Milwaukee Brewers: Andrew Vaughn’s 4-hit game might have snuffed Hoskins’ hopes for Tuesday decision

To clarify, Hoskins was never going to replace Vaughn; it was always between him and Bauers. The Brewers like Bauers for his lefty bat, and he has done his job well. With Hoskins and Vaughn both batting right-handed, Pat Murphy favors matchup flexibility.

Bauers being hot decreases Hoskins’ chances. If Vaughn continued to struggle, however, the team would have a more complicated choice to make. Bauers is highly vulnerable to same-side pitching. In fact, he just doesn’t face southpaws: he has a mere 14 at-bats against them in 2025 and 33 last year.

On the other hand, Hoskins hits lefties and righties about the same. When fully healthy, he is a starting-caliber first baseman whereas Bauers is strictly a platoon piece.

With a still-slumping Vaughn, the team might have decided to sacrifice left-right advantages in favor of maximizing their everyday options. Bauers isn’t that, and even with his recent handful of good games, Hoskins has had a more productive season. In that scenario, riding it out with the two-right handers could be the best option.

Or, if Vaughn slumped long enough, maybe he could even get the demotion while Murphy mix-and-matched the other two.

That isn’t happening. Vaughn is showing signs of life, and if he’s going to play every day, there’s no downside to having a platoon guy like Bauers behind him – assuming , of course, that Bauers hits. With the Brewers recently missing a left-handed bat in Christian Yelich, retaining the former also makes sense for the time being.

If there were circumstances to favor Hoskins’ reinstatement, they are not reflected in the Brewers’ present reality. For now, it isn’t hard to imagine the team simply stashing him back on the injured list.