Many people quickly cast Jake Bauers aside after a dissapointing 2019 season, but there is still hope for the upcoming season.
Sometimes it’s amazing how quickly people are willing to move on from on from someone in the game of baseball. Completely disregarding the fact that players adjust differently to the Major League level. There is no getting around that Jake Bauers had a sub-par 2019 season, but there is still hope for him to turn things around in 2020.
Jake Bauers was a highly coveted prospect when Cleveland acquired him from Tampa. There is a reason for that. Bauers hit for a pretty decent average and power throughout the minors. The 96 game stint with the Rays saw Bauers struggle to hit for average, but the extra-base power was still there (22 doubles, 11 home runs two triples). From 2014-2018 Bauers hit anywhere from .263 to .296 in the minors with 19 to 44 extra-base hits. There is a solid base and possible projection to make here. He may not hit for a great average and hit a large amount of home runs, but the extra-base hits will be there.
Jake Bauers is still 24 years old, that is still pretty young. Bauers is even younger than extremely popular Indians minor league outfielder Daniel Johnson. There was improvement from year one to year two in the batting average department. Although his power numbers took a dive in 2019.
- 2018: 96 games .201/.316/.384/.700 22 2B 11 HR 48 RBI 54 BB
- 2019: 117 games .226/.312/.371/.683 16 2B 12 HR 43 RBI 45 BB
Yes, the power did decrease, but he did finish with more hits resulting in a higher average. For overall numbers to increase Bauers need to make contact with the ball and get hits. Getting hits and building confidence should lead to Bauers being more comfortable in the box. This could lead to Jake Bauers taking a massive step forward in 2020. Bauers is still young and has a lot of room for improvement. Improvement that is not necessarily out of the question and could result in a season that resembles more of what he did in the minors rather than his time in MLB.
