He is best known for his television work in The Wire, Third Watch, True Blood, Survivor's Remorse, The Deuce and the Apple TV+ original science fiction space drama series For All Mankind.

He has also appeared on Broadway, as Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, and has originated roles in plays by David Mamet, John Patrick Shanley and Jez Butterworth.

His roles on network television include a regular role as Fred Yokas, husband of Officer Faith Yokas, on the NBC series Third Watch, lead FBI Agent Dodd on the short-lived CBS series Smith, a priest on ABC's Life on Mars, and as Detective Lou Destefano in the original Sci-Fi channel miniseries The Lost Room.

[5] Bauer appeared as Tim Rutten in the NBC mini-series Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Brothers, and from 2017 co-stars as Bobby Dwyer in the HBO series The Deuce.

[6] In 2019, Bauer portrayed NASA astronaut and Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton in the first season of the Apple TV+ original science fiction space drama series For All Mankind.

Bauer's first film appearance was in Snow White: A Tale of Terror, with Sigourney Weaver, Sam Neill, and Monica Keena.