Jake Bauers

29-Year-Old First Baseman1B

Free Agent

2024 Stats

AVG

.199

RBI

Rest-of-Season Projections

AVG

RBI

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2024 Fantasy Outlook

Bauers didn't see MLB action in 2022 for the second time in the previous three seasons, but he clubbed 12 home runs in 84 games for the Yankees last year. His .202/.279/.413 slash line and 34.9 percent strikeout rate were unsightly, but he had an 18.7 percent barrel rate and 48 percent hard-hit rate. Those numbers are likely what prompted the Brewers to trade for him early in the offseason, which for a time lined him up to potentially fill the large side of a platoon at first base following the departures of Carlos Santana and Rowdy Tellez. Bauers had a 10 percent walk rate in 2023 and has maintained a solid eye in the big leagues, but otherwise his track record in the majors as a below-average defender with a .663 OPS in 412 career games shouldn't excite fantasy managers, even if he is seeing a fair amount of playing time. However, Milwaukee's signing of Rhys Hoskins, who missed of 2023 recovering from a torn ACL, is likely to limit Bauers to more of a bench role. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

Rest of Season

From Preseason

#587

ADP

Bats L

Throws L

40 Man No

Height 6'1"

Weight 195

DOB 10/6/1995

Born Newport Beach, CA

College None

Drafted 7th Rd 2013 SD

Becomes free agent

1BFree Agent

November 4, 2024

Bauers elected free agency Monday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

ANALYSIS
Bauers was booted off the Brewers' 40-man roster Monday and has decided to test out free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment. The 29-year-old slashed .199/.301/.361 with 12 home runs and 13 steals over 116 regular-season contests for the Brewers and also added one homer during the playoffs.

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Batting Stats

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2024

2023

2021

2019

2018

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2023 MLB Game Log

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2021 MLB Game Log

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2019 MLB Game Log

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2018 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2022

+17%

OPS vs RHP

2024

+3%

OPS vs LHP

2023

+52%

OPS vs RHP

2022

No Stats

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2022vs Left	.587	63	8	1	6	1	.217	.254	.333
Since 2022vs Right	.686	555	65	23	67	15	.198	.295	.390
2024vs Left	.680	35	5	1	5	1	.242	.286	.394
2024vs Right	.659	311	40	11	38	12	.193	.302	.357
2023vs Left	.474	28	3	0	1	0	.185	.214	.259
2023vs Right	.719	244	25	12	29	3	.205	.287	.433
2022vs Left	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2022vs Right	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
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Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2022

+1%

OPS on Road

2024

+3%

OPS on Road

2023

+3%

OPS at Home

2022

No Stats

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2022Home	.673	321	39	13	37	8	.186	.290	.384
Since 2022Away	.678	297	34	11	36	8	.215	.293	.385
2024Home	.651	187	23	6	24	7	.182	.305	.346
2024Away	.673	159	22	6	19	6	.217	.296	.378
2023Home	.702	134	16	7	13	1	.192	.269	.433
2023Away	.683	138	12	5	17	2	.213	.290	.393
2022Home	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2022Away	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
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Stat Review

How does Jake Bauers compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.33

BB Rate

11.3%

K Rate

34.1%

BABIP

.279

ISO

.162

AVG

.199

OBP

.301

SLG

.361

OPS

.662

wOBA

.297

Exit Velocity

89.4 mph

Hard Hit Rate

33.7%

Barrels/PA

5.5%

Expected BA

.201

Expected SLG

.379

Sprint Speed

22.2 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

28.7%

Line Drive %

21.5%

Fly Ball %

49.7%

Prospect Rankings History

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

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Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Jake Bauers See More

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54 days ago

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The Z Files: What It Takes

81 days ago

Todd Zola provides some data to help you determine whether even Aaron Judge is capable of slugging your team into contention over the season's final stretch.

Past Fantasy Outlooks

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

Bauers came to the big leagues in 2018 with a good track record of hitting and a reputation for a willingness to accept his walks from opposing pitchers. Through two seasons at the big-league level, the walk rate has stuck, but little else has. He has been overmatched by most pitchers and has not hit for much power. Those two things coupled with below-average defensive abilities kept him off the major-league roster in 2020 as Bauers could not get out of the alternative camp. Bauers has shown no ability to hit lefty pitching, and has not done much with the time he has been afforded against righties either. He is out of minor-league options, so 2021 becomes a make-or-break time for him in Cleveland.

