It's been a long and winding road through the MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers' home run leader, Jake Bauers. He's played for five teams through seven seasons in the majors and was traded four times in the process. Even before then, Bauers bounced around different farm systems since he was drafted in 2013. Now in his third season with the Brewers, Bauers has a solid footing and a place to call home.
Bauers has hit some tremendous homers since coming to Milwaukee, so if you haven't tracked his career closely, you might not know that this hasn't always been the case. Efficiency was a real struggle for the 30-year-old in stages throughout his early career, often overcorrecting or reaching on his swings.
It'd be easy to credit Pat Murphy with getting in his ear and giving him some pointers, but Bauers had to go on a personal journey to understand the key to finding his success in the pros. During an interview on MLB Network, Bauers admitted that the root of his problems often came from getting in his own way.
"A lot of it comes down to clarity in the batter's box. I spent years and years thinking about mechanics, worrying if my swing was right, and it's hard to hit in the Major Leagues when you got that in the back of your head," Bauers explained. "See the baseball, hunt the inside part of it, man... just really committed to that."
Jake Bauers is rejuvinating his career with the Brewers by simplifying the process.
Bauers has come a long way from where he began, on pace to set career-highs in key categories including batting average (.288), on-base percentage (.361) and slugging percentage (.511). In addition to leading the Brewers in home runs, he holds the team lead in RBI and ranks second in total runs as well. By simplifying the process and focusing on instinct vs. overcorrection, Bauers is playing the best ball of his professional career.
It's an important lesson that frankly, we can all relate to. You don't need to be a professional baseball player to get in your own way sometimes. That's just being human, and believe it or not, professional athletes are just like the rest of us.
Bauers also credited Brewers offense and strategy coordinator, Jason Lane, with helping him get back to basics. Having good leaders in your corner to help notice the aspects of the game that are difficult to see from the first person helps bring the best out of players. That's why you see evolution in the play of almost every player that comes through Milwaukee.
Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a beautiful story for Bauers' career rejuvenation in Milwaukee.
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