Nowak established a new club record for home runs in a season last year, blasting 25 long balls in only 84 games. His home run total tied for third most in the league, while he ranked second in the league in batting with a .330 average, and led the league by a wide margin with a team record .646 slugging percentage. His monster season earned him Atlantic League All-Star and Baseball America All-Independent Team honors, while he shared the team’s Player of the Year award with pitcher Corey Thurman. Having not joined the team until mid-June, Nowak’s projected home run total for last year’s full 126-game season would have been a whopping 38. The Revs went 55-33 after his signing.

The 29-year-old was originally a 19th round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2004 and is a career .289 hitter. Nowak led the California League with 45 doubles and 103 RBI while batting .308 for Visalia in 2006. The following year, the Milwaukee native hit .304 at Double-A Montgomery, and was named Southern League Championship Series MVP. He has reached Triple-A for parts of three seasons, and opened last year with Triple-A Nashville in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.