Brewers Infielder Predicted To Match Robin Yount With Rare Statistical Feat

Willy Adames is gone, but the Brewers still have talent at shortstop

Jul 27, 2020; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; A Milwaukee Brewers hat and glove on the dugout rail against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the tenth inning at PNC Park.Milwaukee won 6-5 in eleven innings. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers are expecting a big year from their 26-year-old infielder.

Joey Ortiz doesn’t need to be Willy Adames — the player Ortiz is replacing at starting shortstop for Milwaukee — but he needs to be the best version of himself at the plate for the Brewers to have a great chance to three-peat as National League Central champs.

On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Eno Sarris predicted that Ortiz will do just that. Sarris specifically forecasted that Ortiz will go .260/20/20 in 2025.

“For the first two, almost three months as a Brewer, Joey Ortiz was cooking,” Sarris wrote.

“He was hitting .274 with six homers and a .448 slugging percentage in late June when something grabbed in his neck. “Couldn’t move my neck, that’s all,” the infielder said dryly at spring training last week. “That’s why I had to take some time off. Just happens, it happens.” You could immediately see the downturn in his ability to put the ball in play with authority.”

“He hit four more homers all year with a .345 slugging percentage afterward and admitted it was really hard to move the way he wanted to. … He feels good this spring and is slugging .698.”

“If the (.260/20/20) projection here doesn’t seem bold, there’s only one other Brewers shortstop who’s ever hit those benchmarks: Robin Yount.”

Ortiz slashed .239/.329/.398 last season with 11 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 142 regular season games for the Brewers.

The former No. 108 overall pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft is a career .237 hitter entering the 2025 season.

Ortiz is poised for big things this year, and there’s no reason to believe that Brewers manager Pat Murphy won’t put Ortiz in the best position possible to surprise a lot of people.

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