With less than one day left until Opening Day, MLB teams are making their final roster decisions, with many teams seeking to make last-minute waiver additions or call-ups of top prospects.
The New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers are set to open Thursday’s Opening Day action with a 3pm EST start in the Bronx. Both teams have made last-minute decisions on players, with the Yankees adding hitters J.C. Escarra, Pablo Reyes and pitcher Ryan Yarbrough to the major league roster prior to Thursday’s opener.
The Brewers made a few consequential decisions of their own, including sending veteran lefty Jose Quintana down to the minors to complete his ramp-up to major league play, as well as rolling with a three-man rotation of Freddy Peralta, Nestor Cortes and Aaron Civale to start the year.
One interesting call made by Milwaukee, however, was to add journeyman Jake Bauers to the major league roster.
Bauers appeared in 117 games for Milwaukee last year, and struggled massively with a 34.1% strikeout rate and .199/.301/.361 slash rate. Bauers did play near-average defense at first base and stole 13 bases on 14 attempts, while also drawing walks at a 11.3% clip.
Bauers did come up clutch for Milwaukee in the wild card round against the Mets, hitting a pinch-hit, go-ahead home run in Game 3. That was, of course, overshadowed by Pete Alonso’s home run off Devin Williams in the 9th inning, but the blast was clutch at the time.
The Brewers non-tendered Bauers to avoid paying him a $2.3 million salary, but his strong Cactus League performance wasn’t something Pat Murphy could ignore; Bauers hit to a .938 OPS with three home runs and four doubles.
The Brewers will likely turn to Bauers as a pinch-runner or as crucial insurance in the event of injury to first baseman Rhys Hoskins or outfielders Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, or Garrett Mitchell.
Bauers will make another homecoming to the Bronx on Thursday, having played 84 games for the Yankees in 2023.
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