Hoskins enters year two with the Crew hoping to build on a disappointing 2024
Looking back at our first base preview from 2024, the Brewers remain with similar options at the cold corner, something they haven’t done much since the departure of Prince Fielder more than a decade ago.
Rhys Hoskins, who had a disappointing first season with the Brewers, remains the top option at first base. Behind him, Milwaukee has several options, including Tyler Black, recently-signed Mark Canha, Jake Bauers, and even prospects Ernesto Martinez Jr. and Raynel Delgado.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at Milwaukee’s first base options for 2025.
Rhys Hoskins
Hoskins, 32 later this month, struggled in his first year in Milwaukee after a successful start to his career as a power-hitting first baseman with the Phillies. He picked up his player option for 2025, as he’ll make $18 million before entering the offseason with a potential $18 million mutual options for 2026.
Playing in 131 games for the Brewers, Hoskins hit .214/.303/.419 with 26 homers, 82 RBIs, 49 runs, and three steals though he struck out 149 times across 517 plate appearances. He also finished with a negative bWAR for the first time in his career (-0.2). Now in his early 30s, it’s unclear if last year was a fluke or if that’s the Hoskins the league should expect moving forward. Hopefully it’s the former.
He’s raked thus far this spring, going 4-for-8 with three homers, six runs scored, and four walks to two strikeouts with a .500/.667/1.625 line. Baseball Reference projects him to do slightly better than he did in 2024, with a line of .229/.311/.425 with 20 homers, 61 RBIs, 53 runs, 17 doubles, and four steals across 459 plate appearances.
Tyler Black
Black, a competitive balance pick by the Brewers in the 2021 MLB Draft, made his debut last year as he bounced between Triple-A Nashville and Milwaukee. Across 57 plate appearances, Black hit a dismal .204/.316/.245 with just 10 hits, including two doubles. He drove in two and scored four runs while stealing three bags.
Still, Black is one of Milwaukee’s top prospects with a keen eye at the plate — across 315 minor league games, he’s walked (220) nearly as many times as he’s struck out (262). With the automated ball-strike system (ABS) potentially in the near future, Black should be among the players who capitalize on the change.
Black’s versatility allows him to play just about anywhere in the infield, as he came up primarily playing third base but he’s also made appearances at first base (where all of his MLB appearances came), second base, and in the outfield.
Black is projected to hit .241/.320/.389 with six homers, 23 RBIs, 25 runs, and six steals across 229 plate appearances this year as he’ll likely get more playing time between first and third base.
Mark Canha
Canha, 36, joined the Brewers on a minor league deal just as spring training was starting after the injury to Blake Perkins. Canha previously appeared in 50 games for Milwaukee in 2023 after being acquired from the Mets at the trade deadline, hitting .287/.373/.427 with five homers, 33 RBIs, 23 runs, and four steals across 204 plate appearances.
Canha took a step back last season, appearing in 125 games between the Tigers and Giants as he hit .242/.344/.346 with seven homers, 42 RBIs, 46 runs, and seven steals over 462 plate appearances. Like Black, Canha provides versatility as he can play all over the field, whether it be first base, third base, or in the outfield.
Despite being on a minor league deal, Baseball Reference still projects Canha to be an MLB-level player, with a .248/.341/.376 line with 10 homers, 51 RBIs, 52 runs, and eight steals across 482 plate appearances.
Jake Bauers
Bauers, 29, nearly played hero in the NL Wild Card Series against the Mets last season, hitting a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to make it 1-0 before New York stormed back to score four runs in the ninth. Even so, that was the signature moment of Bauers’ year with the Brewers, as he hit just .199/.301/.361 with 12 homers, 43 RBIs, 45 runs, and 13 steals across 116 games, compiling -0.4 bWAR.
Bauers elected free agency following the season before signing a minor league deal with the Crew in January. He’s been decent thus far in spring training, hitting .273/.333/1.060 with a homer and three hits across 11 at-bats. Given that he’s a left-handed hitter, he has a leg up on Canha in that department, but I still wouldn’t expect him to break camp with the major league squad. That would leave him either as the next man up with Triple-A Nashville or as a left-handed option for another team.
Baseball Reference projects Bauers to basically replicate his numbers from 2024 this season, hitting .212/.298/.379 with 14 homers, 47 RBIs, 47 runs, and 10 steals across 400 plate appearances.
Ernesto Martinez Jr.
Now we got to the two unknowns. Martinez, 25, was an international signee by the Brewers in 2017. He’s gradually risen through the minors, spending all of 2024 with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers, where he hit .284/.365/.466 with 13 homers, 62 RBIs, 52 runs, and 20 steals across 110 games.
With a strong spring so far — 4-for-13 with a homer, three runs, and four RBIs — Martinez figures to start the season at Triple-A, just an injury or bad start to the season away from the majors.
Raynel Delgado
Delgado, 25 in April, was a sixth-round pick by Cleveland in 2018. Like Martinez, he’s made his way through the minor league ranks over the past several seasons, spending all of 2024 at the Guardians’ Triple-A affiliate. In 93 games with the Clippers, Delgado hit .275/.365/.426 with nine homers, 44 RBIs, 41 runs, and 22 steals.
He’s also had a strong spring — 4-for-11 with a homer, two runs scored, and two RBIs — and will likely start the season at Triple-A.