Freddy Peralta and Jake Bauers are walking into the World Series with more than a title on the line. They’ll be facing the organizations where their big-league careers began, with both players carrying Championship Series MVP awards into a matchup that gives this Fall Classic an especially personal edge.
The Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers meet in the 2026 World Series, and the spotlight falls quickly on Peralta and Bauers for different reasons. Peralta, now back with Tampa Bay, helped power the Rays through the ALCS with a dominant run on the mound. Bauers, meanwhile, comes in as one of Milwaukee’s key bats after a strong season and a huge NLCS.
Peralta spent eight seasons in Milwaukee from 2018 through 2025 and built a reputation as one of the Brewers’ most reliable starters. In that stretch, he went 70-42 with a 3.59 ERA and 1,153 strikeouts.
But Milwaukee traded him to the New York Mets before the 2026 season, and the move did not go smoothly. He posted a 4.99 ERA in New York before Tampa Bay brought him in at the trade deadline.
Once he landed with the Rays, everything changed. Peralta made three appearances against Cleveland in the postseason, including two starts and a relief outing in Game 4.
He came out of the series with a 0.75 ERA over 12 innings and was named ALCS MVP. This week, heading into Game 1 on Friday, he made it clear he’d like to stay in Tampa Bay for the long haul.
For now, though, he’s headed back to American Family Field with a chance to help the Rays capture their first World Series championship.
Milwaukee has its own player with a Tampa Bay connection in Jake Bauers. He made his major league debut with the Rays in 2018, later moved through several other organizations, and eventually found a home with the Brewers in 2024.
Since then, he’s become a meaningful part of their offense. Bauers put together a standout 2026 season, hitting 26 home runs and driving in 86 runs.
He kept it going in the NLCS, too. In Milwaukee’s four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bauers drove in six runs and delivered a go-ahead two-run homer off Blake Snell in Game 3. That performance earned him NLCS MVP honors and set up a World Series collision with the team where it all started.
Peralta reached this stage as an established pitcher who had to reset his season after the Mets stint. Bauers got here after spending years trying to carve out a steady major league role before finding real traction in Milwaukee. Now both are back where their careers began, trying to help their current teams win a first championship.
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