When the Milwaukee Brewers needed a replacement for Jackson Chourio in left field on the eve of opening day, they turned to the hottest hitter in spring training.
Jake Bauers wouldn’t call what he did a simple continuation of what he’d been doing but rather a logical extension of what he does.
A first baseman first, he answered the call in left and delivered a three-run homer in the Brewers’ 14-2 thumping of the Chicago White Sox on March 26 at American Family Field.
“It didn’t feel like a seamless transition,” said Bauers, who struck out in his first two at-bats and finished the day 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs. “There was a lot of extra adrenaline early that I didn’t necessarily know what to do with, so to settle in and have some good at-bats after the first two was a good thing, for sure.”
A onetime top-50 prospect, Bauers struggled to establish himself in the majors since his debut in 2018, playing for four organizations before landing with the Brewers in 2024 and finding his home in Milwaukee.
Coming into 2026, Bauers seemed likely to spend the year splitting time at first base with Andrew Vaughn.
But in spring training, Bauers batted .462 with seven homers and nine RBIs and a 1.725 OPS (on-base plus slugging). Fifteen games in atypical conditions make for a small sample size, but still not bad for someone who’s hit .211 over six seasons in the majors, .212 in two with the Brewers.
“How hard he was hitting the ball and how consistently he was hitting the ball,” caught the attention Pat Murphy, the Brewers manager said before the game. “Yeah, he’s found a home. You know, he’s part of the whole. He loves it, his teammates love him. He feels that energy, that all leads to the high level.”
Vaughn got the start against the White Sox, but when the Brewers decided on the eve of the opener to put Chourio on the injured list with a fractured bone in his left hand, they were able to use Bauers in the outfield.
Coming into the day, the 30-year-old Bauers had played 299 games at first and 142 in left.
“Throughout the course of my career, that’s been a common theme, is having to jump in in left field when needed, so I try to stay ready as possible,” Bauers said. “I spoke a little bit about trying to keep a day-to-day mentality, towards the end of spring training, so that’s what I’ll do. Wherever they need me to play is where I’ll play.”
Bauers indeed did speak at length about what he called a spiritual journey to a more relaxed approach in baseball and in life.
That journey took him around the bases in the seventh on opening day after he launched a pitch from White Sox rookie right-hander Jedixson Paez high in the air and long enough to clear right fielder Everson Pereira and the first few rows of bleachers to complete the Brewers’ scoring.
“I saw a fastball, and I hit it pretty high, and I was hoping that I got enough of it,” Bauers said. “Just tried to shorten up with two strikes, and got a pitch to hit.”
Bauers’ homer was one of two for the Brewers. Right fielder Sal Frelick hit the other in the fifth, scoring Bauers, who had singled ahead of him.
The Brewers finished with 12 hits and 10 walks off six White Sox pitchers with nine Milwaukee players reaching base.
“One through nine, even the guys off the bench coming in, everybody just committed to having a good at-bat, and trying to make it not so easy on the opposing pitchers. So it was fun to watch,” Bauers said.
“I think that’s the correct way to play baseball. … That’s what we do well when we’re going well. So we’ll keep that mentality and see how good we can get.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers’ versatile Jake Bauers answers call, delivers on opening day
Reporting by Dave Kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
