DODGER STADIUM (Los Angeles) – Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers stood by a furious Brewers clubhouse that had, as right fielder Trevor Megill put it, “more reporters than players here.”
Small market brewers are not used to all this attention on them. Neither is Bauers.
With his back against a wall, wearing a cream chain and a green hunter hat with the words “Needed This” across the front, Bauers blended into the background of the busy locker room. He didn’t hide from the cameras, but he also didn’t attract the kind of attention that, for example, young star Jackson Chourio and team captain Christian Yelich were dealing with in their lockers. The Bauers, humble and selfless by nature, had no problem blending in.
Meanwhile, the whole room was talking about Bauers’ standout performance throughout the NLCS, culminating in his two-run home run off Dodgers southpaw Blake Snell in the seventh inning of the Brewers’ 6-2 Game 3 victory Thursday night.
From almost walking away from baseball to becoming one of the most important players on a championship-caliber Brewers team that is one win away from a trip to the World Series, Bauers has emerged as a leader, an inspiration and the heartbeat of the Milwaukee clubhouse.
“He’s always someone you can lean on and talk to,” Brewers second baseman Brice Turang told me after their win. “You look at guys who play the game well and play the game hard, and he always does that. And even off the field, the way he treats other people is really cool. We really appreciate that and let it be known. He’s definitely a big part of why we’re winning games.”
Two days ago, it was hard to imagine that Bauers could top his 12-pitch epic against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 of the NLCS. The grueling at-bat lasted seven minutes and four seconds as Bauers hung in there and battled, getting fouled on pitch after pitch until he finally drew a walk, loaded the bases and set up a big inning for the Brewers. The marathon at-bat ended Yamamoto’s pitch count and helped Milwaukee knock the Dodgers ace out of the game after just 2 ⅔ innings.
“I didn’t think he could have a better at-bat than he had against Yamamoto,” Brewers shortstop Sal Frelick said. “And he did, sort of.”
In the seventh inning of Game 3, with the Brewers trailing the Dodgers 2-1, Bauers was back in the middle of it. He battled Snell, dropped his entire arsenal and tried to wear him down on a mistake.
“There was definitely a moment where I thought to myself, ‘Oh, you’re at it again,'” Bauers said. “As far as coming up for the at-bat, I was looking for a fastball and I didn’t want to miss it, I said, I’ll adjust to anything else, but get a heater, don’t miss it.
On the 11th pitch of the at-bat, Bauers took his fastball. Snell threw it right up the middle of the plate, over the heart of the strike zone, and Bauers got every inch of it. He launched it into right field, saw it fly, dropped his bat and watched his teammates in the dugout pass out as they spilled onto the field to celebrate. Bauers’ two-run home run completed Milwaukee’s comeback and gave the team a 3-2 lead.
The 11 pitches he saw also helped Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell, who was in the on-deck circle, get a great read on all of Snell’s pitches. Mitchell, on the second pitch of his at-bat against Snell, hit a solo shot to right field, demoralizing the Dodgers with home runs in front of a hostile road environment, no less.
“We play for each other,” Bauers said. “It’s that simple. Every time there’s a mistake, an error, a walk, pitchers give up runs, hitters hit in a big spot, the only thing anybody thinks about is, how can I help pick that guy up and do my part to win this game? When you’ve got 26 guys who are bought into this game and you believe that and it doesn’t show up, playing a special part for each other.”
Added Mitchell: “What more can you say about JB, man? He did it the other day in Game 2 and he did it again tonight. I think that just shows the type of player he is. He’s a selfless athlete. He’s just trying to put the ball in play. He’s trying to move the guy and put an unbelievable clock on that movement, being able to do that. go up there and put together another quality at-bat, like he.”
ALL YEAR, WHEN The Brewers needed someone to step up, Bauers became one of the first players they looked at. But it wasn’t always like that.
At the end of the 2024 season, after Bauers recorded his fifth consecutive season as a minor league average hitter, he seriously considered retiring from baseball. After several years of moving between organizations — Milwaukee is the fifth MLB team Bauers has played for — and struggling to find consistency or results at the plate, the game had taken its toll. He began thinking about life after baseball, including spending more time at home with his family.
Ultimately, his decision to continue playing led him to Milwaukee, where he got another chance to prove himself. Finally, Bauers found some magic at the plate. Last year, he posted a 111 OPS+ in 85 games and raised his on-base percentage from .301 in 2024 to .353 in 2025. This season, he completely took off. Bauers’ career year featured a 140 OPS+ to go along with a .389 on-base percentage, 26 home runs, 86 RBI, 22 doubles, 93 runs scored and 94 walks. Those are all career highs for the 30-year-old master. His return is remarkable.
“I think what changed for me this year was that I don’t care about results anymore,” Bauers said. “I started caring about competing. I started caring about being in the moment and getting out of my own way. I came into this year feeling like there was really only one person holding me back, and that was myself. So I think I just gave myself the space to believe that I could play in this league.”
Jake Bauers almost retired two years ago. (Photo by Daniel Shirey / MLB Pictures via Getty Images)
Not only does Bauers “play in this league,” but he’s shaping up to win NLCS MVP.
“I’ve gotten really close to him personally and I’ve learned about his journey and it’s just inspiring,” Frelick said. “You see a guy who was close to retirement, or thinking about it. Now he’s leading us against a very good baseball team. It’s just a testament to his mentality, how he goes about his business. He’s a professional.
“He understands the game more like a veteran. He helps the younger guys learn through it. You can relate to a guy like that who’s struggled in his career, and when guys struggle here, they want to go back to a guy like that. It might be easier to turn to someone like that versus Yeli, who’s a three-time MVP.”
Pitching the pack at Dodger Stadium is a full-circle moment for Bauers. He grew up in Southern California. As a child, he went to his first major league game at Dodger Stadium. He played in the high school state championship game at Dodger Stadium — and his team lost.
“Obviously, we got swept last year at Dodger Stadium,” Bauers said earlier this week. “So not a lot of positive memories at Dodger Stadium, but hoping to make some for sure.”
Jake Bauers, staying focused. (Photo by Nicole Vasquez/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Bauers knows from experience what it’s like to fail and keep going anyway. His two-run home run that put the Brewers one win away from eliminating the back-to-back defending champs may replace the old memories of Dodger Stadium that have followed him throughout his baseball career.
That’s more than Bauers’ talent and the belief he held that he would find it again. Without his patience, composure, confidence, production and leadership, it’s fair to question whether the Brewers would be here today: 27 outs from their first World Series appearance in 44 years.
Sometimes, the most important players on championship teams are the ones who have had to fight the hardest to stay.
“He’s the man,” Brewers rookie Cooper Pratt told me. “He’s going to do all that, he’s going to win the game for us and it’s just another Wednesday for him. He’s a dog.”
