Jake Bauers’ NLCS-altering swing confirms Brewers found magic dust that Guardians (and others) weren’t

This year’s NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers features plenty of huge names from both sides. 

On one side there’s a Dodgers roster led by Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The other has superstars like Christian Yelich and Jackon Chourio. 

But the biggest swing may have come off the bat of journeyman first baseman Jake Bauers, who finished off an 11-pitch at-bat on Wednesday against Blake Snell with a go-ahead two-run home run that powered the Brewers to within a game of the World Series. 

Five years ago, Bauers finished off his time in Cleveland with 43 disappointing games before being designated for assignment and finishing the season with the Mariners. 

Bauers spent the next couple years bouncing around MLB before finding a new home with the Brewers. He spent the past two seasons becoming a cult hero in Milwaukee thanks to an okay performance combined with some postseason heroics, but this year has been the best of both worlds. 

After posting an .874 OPS in 144 games in the regular season, Bauers has recorded an .825 OPS in the postseason and has racked up a hit in three straight NLCS games. 

The Guardians missing on Jake Bauers doesn't look as bad as some other front office mistakes

Although Bauers’ success may look bad on the Guardians at first glance thanks to his breakout performance, his situation requires more nuance than that of, say, Junior Caminero. 

The Guardians first acquired Bauers prior to the 2019 season in a multi-team trade, and his time in Cleveland was defined by a few highs and some frustrating lows. While he hit for the cycle in June 2019 he also struggled with consistency and effort. 

That was enough for the Guardians to cut bait, but they weren’t the only team burned by his lack of production. 

After finishing the 2021 season with the Mariners, he spent all of 2022 in the minors before returning to MLB in 2023 with 84 ineffective games with the Yankees. His signing with the Brewers before the 2024 season seemed like the final vestiges of a career coming to an end, but Milwaukee was able to sprinkle enough magic dust on him to turn him into an effective big league hitter.

That sets up what could be an interesting offseason, as Bauers is set to hit free agency for the first time in his career and is set for a big payday in a pretty depressed free agent market. 

That signing may cause some regret across Northeast Ohio, but it’s important to remember that they won’t be the only team feeling that. It's not like Bauers left Cleveland and immediately became a productive player; it took three more big league spots and oodles of patience from Milwaukee.

Not every team is afforded that kind of luxury, and the Guardians weren't one of them.

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