The Brewers have a bright future at shortstop – between Cooper Pratt and Jesus Made, they could have a generational talent at the position. Both are top-100 prospects, both are relatively young, and both could be. Jett Williams is also a potential contender there, boasting top-100 prospect talent, though he could end up at any number of positions. Then there is Joey Ortiz, who posted a positive WAR value (barely) despite a horrendous season at the plate in 2025.

2025 Brewers Shortstop Review

The Brewers faced some serious struggles at shortstop in 2025, at least in terms of offense. Joey Ortiz’s OPS+ dropped from 102 in 2024 to 66 in 2025. That would have been bad enough, but Willy Adames posted a 119 OPS+ for Milwaukee in 2024, making the drop-off at the plate that much worse for Milwaukee.

The Brewers got some offensive punch when Andruw Monasterio took over for Ortiz after an injury shelved him late in the 2025 regular season. Monasterio had been a cult hero and competent infield backup since the 2023 season, when he arrived after a scary incident involving Adames, then stayed to hold down the hot corner, but he’s with the Red Sox now after a six-person deal that also sent Caleb Durbin and Anthony Seigler to Boston.

Current Shortstop Roster Situation

Ortiz, new acquisition David Hamilton (a one-time Brewers prospect dealt to Boston in the Hunter Renfroe trade), and Platinum Glove winner Brice Turang are the natural shortstops on the 40-man roster. Top 100 prospects Pratt, Made, and Williams are NRIs to spring training. Eduardo Garcia is a one-time shortstop prospect who’s played all over the diamond due to the emergence of Pratt and Made. Eddys Leonard, a minor-league free agent signing, could be a contender, either as a starter somewhere or as a super sub.

In essence, the question isn’t if Joey Ortiz will be displaced. It’s more about who does the displacing, when it happens, and why it happens. Ideally, the Brewers will debut their new shortstop along with a new third baseman, both of whom would be home-grown, on Opening Day 2027, with plenty of good choices to choose from.

Best Case Scenario

A Top 100 prospect displaces Ortiz at shortstop around the middle of 2026, despite a return to Ortiz’s offensive form from the first half of 2024. This would likely entail the following: Ortiz would have been hitting well, while Cooper Pratt and/or Jett Williams would have been performing so well that Milwaukee has no choice but to call them both up. Ortiz would then become part of a midseason deal that Milwaukee uses to either further bolster its farm system or address a key need that emerges during the regular season.

This is not to say Ortiz is a bad player. At the very least, he is an excellent defensive shortstop with trouble producing at the plate. You could do far worse than that, especially for a salary at or close to the major-league minimum. But the way the Brewers have drafted over the past few years, as well as their signings in international free agency, leave them arguably overstocked at shortstop. How deep? Freddy Zamora and Eduardo Garcia were one-time top prospects who have been bypassed by Pratt and Made, and neither of them is a horrible player – Zamora has good OBP skills, doesn’t strike out a ton, and can steal a few bases and play decent defense. Garcia’s got pop, speed, excellent defense, and improved his walk rate big-time in 2025.

Worst Case Scenario

The 2025 version of Joey Ortiz gets over 40 starts. This would mean that multiple top 100 prospects are not performing well or have ended up on the injured list, while the Brewers are unable to move Hamilton from third base. There are some other ways for a shortstop to go poorly, as well. The Brewers could end up with Turang or Hamilton at the position as well, with the team trading prospects in a panic deal to shore up their infield.

Depth is a commodity the Brewers cannot afford to lose, especially since their farm system lost six players in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft, including Zavier Warren, a switch-hitting supersub listed as a first baseman, in addition to the panic trade made early in the 2025 season for Quinn Priester.

Brewers Shortstop Overview

While the Brewers have long-term depth and very good prospects, the Durbin deal that brought two solid left-handed starting pitching prospects and Hamilton came at a price: shortstop Monasterio. Milwaukee’s operating without much of a safety blanket, although the team has multiple prospects and one-time top prospects (Williams, Pratt, Zamora, Garcia) who could be surprisingly capable.

Keep in mind, the Brewers have had unheralded prospects become valuable assets – with the recently departed Monasterio being one such under-the-radar pickup. In this case, Garcia and Zamora could easily fall into this category, despite their higher-round pedigree.