Heading into the season, the Milwaukee Brewers decided to have a platoon at third base
between Luis Rengifo and David Hamilton. At the time, this decision made sense. Rengifo was
due for a bounce-back year. While Hamilton only appeared once at third base in his career, the
28-year-old had played shortstop in 92 games previously for the Red Sox, making the transition
seamless. However, both players have struggled offensively, Milwaukee’s platoon experiment
has been a failure so far this season, and it represents a symptom of an unsolved issue.
During the offseason, the Milwaukee Brewers made the bold move of trading Rookie of the
Year runner-up Caleb Durbin, utilityman Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler to the
Boston Red Sox. One of the players they got back from Boston was David Hamilton. During his
time with the Red Sox, the 28-year-old was used mostly as an injury replacement, filling in at
second base and shortstop. However, Hamilton developed into a speedy base runner and
proved to be a stout defender as well.
While the Brewers acquired David Hamilton, they still had no true third baseman on their
roster. Following the trade, the team signed former Angels infielder Luis Rengifo to a one-year,
$3.5 million deal with a $10 million mutual option for 2027. Rengifo had the worst year of his
career in 2025, but Milwaukee attributed it to not being fully healed from the wrist injury he
suffered in 2024. Before his injury, Rengifo had a stretch from 2022 to 2024 where he slashed
.273/.324/.431 with 39 home runs, 133 RBI, a .755 OPS, and an OPS+ of 105. The team believed
he could return to his pre-injury form. At the beginning of spring training, the team announced
that both Rengifo and Hamilton would platoon at third base.
While the regular season is only two weeks old, Milwaukee’s platoon experiment is off to a
rough start. Luis Rengifo and David Hamilton have struggled badly offensively. The pair has
combined to slash .156/.247/.195 with no home runs, five RBI, and an OPS of .442. While
nobody expected Rengifo and Hamilton to be All-Stars, their lack of early-season production is
unacceptable. They are both playing a position that is expected to generate major offense.
However, Milwaukee’s issues at third base are much deeper than the early struggles of Luis
Rengifo and David Hamilton.
The Milwaukee Brewers have had no stability at the hot corner for the past seven seasons. One
could argue that the last time the team had true stability was with Aramis Ramirez from 2012
to 2015. Since 2020, Eric Sogard, Travis Shaw, Luis Urias, Jace Peterson, Mike Brosseau, Brian
Anderson, Andruw Monasterio, Joey Ortiz, and Caleb Durbin all played the position. However,
none of those players proved to be the long-term third baseman. Last season, Durbin was
supposed to be the answer before being shipped to the Red Sox in the offseason. At this rate,
given how many third basemen the team has gone through, Brewers fans might as well create
something that mimics the iconic Cleveland Browns failed quarterback’s jersey.
Before the season, signing Luis Rengifo and acquiring David Hamilton made sense. Rengifo had
been productive before and given how bad his wrist injury was in 2024, it was reasonable to
expect him to bounce back. Meanwhile, Hamilton had the exact style of play that the team had
built its roster for. While the third base platoon experiment seemed like a good idea, it’s failing
badly. While nobody expected them to be middle-of-the-order hitters, their current output is
well below league average. This has been part of a seven-season trend, where the team has
been unable to achieve stability at the position. Unless Rengifo and Hamilton improve their
offensive production, Milwaukee will once again be in the market for yet another third
baseman.
