Ortiz also picked as top candidate at shortstop to open season
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Milwaukee Brewers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
In this week’s Reacts Survey, we asked fans where they expect the Brewers to finish in the NL Central. The Crew has won the division two straight years and three of the last four years, though no team from the division has advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs since 2019 when the Cardinals were swept in the NLCS.
In the national survey, the Cubs picked up 42% of the vote for a first-place finish, closely followed by the Brewers at 35%. The other 23% was split fairly evenly between the Reds (12%), Pirates (6%), and Cardinals (5%). Among Brewers fans, 58% picked Milwaukee to win the division again in 2025, while 28% picked the team to finish second, 11% to finish third, 2% to finish fourth, and 1% to finish last.
FWIW, FanDuel has Chicago as the NL Central favorite with -105 odds, with Milwaukee (+290), Cincinnati (+490), Pittsburgh (+1000), and St. Louis (+1000) falling in line behind them.
In our other survey question of the week, we asked fans who will be Milwaukee’s primary shortstop out of spring training. With three starting-caliber infielders in Joey Ortiz, Brice Turang, and Rhys Hoskins, the team is looking to fill a hole up the middle with the departure of Willy Adames. Hoskins at first base is the only foregone conclusion, with Ortiz and Turang both potential options to start at SS.
Beyond those two, leading candidates to round out the infield include Andruw Monasterio, Caleb Durbin, and Oliver Dunn. Vinny Capra and Isaac Collins are also possibilities. Earlier this week, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio implied Ortiz could “slide over,” and manager Pat Murphy revealed Ortiz will start at short in Saturday’s spring training opener, though Sophia Minnaert did report he said not to read too much into that alignment.
Still, all of that led 76% of Brewers fans to predict Ortiz will be the team’s starting shortstop out of spring training, with Turang in a distant second at 17%. Monasterio garnered 6% of the vote, and just 1% said someone else. If Ortiz does move over to shortstop, that will leave a hole at third base, with Monasterio, Durbin, Dunn, Capra, Collins, and even Tyler Black capable of playing there. We’ll see what happens as spring training plays out.
