Why Jake Bauers isn’t playing in first game of big Brewers-Cubs series

Year in and year out, the Milwaukee Brewers are one of the most unheralded teams in MLB. They lack big-name superstars, but the team is great at diagnosing talent and developing it, and they tend to win a lot of games because of that. Right now, the Brewers lead all of baseball with 88 wins.

Jake Bauers is one of the under appreciated players that makes it all work. A seventh-rounder in 2013, the Brewers are Bauers’ fifth MLB team. However, the first baseman has really come into his own in Milwaukee and leads the team with 24 home runs this season. His previous career high was just 12 long bombs. Bauers also leads the National League in OBP (.396).

Milwaukee leads the NL Central by a decent margin, but they aren’t completely in the clear from the 81-63 Chicago Cubs, who they are starting a home stand against. Unfortunately, Bauers is out of the lineup against the division rival.

Adam McCalvy reported that the slugger has been playing through painful shin splints, among other bumps and bruises. It wasn’t his choice to rest up against Chicago, but Pat Murphy said that “He needed it.”

With Bauers out, Andrew Vaughn will start at first base, and Luis Lara will play right field. The Brewers are the hottest team in baseball, but they will need their best power hitter to be at full strength come the postseason. Despite the team’s sustained winning ways, the Brewers haven’t appeared in the World Series since their lone showing way back in 1982. Could this be the year that changes?

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