MILWAUKEE — I had a chance to ask some questions of Brewers first baseman and outfielder Jake Bauers. He’s an All-Star candidate and has had a great first half of the season. He leads the Brewers in home runs with 15.
Dennis: For you personally, you’ve had so much success this season. Is it just freeing your mind as far as a different approach this season?
Jake: “Yeah, I think that about sums it up. No, just try not to overthink it. I mean, really just trying to keep that mentality that I was talking about before where it’s, you know, day by day, good or bad, flush it and show up ready to work.”
Dennis: What makes this such a good group together?
Jake: “The chemistry in here is something that I haven’t experienced anyplace else. There’s no egos involved. Everybody wants to get better on a daily basis. Everybody wants to contribute and everybody wants to win. And so I think when you got 26 guys pulling on the same rope, that’s never going to be a bad thing.”
Dennis: Is hitting contagious too, throughout a lineup?
Jake: “I think it’s all contagious, positive, negative. I think everything’s a little bit contagious in this game, so I think it’s important that, you know, everybody’s trying to execute at a high level.”
Dennis: Your starting pitching has been so exceptional all season long. Does that kind of free the offense to know that you don’t have to score 10 runs a night to win?
Jake: “I don’t think so. I mean, obviously it’s great. You want to see them pitch well. I don’t, I think, More so when they’re pounding the zone and getting quick innings on defense, it can help you stay in rhythm offensively, I think.”