May 9, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Equipment from Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter William Contreras (not pictured) sits in the dugout prior to the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
The Milwaukee Brewers have used several different players at third base this year. Andruw Monasterio got the nod on Opening Day, rookies Joey Ortiz and Oliver Dunn have seen the most significant playing time at the position, but Owen Miller has also been used sparingly as well. After 37 games one of these players may be pulling away with the job and is deserving of more consistent playing time.
Milwaukee Brewers infielder Joey Ortiz is off to a great start to the 2024 season.
Joey Ortiz, naturally a shortstop, is in his first year with the Brewers after joining the organization as a part of the Corbin Burnes deal. He’s split a lot of playing time with Oliver Dunn and as a result only has 75 at-bats on the year. During this time he has put up a .267/.378/.493 slash line with three home runs and 10 runs batted in while also playing outstanding defense.
Joey Ortiz is hitting right-handed pitchers extremely well.
As a right-handed hitter Ortiz has gotten the call from manager Pat Murphy against southpaws this year. Unfortunately he has just a.400 OPS against lefties, but against righties he is thriving with a 1.042 OPS. With platoon mate Oliver Dunn being a left-handed hitter it makes sense to start with this platoon, but even in a smallish sample size of 55 at-bats against righties it’s hard to ignore the damage that Ortiz is doing in these match ups.
Milwaukee Brewers infielder Joey Ortiz is deserving of more playing time.
At this time Joey Ortiz is deserving of an extended run at every day playing time. His biggest competition, Oliver Dunn, is in a bit of a slump and has just a .602 OPS and 74 OPS+ on the season whereas Ortiz is at a .871 OPS and 150 OPS+. The best way to see what a player is fully capable of is to let them play consistently and I believe we have officially reached that point with Ortiz.
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Tyler Koerth is the Lead Milwaukee Brewers Sports Writer at Wisconsin Sports Heroics. Articles have been published on Bleacher Report, Iheart, MSN, Yardbarker, and more. He has been covering the Brewers since 2019.