What are the Milwaukee Brewers doing at the corners? First Base Edition

The Milwaukee Brewers have some big questions to answer for their corner infield positions. Starting with first base, where last year's starter Rowdy Tellez was non-tendered this off-season and is now signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Brewers replacement for Rowdy, Carlos Santana, is still a free agent, begging the question, who is going to start at first base for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024?

Currently rostered Brewers first basemen

The Milwaukee Brewers currently only have two first basemen on the roster, Jake Bauers and Owen Miller. The Brewers would be crazy to stand pat at just these two. However, despite Owen Miller's insanely hot month of May in 2023, Bauers may be the better option between the two.

Owen Miller batted .261 in 2023 and Bauers batted just .202. Miller held a 24 point advantage in on-base percentage, .303 to Bauers' .279. What suggests that Bauers may be the better option between these two is slugging. Bauers' slugging percentage was .413 last year, Owen Miller's was just .371, resulting in Bauers OPS being higher than Miller .693 to .674.

Bauers also hit 12 home runs to Miller's five and Bauers holds a massive lead in hard hit percentage at 48.7 percent to just 30.9 percent for Owen Miller.

Now, comparing these two still doesn't mean that one is the man for the job, they are both better served as backup options. Brewers fans saw the streakiness of Owen Miller that resulted in him being sent down to AAA Nashville after massively cooling down following his hot month of May. Bauers also has his flaws by just a 9.9 walk rate and disgustingly high 34.9 strikeout rate.