How The Brewers Unlocked Jake Bauers In 2026

[Cory Sparks]

Image courtesy of © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Jake Bauers’ 2026 season is off to a promising start. The Brewers’ first baseman has looked calm, cool, and collected up there and is on pace for some career power numbers while being one of the better overall hitters on Pat Murphy’s squad. Today, we’ll dive into what Bauers is doing differently, if anything, to make for a more productive run this time around.

Jake Bauers Background

For starters, Jake Bauers is a 30-year-old lefty; the first baseman has seven years of major league baseball experience, as he was originally a 7th-round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, when the San Diego Padres selected him. Since that point, he’s been in and out of starting lineups and has had major league service time with the Rays, Guardians, Mariners, and Yankees before joining the Brewers in 2024. He has been with Cream City ever since.

Bauers is a career .218 hitter, yet this year, he’s hitting .281 with a .355 on-base percentage. His career-best home run total is 12 in a season, yet the guy has eight this year, well before the halfway point of the season. What’s contributing to this breakout season at 30 years old? Before getting into advanced analytics, I have to think there’s some value in stability. This is someone on his fifth big league squad since 2018, and it’s the first time ever that Bauers has suited up for the same ball club three years in a row. Getting into the same routine, working with the same development staff, and other factors don’t hurt. 

Bauers Is Hitting The Ball Harder Than Ever

Diving into his advanced metrics, this is somebody who is hitting the ball extremely hard. 30 might be the new 24 for Bauers, because his hard-hit percentage of 52.8%, or the percentage of times he pieces up a ball at 95 MPH off the bat or more, is one of the best rates in all of baseball. Bauers is in the 95th percentile. How does the veteran first baseman make such pure contact? It starts with a wicked fast bat speed, a metric where he falls in the 96th percentile. Other indicators like his barrel percentage (77th percentile) and squared-up percentage (80th percentile) fall right in line, showing the Crew’s corner infielder is catching the ball as clean as anyone.

Bauers has been a part-time player for most of his career, and here are his three most recent qualified years in Baseball Savant:

 

Bauers' Discipline

Much like a lot of Brewers hitters, Bauers has the mindset down, too. His plate discipline has been remarkable early on, as he’s chasing just 19.7% of the time, nestling him into the 95th percentile as one of the stingiest batters in the bigs. Bauers does whiff around the league average, and his strikeout and walk rates sit in that same vein, but his ability to lay off of baseballs outside of the zone has bought him more trips on base and a much better slash line overall. 

A Slight Tweak

Bauers has routinely been someone who skies the baseball, as he registered a career-high 22.6 degree launch angle back in 2024. He cut into that mark significantly, lowering the average launch angle off of contact to 16.6 degrees in 2025. This year, it’s at a career low of 8.8 degrees. Bauers is hitting line drives, and combined with an average exit velocity that’s well above league average, that’s a great trend for someone who is on pace to blow his career-high home run total out of the water.

Overall, this is somebody who has been with the same team long enough that they can finally start to make some significant strides with their attack at the plate. The result? It could be a career year on a variety of fronts for a 30-year-old making some of his best contact yet.

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[BrewerFan]

Wish he figured it out with another year left until free agency, but... I'll take it! He's a really nice player... and could see Tyler Black stepping in and replacing him to some degree next year. Won't hit for the same power, but LHed 1B, OF... you lose a bit there, you gain a bit at 3B/SS hopefully. The balance the Brewers are always dealing with. 

 

Hope he gets a nice contract with someone else though. Really nice bat and good defense at a position defense isn't a priority.