The Indians acquired Bauers from the Rays last offseason, intrigued by his plate discipline and athleticism. They knew Bauers exhibited contact issues and unfortunately, they persisted throughout the 2019 season. Bauers failed to build on his rookie campaign, eventually being sent to Triple-A Columbus for most of August. His patience waned as his walk rate dropped from 13.9% in 2018 to 10.6%. It wasn't all bad as the lefty improved quality of contact versus southpaws, slugging better against same-side pitching. Bauers' minor-league strikeout rate was 17.1%, so there's room to improve on his career 24.6% MLB mark. Despite struggling previously in the outfield, Bauers' best path to regular action is left field with Carlos Santana and Franmil Reyes earmarked for first base and designated hitter. There's playing time available, but to this point Bauers has done little to instill confidence he'll take advantage.

Bauers is not your prototypical first baseman. He does not hit with the power that we associate with the position, but he has better-than-average pop. He has enough athleticism to play both first base and the outfield, and has stolen 36 bases over the past two seasons. He has had double-digit home runs and steals in each of the past two seasons, most of which has been spent at Triple-A Durham. His rookie season was a disappointment, hurt mostly by a terrible stretch over the summer where he became a three-true-outcome player. Over 85 plate appearances in August and September, Bauers hit .058/.202/.072. He struggles against lefties, and will likely be platooned even following an offseason trade to the Indians. One has to hope the summer struggles were an adjustment period and not a sign of things to come.

If the ball stays juiced, Bauers could end up being one of the most underrated prospects in the minors. He has an elite approach and quality hit tool, which could lead to on-base percentages north of .360. Bauers is an average runner with great instincts on the bases -- a rare skill for a Triple-A first baseman. He also has above-average raw power, but doesn't access all of it in games yet. This is where he becomes impossible to project. If Jesse Winker can get to the big leagues and hit seven home runs in 47 games, then Bauers is capable of being a 20-plus homer bat from Day 1, but it's unclear if this power environment will continue in perpetuity. The outfield experiment was a flop, and he should take the reins as the everyday big-league first baseman early in his age-22 season. His plate skills and modest speed contributions provide a solid floor, but his power output will determine whether he is a sought after fantasy first baseman or a corner-infield replacement option in standard leagues.

Bauers' 2016 numbers with Double-A Montgomery may not jump out at a glance, but considering his age relative to level, it was a highly successful campaign. The 21-year-old outfielder/first baseman's OBP represented a 41-point improvement over the number he generated in his 285-plate appearance sample at the Double-A level in 2015 -- a product of Bauers walking a career-high 73 times over 581 plate appearances (pushing his walk rate from 7.4 percent to 12.6 percent). He also showed an ability to make consistent contact, striking out at just a 15.3 percent clip. Bauers figures to start 2017 back at Montgomery, and whether he will stick at his corner infield spot or settle permanently in the outfield remains in question. He may have better overall long-term viability in the latter role, as the lefty hitter doesn't project to hit for elite power at the highest level, although there is still room for projection in that department.

Simply put, first base prospects have to hit a lot to make it in the big leagues. Nobody questions Bauers' hit tool, but forget plus power, he may not even have above-average power. Every now and then a player like James Loney or Casey Kotchman is able to carve out a career as a starting first baseman despite never hitting 20 home runs in a season, but it is a pretty rare feat. Additionally, those players are usually afterthoughts in fantasy. The fact that Bauers hit .276 in 285 plate appearances at Double-A as a 19-year-old is incredibly impressive, but that does not change his long-term outlook. He played the outfield in the Arizona Fall League, where his offensive profile would be a better fit, but it remains to be seen if he has the ability to handle an outfield corner in the upper levels. If he remains a first baseman, he will be a low-upside option, due to the lack of projectable power, but he becomes more interesting in dynasty leagues if there is a permanent transition to the outfield.

More Fantasy News

Not in Game 3 lineup

1BMilwaukee Brewers

October 3, 2024

Bauers is absent from the lineup Thursday for Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series versus the Mets.