spot as a backup first baseman.

On Saturday, the Brewers provided some clarity towards how their opening day roster will look and it certainly defies a lot of peoples expectations. Of that group of infielders, Black and Durbin will both be starting the year in the minor leagues.

Milwaukee Brewers latest round of roster cuts defies a lot of people's expectations

This means that Dunn should draw the vast majority of starts at third base against right-handed pitchers and Capra against lefties. Dunn, who is a sure-handed defender, made the opening day roster a season ago but had his rookie year cut short due to a back issue. Capra has had a tremendous spring, but is out of minor league options, so he has to make the roster out of camp otherwise he would be exposed to waivers.

These transactions also leave the Brewers without a clear backup first base option. This could change if Jake Bauers is added to the 40-man. Bauers reportedly has an upward mobility clause in his contract, which means that any team could claim him within the next 24 hours if they also add him to their 40-man roster. Milwaukee would get a 72 hour window to counter.

All-in-all, the Brewers 2025 opening day infield will consist of Dunn at third base, Ortiz at shortstop, Turang at second base, and Hoskins at first base. Capra is the only known backup right now that would be on the 26-man roster, as Sal Frelick hasn't touched the infield dirt in a game yet this spring.

A thin infield is not what Brewers fans expected coming into the season. It's possible that an external move is coming, but if one doesn't than Milwaukee will need to see progress, especially defensively, from both Durbin and Black before calling them up to the big leagues.

More Brewers News from Reviewing the Brew