Vinny Capra’s six home runs and .292 batting average during the 2025 Cactus League earn him a key role on the Milwaukee Brewers’ infield. (Photo by Jeremy Chen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – Imagine hitting a three-run home run in your second Cactus League at-bat of 2025, then duplicating it in the bottom of the ninth inning for a walk-off 9-8 win. Milwaukee Brewers utility infielder Vinny Capra did exactly that in his first spring training game this season.
Capra went 2-for-3 with six RBI against the Cincinnati Reds on Feb. 22. Although that kind of day is hard to replicate, Capra continued to produce in a strong spring season, batting .292 with a 1.087 OPS, six home runs and 14 RBI in 20 games.
“He’s having a hell of a spring right now. He’s seeing the ball well, obviously. He’s doing some of the things we’ve been working with him on here in camp,” associate manager Rickie Weeks Jr. said after Capra hit his third home run in his first eight spring at-bats. “Anytime you drive the ball, it’s always good.”
Capra’s powerful Cactus League performance earned him an Opening Day roster spot for the first time in his career. He’s expected to start at third base when the Brewers begin the regular season Thursday with a road series against the New York Yankees. But his offensive surge hasn’t come out of nowhere. Fellow infielder Tyler Black noticed it at the end of last season when they played together on the Nashville Sounds.
“I’m really excited for Vinny. Personally, I saw him struggle at the beginning of last year in Triple-A a little bit, and he stuck with it, man,” Black said. “He continued to work, continued to kind of stay with his process and that was what most impresses me.
“From the end of August last year is when he got hot. He’s kind of not slowed down. It was really cool, you know, talking with him, it sounded like he changed a little bit of things. It’s really cool to see him kind of go off, and continue to hold it.”
Capra played 117 games with the Sounds last year, finishing with a .261 batting average. However, from Aug. 25 to the end of the season, Capra hit for a .353 average over 17 games.
The hitting success at the end of Capra’s 2024 season carried into the 2025 spring season. Oliver Dunn, his teammate and fellow infielder, believes Capra is finally getting to show everyone his capabilities.
“His performance speaks for itself. Four homers, doubles – yeah, Vinny’s raking. Maybe he’s a great hitter, you know. I think this is him just getting a sample size to show what he can do,” Dunn said in the first week of March when Capra was hitting .412 and slugging 1.176. “He’s made some awesome adjustments, and I think it’s just opportunity based. He’s a great hitter, and he’s showing everybody that now on a bigger scale where everybody’s watching and seeing him do his thing.”
Black and Dunn competed with Capra for an Opening Day spot on a crowded Brewers infield. Dunn made the team for the second straight year, and Black will start the season in the minor leagues after he had a late start to spring due to injury. Yet the trio were all smiles when talking about each other and their teammates’ success.
“It’s awesome, it’s definitely a competition. But I think it’s one of those situations where we’re all really good friends, and we all just want everybody to do their best,” Dunn said. “They say, ‘High tide raises all ships.’ I think that’s kind of how we feel. We all push each other (in) kind of like a competitive but friendly way.
“It’s just a good bond. We’ve all played a lot of baseball together and been around each other and like we hang out on the off days. I think it’s a good situation for us to play our best and continue to improve.”
Dunn had quite a stellar 2025 spring training as well. He hit .340 with a .960 OPS and five stolen bases. He has played five seasons in the minors, hitting .248 with a .379 on-base percentage. But unlike Capra, Dunn was on the 2024 Opening Day roster, making his major league debut last season with the Brewers.
Dunn played in 41 games for the Brewers in 2024, accumulating 104 at-bats. He hit .221 with five extra-base hits, seven RBI and three stolen bases.
Black also gained major league experience with the Brewers last season. He spent four seasons in the minors and hit for a .242 average, with a .402 OBP. In his 18 games with the Brewers, Black hit .202 with a pair of doubles and RBI, and three stolen bases.
It’s common for players to get the call-up to the majors and struggle. But with that experience, players like Capra can lean on players like Dunn and Black and pick their brains. Triple-A is ultra-competitive because everyone is fighting for a chance to play in the major leagues. However, the Sounds created a special culture with everyone rooting for each other.
“The Nashville team last year was really close. When you’re that close to the big leagues, there’s a lot of teams to where it’s kind of selfish and guys want to get up there for themselves. And one thing I’ll say is there was none of that down there,” Black said. “A lot of guys playing for each other, which is really cool. At the end of the day, we just want the best for everyone.
“When you see the guy next to you hungry to kind of get to the big leagues like you are, it’s really cool, and obviously you’re fighting for the same thing. So, it was really cool. There were a lot of good dudes.”
The camaraderie created at the Triple-A level in Nashville has translated to the Brewers’ clubhouse between the three players. Black was looking for a big spring training for a chance to make the Opening Day roster, but had to miss the first week of spring with back stiffness. Yet, for a player who had one-fourth of his spring tryout stripped by injury, he beamed when talking about the success of his counterparts.
“We have a good locker room here, and we’re all trying to pull for each other and help each other get ready for the season,” Capra said. “We’re all here to play our best. So, I think pulling for each other is going to bring out the best in us, and that’s all we really want, is for everybody to play at their best and be ready for the season.”
Capra worked on his swing during the offseason and came into 2025 with a mission of being more relaxed and trusting the process. One thing that helped that strategy was playing golf in the offseason. Capra said golf helped him relax and just enjoy playing the game, and helped him take his mind off baseball for a bit.
His relaxed playing style, along with minor adjustments to his swing, paid dividends in spring.
“(I) wanted to play relaxed, kind of trust what I did in the offseason. As camp’s been going on, I’ve just been working a lot with the hitting coaches and just finding a comfortable swing, and kind of just letting my body take over from what I’ve done in the offseason,” Capra said. “(My swing) feels more powerful. I think the way the mechanics go, it’s just a more rounded swing – kind of using more of my legs, which I think is a huge key.
“I think part of the results is not worrying about the results. I’ll go into the (batting) cage, and the second I feel good, I’m like, ‘Alright,’ like I don’t want to search for something that’s not there. I don’t want to keep trying to do too much. I think simplifying that and not overdoing the mechanics … it kind of just makes the game a little bit easier.”
Spring training has different meanings for each player, everyday starters are just getting warmed up for the season and working on timing. But for prospects, it’s the time to make their statement for a chance to play in the major leagues. That’s the group Capra, Dunn and Black found themselves in.
“Vinny doesn’t have options,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said with just over a week left in spring training. “So, if you really like the player, and he has the spring like he has, you have to think that it’s probably a good shot he wins the job – at least temporarily.”