The Bauers That Be
With three consecutive NL Central crowns, the Milwaukee Brewers have established themselves as a powerhouse through their player development, including coaxing career years out of formerly modest MLBers. Nobody epitomizes that philosophy more than Jake Bauers, who led Milwaukee to a huge series win over the vaunted Dodgers with a 4-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB performance in Sunday’s 6-2 victory. Facing arguably the game’s most dominant southpaw, the lefty-hitting Bauers showcased his newfound on-base ability, never recording an out against Tarik Skubal and the Los Angeles bullpen.
The 30-year-old always showed decent power during his years with Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Seattle and the Yankees, but he never made consistent enough contact to maximize his strengths at the plate. Even in his first season with Milwaukee in 2024, he struggled to a .199/.301/.361 line with an 88 wRC+. He fared better in 2025, hitting .235/.353/.399 with a 114 wRC+, but Bauer’s true breakout has come in 2026, hitting .275/.384/.500 with a 143 wRC+ (10th in the MLB) and 21 HRs. Bauers has improved his walk and strikeout rates from 11.3% and 34.1% in 2024 to 14.5% and 24.8% in 2026 and has put up easily his career-best totals in HR, R and RBI. He is making better decisions at the plate and his Bat Speed and Hard-Hit% are both in the 95th percentile or better. All of this has resulted in another successful Brewers project, as Jake Bauers has turned into one of the best hitters in the National League.
Let’s see how the other hitters did on Sunday:
Jackson Holliday (BAL): 2-4, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB.
Jackson Holliday set the tone at the top of the lineup for Baltimore in their 10-2 drubbing of the Rays on Sunday. The Orioles waited until the fifth and sixth innings to do all of their scoring and Holliday got his team on the board with a game-tying RBI single off Tampa Bay starter Freddy Peralta. He added a two-run double an inning later, giving the team a comfortable 7-1 advantage. The former number one overall pick started his season slowly after coming back in May from offseason surgery, but Holliday has shown improvements over the last month, hitting .284/.373/.379 in that span.
Ryan Vilade (TB): 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI.
A career journeyman who only appeared in 28 MLB games between 2021 and 2025, outfield Ryan Vilade is showing he belongs this season. The 27-year-old hit his 10th HR of the season and scored all of the Rays runs in their loss to Baltimore on Sunday. Vilade has appeared in 70 games for Tampa Bay this season, hitting a very respectable .256/.318/.478 with a 119 wRC+.
Bryan Reynolds (PIT): 2-3, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB.
The struggling Pirates and Bryan Reynolds needed a big game on Sunday and they got one, as Reynolds knocked in a pair of runs and Pittsburgh took the series from Boston 8-3. The 31-year-old career Pirate is still having one of his best years in some time, but Reynolds has struggled mightily since the All-Star break, hitting just .205/.288/.304 with a 63 wRC+.
Matt Olson (ATL): 1-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB, SB.
Nobody in baseball has more extra base-hits than Matt Olson and he showed that pop on Sunday, blasting a monstrous go-ahead three-run HR in the seventh inning to give Atlanta a 5-3 victory over Arizona. The homer was Olson’s 36th of the season and he now has eight in his last 15 games.
Alec Bohm (PHI): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
The much maligned Alec Bohm was immensely clutch for the Phillies in their 7-5 comeback win over the Twins on Sunday. Down 5-0 early, the Phillies clawed their way back as Bohm’s three-run HR in the sixth inning made the score 5-4. Bohm then tied the game with an RBI single in the eighth and would later come around to score the team’s final run.
Brooks Lee (MIN): 1-4, HR, R, 4 RBI.
Brooks Lee provided 80 percent of Minnesota’s runs yesterday with one swing of the bat, pulling a grand slam down the right field line in the first inning off Philly starter Andrew Painter. The homer was the former first rounder’s career-best 18th of the season and Lee has shown moderate improvements at the plate in his third season with the Twins.
Alec Burleson (STL): 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Alec Burleson has been on a tear for the Cardinals since being dangled at the trade deadline and he continued his hot-hitting with a three-hit, four-RBI game in the team’s 11-4 win over the division-rival Cubs. Burleson is now hitting .340/.444/.774 with six HRs in his last 15 games and has a career-best 133 wRC+ for the season.
Jordan Walker (STL): 3-4, HR, 2 2B, R, 4 RBI, HBP.
The breakout season continues for Jordan Walker, as the Home Run Derby champ amassed eight total bases, including his 24th HR in the blowout St. Louis win. What more can you say about Walker’s staggering transformation into one of the game’s best hitters in 2026.
Adael Amador (COL): 1-1, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB.
Adael Amador did it all at the plate for Colorado in his second MLB game of the season on Sunday, reaching base in all three at-bats and clobbering a three-run homer in the Rockies 13-7 win over San Francisco. One of the top prospects in the Rockies system, Amador struggled in 41 games in 2025 and his looking to make his mark down the stretch as he fights for an Opening Day spot in 2027.
Rafael Devers (SF): 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Rafael Devers dominated Colorado starter Gabriel Hughes yesterday, hitting a double and a three-run HR before the end of the second inning in the Giants loss. Devers continues to feast on right-handed pitching in 2026 with a 146 wRC+, but his struggles against lefties (58 wRC+) have severely hampered the slugger’s season.
Michael Massey (KC): 3-4, HR, R, RBI.
While it has been a season to forget for the Kansas City Royals, a bounceback season from utility man Michael Massey has flown under the radar. Injuries plagued Massey in 2025 after he hit 29 HRs in 229 games between 2023 and 2024, but the 28-year-old is now hitting .271/.301/.442 with a 102 wRC+ after a big game in the Royals’ 3-0 win over the Angels.
