The Brewers brought first baseman/corner outfielder Jake Bauers back on a minor league contract this afternoon, the team announced. He’ll be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.
Bauers spent the entire ’24 season in Milwaukee. The Brewers acquired the lefty hitter from the Yankees early last offseason. Bauers took 346 plate appearances across 116 regular season games. He hit .199/.301/.361 with 12 longballs and 13 stolen bases. Bauers walked at a strong 11.3% clip but fanned 34.1% of the time.
That has essentially been the story of his major league career. Bauers carries a .208/.302/.361 batting line in more than 1700 trips to the plate between five teams. He has shown league average power with good walk rates but too many strikeouts. He grades as an average defender at first base with subpar marks on the outfield grass.
While Bauers didn’t have a great regular season, he briefly looked to have cemented himself in franchise lore. In the decisive third game of Milwaukee’s Wild Card series with the Mets, Bauers came up as a pinch-hitter in a scoreless game in the seventh inning. He crushed a no-doubt home run off José Buttó to put Milwaukee ahead. That looked as if it might be a game winner until Pete Alonso’s ninth-inning heroics carried the Mets to victory.
That swing wasn’t enough to keep Milwaukee from running Bauers through outright waivers at the end of the season. He elected free agency but circles back for a second season with the Brew Crew. Rhys Hoskins is back as Milwaukee’s projected starter at first base. Bauers could again compete for a left-handed bench or platoon role.