The Milwaukee Brewers have spent this season doing what they so often do: winning. They own the best record in baseball, and even with an offense that ranks fifth in runs scored, the lineup has a glaring oddity - a total lack of home run punch.
Through 130 games, Milwaukee has hit only 120 homers, the fewest in the sport. That makes Jake Bauers’ emergence stand out even more.
The 30-year-old first baseman and outfielder has become the club’s most surprising power source, leading the Brewers with 23 home runs after going deep on Saturday. He also has 74 RBIs, both career highs.
That kind of production would have been hard to predict for a player who had never hit more than 12 home runs in any previous season. Yet Bauers has turned in the best year of his seven-year career, outpacing every teammate in long balls. Jackson Chourio is next on the team with 17.
“Jake Bauers was a cheap power source for the Brewers in 2024 and 2025, but the club's small-market profile made him a non-tender candidate at the start of last offseason,” Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter wrote on Saturday. “Instead, he returned on a $2.7 million salary in his second year of arbitration, and that has made him one of the biggest bargains of the year as he has been an anchor in the middle of the lineup for the first-place Brewers.
“The 30-year-old had never topped 12 home runs in a season prior to this year, and preseason projections had him eighth on the club with 12 homers and only 294 plate appearances. Rather than filling a part-time role, he has a 144 OPS+ with 22 home runs and 72 RBI over 461 plate appearances while spending much of the year penciled into the No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the batting order.”
Now Bauers is positioned for a very different kind of payoff. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season and is finished with arbitration, which should put him on the radar for a much bigger contract than the one he’s playing on now.
Milwaukee is headed toward the postseason for the eighth time in the past nine seasons, but if it wants this year to end differently than last, it will need more nights like this one from Bauers.
In Other News...
Garrett Mitchell Gave Brewers Fans A Classy Moment On National TV
Sunday nights Brewers-Braves matchup carried a little extra sentiment beyond the score, thanks to Karl Ravechs final broadcast on Sunday Night Baseball. The longtime ESPN voice, who has been part of the network since 1993 and has covered everything from Major League Baseball to the Little League World Series, was recognized during the telecast as he wrapped up three decades in sports media.
Both Chris Sale and Garrett Mitchell made sure to publicly thank Ravech on the air, a classy touch in the middle of a nationally televised game. It was the kind of moment that reminded viewers the Brewers were part of something bigger than one nights box score, even as the broadcast quietly turned into a farewell for one of ESPNs most familiar voices. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Now Wait On Garrett Mitchell After Scary Exit
Garrett Mitchells night ended early in the Little League Classic after a 94 mph fastball caught him on the right forearm, sending the Brewers outfielder out of the game with a contusion. It was an ugly moment in a showcase setting, but the immediate news afterward offered some relief, as X-rays came back negative and pointed away from anything more serious.
Now Milwaukee is left waiting to see how quickly Mitchell can get back to normal and back into the lineup. The expectation is that he should recover soon, though the Brewers may have to make do without him for a short stretch while the soreness settles down and the team monitors how he responds. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers May Soon Face A Tough Rotation Call With Coleman Crow
The Brewers have reached the point in the season where the rotation picture is mostly clear, even if a few decisions still loom. Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, Logan Henderson and Dustin May appear to have the top four spots in place, while Shane Drohan is expected to shift to the bullpen. Robert Gassers hold on a rotation job looks less certain after some recent struggles, leaving Milwaukee with a small but meaningful opening to monitor.
One name that keeps surfacing is Coleman Crow, whose performance in Triple-A has put him in position to force the issue. The rookie could work his way into the rotation mix or simply be an obvious call-up when rosters expand in September, giving the Brewers another arm to consider as they sort through the back end of the staff. Brandon Woodruffs rehab remains a factor in the bigger picture, but his long ramp-up makes it unlikely he changes the regular-season equation anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]