Before Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers signed a minor-league contract with the organization in January 2025, his baseball journey was facing its end.
On Wednesday, he was a hero in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, in which Milwaukee won, 6-2.
The Brewers fell behind in the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 3 when Dodgers catcher Will Smith hit a two-RBI double to give his team a 2-1 lead. Milwaukee still had nine outs left to work with, but with how left-hander Blake Snell had been pitching against them, it was going to take quite an effort to get on the board.
That's where Bauers came in.
After Andrew Vaughn took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, Bauers battled Snell in an 11-pitch at-bat in which he nearly homered on the 10th pitch. But on the 11th one, he rocked a 412-foot, two-run go-ahead home run to right field that gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead.
What it means for Bauers, Brewers
Bauers' relationship with professional baseball has faced significant strain, to say the least.
In the 2013 MLB Draft, Bauers was selected by the San Diego Padres with the 208th pick in the seventh round. Five years later, on June 7, 2018, Bauers' journey had brought him to Tampa Bay, where he made his MLB debut with the Rays. However, Bauer struggled, and those struggles were unrelenting for years to come.
Bauers' time with the Rays did not last, and he had stints with the Cleveland Guardians, the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees before he was traded to Milwaukee in November 2023. Bauers was at the end of his rope, but his wife's pregnancy compelled him to keep playing baseball to receive healthcare.
Bauers demonstrated improvement in the 2025 season, but it was not until this season that he truly took off. Through 144 regular-season games in 2026, Bauers logged a .266 batting average, a .389 on-base percentage, a .484 slugging percentage and an .873 OPS with 26 home runs.
Each of those metrics reflected career highs. Now, Bauers is proving himself in the postseason, and his performance just might secure him a future in Milwaukee.
Impending free agency
Bauers, 31, is playing the 2026 season on a one-year, $2.7 million contract that was signed to avoid arbitration. However, he is slated to be a free agent in the 2027 season.
The type of campaign Bauers has put together has been integral to his future in Major League Baseball. He has demonstrated tremendous progress as a hitter, and his improvement cannot go unnoticed when it is time to negotiate his next deal.
Recently, I wrote about how Bauers' performance in the postseason might define his future in Milwaukee. So far, his clutch at-bats have given the Brewers a lot to think about.