Why the quiet excellence of the Brewers' most underrated defender shouldn't go unnoticed
The numbers would tell you nothing special is happening with Jake Bauers’ defense.
According to Defensive Runs Saved, Jake Bauers has been a net zero with the glove. Baseball Prospectus' Deserved Runs Prevented says the same thing. Statcast gives him a positive yet still pedestrian rating of one out above average.
On top of those numbers, Bauers is playing at a position, first base, which isn't considered a premium defensive spot. It's not generally considered to be as valuable or difficult as other positions on the field, such as shortstop or catcher. In many ways, first base defense can be an afterthought.
"You never really notice a good first baseman," Bauers said from the visitor's dugout last weekend at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. "But you sure as hell notice a bad one."
Bauers' manager, however, notices good first base play.
"His value on that, I don't know how to quantify it, but it's a huge value. Huge value," Brewers skipper Pat Murphy said. "Any ball in the dirt, he picks."
On a team where its defense is one of its primary strengths, it can be easy to lose sight of Bauers' defense in the early going. For starters, he doesn't even play every day with Rhys Hoskins also on the roster. Then there is the flash of defenders like Willy Adames, Brice Turang and William Contreras, which can cloud the work of the guy catching the ball at first base.
But Bauers has been a rock. Look no further than his MLB-leading five scoops at first base – which he's done without missing one in only part-time action, too – for evidence of this.
The six plays below also show the value Bauers has added to the Brewers defense.
Consider it not only a look at the quiet excellence of Bauers with the glove but a deep dive on first base defense – an important yet underappreciated aspect of the game – on the whole.
In chronological order, here are those plays, broken down by the first baseman himself.
April 2 vs. Twins
The situation: Brewers leading, 3-1 in the seventh. Runners at first and second. Nobody out. Hoby Milner pitching. Carlos Santana batting.
The play: Milner throws a perfectly-executed backdoor curveball to Santana, who rolls it over firmly to shortstop Willy Adames. It’s a tailor-made double play, but Adames bobbles the ball. There’s no play at second, so he has to rush a throw to first, which he puts on target to Bauers but with an in-between hop and plenty of velocity. Bauers stays down and makes the pick, beating Santana by half a step.
“On this one obviously I’m running to first base thinking double play,” Bauers said. “I don’t see this whole part (of Adames dropping the ball). I probably pick him up right about here (as Adames is scrambling to pick the ball up) and go, ‘Oh (shoot), that ball is on the ground.’ My eyes go typically go to second base when you think it’s going to be a double play. Then as I’m kind of scanning back, you catch it and realize where the ball is at. And then you know he’s going to have to throw it hard because that runner’s coming down the line. There’s a shot this throw goes a little wild. This is a tough one here because it’s an in-between hop and it’s right at you. Your body is in the way on a play like this, so I’m trying to get my body out of the way so my glove can get to the right spot.”
On throws from the shortstop, Bauers will start with his left foot in the middle of the base, as opposed to down the line when the throw is from third or up the line when it’s from second. But on this play, he said, he had to open his body up to “clear” it out and allow his glove to come through to the ball.
Bauers then tries to keep his weight back as long as he can in order to allow his eyes to read the hop until the moment he attacks the ball, at which point he says he tries to work up and through the baseball almost like he’s a catcher trying to frame a low strike.
With all that going on, he somehow maintained his balance just long enough to stay on the bag before tumbling to the ground once the out is secured.
“That ball can’t get by you,” he said. “I think if I miss this, it hits me in the chest, which is fine. It’s all about body positioning, body awareness, awareness of where your feet are, awareness of where the throw might go depending on what he’s doing.”
April 6 vs. Mariners
The situation: Mariners leading, 3-0, in the third. Runners on the corners and one out. DL Hall’s pitch count has already climbed to 50 pitches. Cal Raleigh batting.
The play: Raleigh hits a hard chopper right into the ground. Oliver Dunn has to play it on two hops at third before going to Brice Turang at second for the first out. Turang’s relay throw is on target and Bauers stretches out fully, going into the splits to complete the double play and get Hall out of the inning.
“It’s just awareness of where the runner’s going to be at,” Bauers said. “Dunn there has to go back on it, we’re trying to turn a double play. You know (Raleigh) doesn’t run great, but it still took a lot of time to develop so you know you’re gonna have to go get it. Once you see that throw coming in from there and you know it’s on a good line you can kind of be aggressive to it.”
Bauers is able to make a play like that because of his athleticism and situational awareness. It may have been a play that gets lost in the shuffle of a 5-3 loss for the Brewers, but it helped Hall get out of an inning in which he had already thrown 27 pitches, ultimately allowing him to pitch into the sixth and give Milwaukee a chance at a comeback.
April 7 vs. Mariners
The situation: First at-bat of the game. Colin Rea pitching. JP Crawford at the plate.
The play: Crawford gets a cutter over the plate and smacks it toward first. It takes a hop just past the base. Bauers has to read both where it’s going to hop once it comes off the bat and then how it’s going to bounce up given the spin. He picks up on the heavy topspin, sits back on and makes the play.
Bauers said that even though the trajectory of the ball was well outside his frame off the bat, he knew he didn’t need to worry about shuffling his feet hastily because, with the speed and spin of the ball coming in, doing so might throw his eyes off and the ball would be more likely to bounce off his glove.
“Sometimes it’s just being confident in your hands,” Bauers said. “This is knowing that I don’t need to panic. I don’t need to try to slide in front of it and get handcuffed here and boot it off to the left. I can sit back here, read the hop and then trust my hands.”
