Brewers Option Slumping 3B Oliver Dunn To Triple-A Nashville

Third base was one of the biggest question marks for the Milwaukee Brewers heading into Spring Training and remained so when the team broke camp and headed north to start the regular season.

Now, three weeks later, the Brewers are still looking for an answer after optioning Oliver Dunn to Triple-A Nashville during their off-day Thursday.

Dunn played a pivotal role in Milwaukee’s series-clinching 5-0 victory over the Tigers Wednesday afternoon, driving in in the first run of the day with a first-pitch squeeze bunt in the second inning. But he finished the day slashing just .167/.205/.222 in 41 plate appearances as part of a lefty/righty platoon with Vinny Capra, who himself has struggled to produce after playing his way onto the Opening Day roster with a blistering performance in Cactus League play.

Combined, the Brewers’ third-base platoon has a .421 OPS through 19 games and with Capra out of minor-league options, the Brewers sent Dunn to Nashville where the hope is regular playing time will help him regain the form he flashed as a Double-A prospect in 2023 when he compiled a .902 OPS in 119 games for Reading while in the Phillies’ organization.

How the Brewers replace Dunn remains to be seen. The team didn’t announce a corresponding roster move when optioning Dunn but Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported later Thursday that the team planned to recall infielder Caleb Durbin from Triple-A Nashville ahead of Friday’s series-opener against the Athletics at Amerian Family Field.

Durbin, 25, was acquired last December along with Nestor Cortes in the trade that sent All-Star closer Devin Williams to the New York Yankees.

After earning Arizona Fall League MVP honors slashing .312/.427/.548 with five homers and a .976, Durbin was expected to compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster but he was optioned to Nashville in late March after batting .250 with a .726 OPS in 59 Cactus League plate appearances.

Durbin’s defense, though, had room for improvement and the decision was made to go with Capra as the right-handed portion of the platoon.

His defense is still a question but the Brewers’ need offense and they’re hoping to get a spark from Durbin, who slashed .278/.316/.482 in 13 games for Nashville and has a career OPS of .782 with 113 stolen bases in 294 career minor-league games.

Durbin would be the third Brewers player to make his major-league debut this season, joining pitchers Chad Patrick and Connor Thomas. A fourth, right-hander Logan Henderson, could join that group this weekend. Henderson was recalled from Nashville earlier in the week and is the leading candidate to start the series finale Sunday afternoon.