The Brewers announced that first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left shoulder impingement. Infielder Tyler Black has been called up from Triple-A to take Bauers’ spot on the active roster.
With Rhys Hoskins sidelined until roughly mid-August due to a Grade 2 thumb strain and a bone bruise, losing Bauers further depletes Milwaukee’s first base picture. The Brewers called up Andrew Vaughn to pair with Bauers in a righty-lefty platoon, and on paper, that platoon can be preserved with the left-handed hitting Black now in the majors to join forces with Vaughn.
It helps that Vaughn has been on fire at the plate during his brief time with the Brew Crew, and Black is a former top prospect who might yet break out in his first taste of MLB action in 2025. Black had a modest .561 OPS over his first 57 career plate appearances in 2024, and his work this season was put on hold when he fractured his right hamate bone at the end of Spring Training. Black didn’t make his season debut until mid-May, and he has hit only .191/.301/.303 over 103 plate appearances at Triple-A Nashville, perhaps indicating that he isn’t back to 100 percent.
Bauers has been used primarily as a platoon bat over his two seasons in Milwaukee, though he has still hit a modest .198/.306/.359 over 497 PA in a Brewers uniform. More details on Bauers’ injury and recovery timeline should be known later today, but barring a minimal 10-day absence, he’ll be out of action beyond the July 31st trade deadline.
First base figured to be a target area for the Crew even before Bauers’ injury, even if the club’s preferred goal was probably a player that can play first base amongst other positions, rather than a pure first base-only type. The Brewers still have plenty of time before the deadline to monitor Hoskins and Bauers’ recoveries, and to see if Vaughn can keep rolling. Beyond just first base, the Brewers could make more of a move to obtain a left-handed hitting outfielder, with Bauers and Sal Frelick both hitting the IL in the last few days.
Another late season Brewer injury?
No hate for Bauers but pretty amazing he’s getting paid to take MLB ab’s as a first baseman. His bat says defensive first backup catcher. Good for him carving out such a long career.
It is very impressive how long of a career he’s put together, always plays for great teams that are constantly contenders yet has never been a league average bat in any season. As a corner bat I think that makes him a unicorn.
I was just thinking the same thing. How is he still in the majors?
I remember when he was with the Yanks he showed some flashes but never played consistent enough to warrant semi regular playing time
According to this article he’s hitting a “modest .198/.306/.359 over 497 PA in a Brewers uniform.” That batting line is garbage.
I hear you and agree with your disdain for that batting line, but statically, he’s not even 10% below average wRC+ or OPS-wise in 2025, so I’m not sure “garbage” is accurate. The game has changed–what was once garbage is now only a bit below average… I think this slash line says more about the current state of the game than any individual player.
For example, take what a league-average wRC+ may consist of in today’s game with Kyle Manzardo: .214/.289/.435. Also, the league average triple slash is .245/.316/.401 (.717 OPS). In 2000, the league average triple slash was .270/.345/.437 (.782 OPS). Baseball has had a lot of up and downs offensively, as I’m sure you’re aware, and this just happens to be one of those down eras.
He’s just a roster filler, once they find somebody better they’ll let him go.
But his pitching was outstanding.
We keep him around for mop up duty as a pitcher during blow outs
Small sample size, but it’s incredible how leaving the White Sox has helped Andrew Vaughn. I hope he continues to excel and becomes a productive hitter like we all thought.
Did Andrew Vaughn ever hit this well for Chicago in any stretch?? I don’t recall ever hearing about him “catching on fire”. Maybe he just needed to get away from that dysfunctional franchise.
He had flashes of being good in 2021 and in 2022, but that all came crashing down as everyone else pretty much cratered.
Have said this multiple times to just trust me on this, but Vaughn desperately needed out of Chicago. He’s not that guy to not have a team mentality around him. Leaving him out on an island in the clubhouse and droning through loss after loss has never been part of his makeup. Glad to see he’s having success in a small sample size, granted, but I think he will be way better away from the White Sox as with the White Sox.
Gonna have to trust me on this one.
Going from a team that most high-school second stringers could beat to a team on fire fighting for a playoff birth will bring out the best in a player
The Brewers might have coaxed Bauers onto the injured list so they can get another look at Black before the trade deadline. Black will get some time in right field as Frelick’s replacement and at first base, and he would be wise to show what made him a high draft pick, right behind Frelick.
Black was hitting .191 with 2 HR in the minors this season. I don’t think they were champing at the bit to bring him up.
Doesn’t matter. He’s one of “Murphy’s guys.”
The Brewers didn’t “coax” anything. That would be death when the players union found out. Bauer is an excellent defensive first baseman. Hoskins is a butcher. Vaughn is in the middle defensively. Bauers had a big homer against the Mets in the postseason last year. Devin Williams blew the game.
Seriously. The definitive statements like these are so freaking annoying. Fans love posing as insiders.
Brewers need to trade for some better bench bats, especially with how great their staff is pitching. Can’t waste that.