April 10 at Reds
The situation: Brewers lead, 5-0, in the second. Nobody on and two outs. Wade Miley pitching. Elly De La Cruz hitting.
The play: Cruz hits a high chopper on one bounce to Adames in the hole to his right. De La Cruz is one of the fastest players in the game, so Adames has to uncork a fast throw once he gets his feet set. It barrels toward Bauers like a sinker and he has to decide whether to attack it before it hits the ground or play a short hop. He ultimately picks it on the hop all the while just barely keeping his foot on the base because the throw is a bit up the line.
Bauers himself didn’t know if he kept his left foot on the base in real time.
“That’s why if you notice,” he said, “I didn't even know if I held the bag. That’s why I reached back for it with my glove. Like, ‘Oh, shoot, I’ll tag the base.’”
On just about every play, Bauers will take two or three hard steps toward first, then peek at the runner before getting his footwork in order and establishing himself at first. With De La Cruz running it not only speeds up Adames’ end of the action but gives Bauers less time to get acclimated. It also makes it more important for him to take a quicker first step toward the base and causes him to have to glance at De La Cruz earlier than usual.
“You can feel the runner coming,” Bauers said. “As the ball is hit i’m watching the runner out of the box. Just a peek. Because I know if he takes a hard first step, he thinks he can beat it and he’s coming. If he takes a slow first step out of the box then I know he’s not giving up but I have a little time here to sit back and catch the ball.”
Bauers would have liked to stay back on the throw a bit better, but with De La Cruz running his priority was to attack the throw and make sure didn’t get by rather than hold the base.
“Here, you know there’s a fast runner so you can’t really sit back on it,” he said. “I might’ve gone out a little too early. That’s why I’m starting to come off the base, because I have to reach. But then after that, it’s all just do the best you can to hold the base and field the ball.
“You know if this ball gets by you, Elly’s on third base. There are certain times where that takes importance over trying to make the out, making sure you secure the ball. This was that kind of situation, where I’m trying to secure the ball first. If it gets by me he’s on third. If I can hold the base, too, that’s great, but we can live with a guy on first and two outs.”
April 10 at Reds
The situation: Brewers lead, 5-0, in the third inning. Nobody on and one out. Wade Miley pitching. Will Benson batting.
The play: Miley throws Benson a cutter in a full count, and the lefty pulls it down the first-base line. Bauers anticipates it, takes a step to his left and smothers the ball with a diving attempt, then beats Benson to the base for the out.
Bauers utilized a PitchCom headset to get a jump on the ball.
“Being here, this is the first year that I’ve had PitchCom,” Bauers said. “I have PitchCom out there so I know what pitch is coming. I know with Miley on the mound, he’s throwing Benson a cutter, which as a left-handed hitter, if a lefty throws a cutter there’s a pretty good chance that it’s going to get pulled on the ground if he puts it in play. So naturally I’m already thinking, ‘Alright be ready down the line.’”
Because of his pre-pitch anticipation, Bauers was able to just get low and smother the ball rather than having to lunge and make a backhanded stab.
“I knew he hit it hard, so immediately instead of trying to take a couple steps over and work a backhand, I kind of just tackled it. I’m getting low. I knew I didn’t have to jet toward the line. I’m thinking more about getting as low as possible, get underneath it and you know you got time coming up there because first base is right there.”
Watch Bauers closely in a game and you will see slight adjustments based on the situation as well as what pitch he hears is coming.
“You’re noticing situations, you’re seeing what might happen in a certain situation,” he said. “I know that if there’s a runner in scoring position, a right handed hitter is in the box and there's a slider low and away coming, chances are this guy’s going to try and drive that run in. Depending on the guy, I might slide over into the hole or I might be a little more alert than I would be if it’s a fastball in.”
April 10 at Reds
The situation: Brewers lead, 6-2, in the fifth. Nobody on and two outs. Bryse Wilson pitching. Luke Maile hitting.
The play: Maile gets a low-and-in sinker and pounds it down the third-base line. Joey Ortiz plays it on two easy hops, but deep behind the base and up the line. It one-hops to Bauers, skipping on the wet grass for an in-between hop that stayed down but the first baseman sits back and makes the backhanded pick. The out helped Wilson to get through three innings, eating important outs to preserve the rest of the bullpen after the starter only went four innings.
“Honestly, that’s one of the trickiest ones because it’s coming from the third baseman and you have this right here,” Bauers said, pausing the video as the ball bounded off the grass on Ortiz’s throw. “This one I knew Maile was running so I have time. I know Joey’s deep in the hole so he’s going to have to really throw it. And when a guy has to throw it, it tends to be a bit more erratic, so you’re ready in that situation.”
The throw from Ortiz not only gave Bauers an in-between hop, but also on a long throw from third it can be tricky to read whether the ball is going to bounce on the grass or dirt until it’s hitting the ground. Some balls might even hit the lip of the grass.
“You don’t know immediately if it’s going to hit the grass or dirt,” Bauers said. “On this one, grass. But they bounce differently. It bounces differently off the dirt. And this was wet grass, so I knew if it catches grass I’m going sit back. That’s why I’m sitting back there.
Bauers looks like a catcher not only in the way he works through the ball, but also in how low he remains to the ground as the throw comes in. He’s using his legs and squatting rather than bending over with his back.
“I’m always trying to be low,” Bauers said. “(Stuff) is gonna be easier when you’re low and underneath the ball. So I’m sitting back and I’m staying underneath the ball. Once I get a read on it, once I get a read on the hop, then I’m going to be aggressive to it. If you’re not aggressive to it, it’s going to skip by you. But you also want to sit back as late as possible and give your eyes time to see it.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jake Bauers proving to be Brewers' most underrated defender
