Jake Bauers was named NLCS MVP after the Brewers swept the Dodgers and advanced to the World Series. MLB.com's Christina De Nicola framed the series around his "signature moments." Yahoo Sports called him a journeyman and his performance "unbelievable." CBS Sports' Matt Snyder added the detail that Bauers is the first Brewers LCS MVP, even though the club also won the pennant in 1982. Sportsnet and MLB's Reddit post carried the award without further detail. The feeds we have don't include Bauers' series stat line, and we haven't confirmed the first-Brewers-MVP claim, so that rests on CBS alone.
Our box score for the 6-4 win on Thursday, Oct. 15 at Dodger Stadium shows what he did in the series' final game we hold. Bauers went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and three RBI. That was half of Milwaukee's runs, and it came after the Dodgers had taken a 4-0 lead with four hits in the second inning. The Brewers scored two in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth, and Aaron Ashby got the save.
That game was the third of three Milwaukee wins in our recent-results table, following a 7-4 win at home on Oct. 12 and a 6-2 win at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 14. Those wins were against a Dodgers team that finished 100-62 and won the NL West. The Brewers went 103-59 and won the NL Central, so the sweep came against a 100-win club and not a weak opponent.
| G | H | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 144 | 127 | 26 | 86 | .266 | .873 |
Bauers' regular season was solid but not star-level: 144 games, 127 hits, 26 home runs, 86 RBI, a .266 average and an .873 OPS. That is the reason Yahoo's "journeyman" label stands out. The MVP award went to a first baseman whose regular-season numbers were good, not dominant, and whose October production decided the series. His season average was .269 going into Thursday's game, per our box score.
One caution on scheduling: our tables still list further Brewers-Dodgers games, on Oct. 16, 18 and 19, as not started. That doesn't match a finished sweep, so we aren't relying on those entries. Next for Milwaukee is the World Series, per CBS Sports. The reporting we have doesn't name the opponent or give dates, so we're leaving both out until they are confirmed.
Discussion