PHOENIX – Remember these Milwaukee Brewers spring heroes of Cactus Leagues past? 

There was Mike Brosseau, who won the spring home run crown with six bombs and carried an OPS (on-base plus slugging) above 1.500 in 2022. 

What about Nick Franklin, who raked his way to a 1.222 OPS in 2018.

Or Brad Nelson, who won a spot on the opening day roster in 2009 by hitting four homers and driving in 19 runs.

Can you recall all the way back to 2001, when Angel Echevarria went 15 for his first 30 with three homers? 

It’s a rite as old as spring training itself. A player on the fringe of making the major-league roster becomes as hot as the Arizona sun.

Unfortunately, just as the desert temperatures cool when the sun sets, so do the bats of these spring flings. Brosseau was designated for assignment within months of his spring training slamming. Franklin never got another big-league knock. Same with Brad Nelson. Echevarria actually had the best offensive year of the bunch, but his defense made him a negative-value player the rest of the season. 

Vinny Capra making strong case for roster spot

Enter 2025’s Maryvale masher: Vinny Capra. 

The Brewers infielder is having one of the most impressive springs of anyone not only on the Brewers, but in the entire state of Arizona. He’s batting .346 with a 1.414 OPS and Cactus League-leading five homers. 

A journeyman at 28 years old, Capra seemingly has an inside track to make the opening day roster, too. 

“Vinny doesn’t have options, so if you really like the player and he has the spring that he’s had, you got to think there’s probably a good shot he at least wins the job temporarily,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. 

The roster spot no longer seems to be a big question for Capra. This though, is: Can Capra be more than just the Brewers’ latest spring fling? 

Here’s the optimist’s breakdown of why he could be less of a Franklin or Echevarria and more 2017 Jesus Aguilar. 

Off-season adjustments to swing have paid off

Capra hopes that off-season simplification of his mechanics and bat speed work will lead to some late blooming as a hitter. 

Let’s start with the former. Frustrated by where his swing was at late in the off-season, Capra texted hitting coach Connor Dawson with a thought: What if I just simplify all my movement at the plate? 

“That’s a great idea,” Dawson responded. 

Capra felt he was swaying too much in his load, which threw his whole swing out of sync – “That kind of changes your eye level,” he said – and just tried to simplify the movement. He would send Dawson videos from his training in Florida and felt like there was progress. 

“Once I kind of hammered in that movement for a month, it was like I told myself when I get to bat, ‘Don’t think about anything,’” Capra said. “Just see the ball, load, get downhill and kind of see what happens. Everything is working out.”

There’s another element to Capra’s swing that is working out, too: The power his bat is generating. 

Work to improve his bat speed in the off-season has translated to game action this spring. His five homers could ultimately just be a byproduct of spring training, but for someone who has hit all of 30 homers in six professional seasons, it’s at least worth paying attention to. 

“It feels more powerful,” Capra said of his swing. “It may even be a little faster. I think the way the mechanics go, it’s just more of a grounded swing using more of my legs, which I think is a huge key.”

With no minor-league options remaining, it’s now or never for Capra to make his impact felt by the Brewers. Sometimes desperation begets innovation; in this case, though, it might have led to something else, too. 

“When you’re at the edge, oftentimes it creates kind of a freedom of, ‘I’m just going to go do it,’” Murphy said. “It seems that he’s in that spot. So that gives him kind of an inside track because he’s out of options and you don’t want to burn players. We feel pretty lucky in that spot.”