You fill in the blank… and depending upon your perspective, the word(s) will vary greatly. Trevor Bauer is a guy most people love or hate. Actually, I think it’s a safe bet to say that more people hate him than love him. To say that Trevor Bauer is a different breed of cat is a huge understatement.
I can’t say that I ever liked Trevor Bauer and I never liked Manny Ramirez… even before the Dodgers acquired him. Actually, I said that “I would rather lose without him than win with him.” I meant that!
I can’t lie and tell you that I did not have some very exciting moments at the bat of Manny, but I was in the Dodger Stadium Pressbox the day he was suspended and I will admit I felt like saying “I told you so.” Manny was beloved by many, but not by me. He was a great hitter – that is a given, but he was a spoiled brat. Maybe that is what also describes Trevor Bauer.
Trevor Bauer once threw a baseball over the centerfield fence when his manager took him out of a game. Manny Ramirez once knocked-down the Red Sox Traveling Secretary, a 64-year-old man, because he was told he might not be able to get his full allotment of 16 tickets. Trevor engages in Twitter Wars with people. Manny took steroids. One blogger wrote this about Manny:
“On the one hand, his fans, teammates, and organizations love him for the offense he brings to the table. On the other hand, all are often driven to despair by his antics and shoddy attitude. Not to mention his greed and stupidity.“
Manny had a bad attitude and was lazy. He was amazingly good, but if he had Trevor Bauer’s work ethic, he could have been even better! And therein lies the difference: Trevor Bauer is beloved by most of his teammates because even though he does some dumb stuff, he is a workaholic when it comes to training and teammates respect that. So, you can fill in your own blank with regards to Trevor Bauer.
I think the word I would use is “Strange.” His behavior at times is bizarre, but unlike Manny, it is not criminal. By now, you may have read what Trevor did yesterday for an 11-year-old boy who had been a victim of Bullying. I won’t recount it, but you can read about it HERE. The boy’s mom tweeted this later:
You don’t have to like Trevor Bauer and his antics, but his teammates seem to like him and even laugh at his antics. He pitches with one eye closed at times and loves to banter back and forth especially with ex-teammates. The fact that they still tolerate and even enjoy it speaks volumes about how they feel about Trevor. If you are waiting for Trevor Bauer to wreck the Dodgers’ Locker Room, I think you are going to be waiting for a long time. The Kershaws, Jansens, Turners, and Betts won’t allow that.
Trevor Bauer is “a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction” (from a Kris Kristofferson song that he wrote) and I think he’s going to be fun to watch this year!
The Pilgrim
Other Dodger News
- MLB.com ranked the Dodgers Bullpen #6 in MLB, but that is just a W.A.G. at this juncture. Here is what they said: “It seems every year the subject of Jansen’s waning stuff hangs over this club, and yet, every year, the Dodgers have one of the best bullpen ERAs in baseball (last year it was the very best, in fact). One way or another, that will probably happen again. But with Graterol unavailable at the start of the season due to an undisclosed reason, it will likely take some heavy lifting from the veteran Treinen and the young González. The Dodgers are so good at identifying upside that we can’t rule out a return to form from Corey Knebel, who had a 6.08 ERA in 13 1/3 innings after a difficult Tommy John recovery. The bullpen is not the Dodgers’ greatest strength, but it should be just fine… Maybe!”
- MLB.com ranked Clayton Kershaw the #5 best opening Day Starter. Not bad for an “old guy.”
- The Freeway Series starts tonight. Then, Monday night it’s DODGER STADIUM!
Discussion (39)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Joc will be back for Joctober
Visiting dugout or home dugout?
https://mobile.twitter.com/christianallen1/status/1376385157138055168
At least we didn’t get blown out tonight!
My pitching prospects rankings:
1. Gray
2. Miller
3. Pepiot
4. Grove
5. Knack
6. White
7. Beeter
8. Williams
9. Lewis
10. Jackson
Better slide Varland in there somewhere. Pretty impressive tonight.
Varland needs some refinement, but he has that look. He could be good.
8 inning game tonight. 4 HR’s, 2 by Muncy, Seager and Lux. Price is pitching a sim game tomorrow. Pollock was just a little under the weather. No trades imminent. Sorry Eric, wishful thinking on your part. USC and UCLA both to elite 8. Pretty neat for Pac-12. Lakers still struggling without Lebron or Davis, but looks like they are going to sign Drummond. Weather for opener in Denver will be mild, during the day. At night it is going to be frigid.
Varland looked good.
Add him to the mix.
PAC 12 RULES!!!!!!!
Watched the entire UCLA game with my dad, who is a diehard Bruin. I’m a Duck so glad I left afterwards.
West coast= best coast
It would seem that May is on track to be the 5th starter, but in his pre-game press conference, Doc stopped short of saying that.
Price was scratched. It was asked and not answered if it was COVID-19 related.
Pollock was also scratched and Peters took his place in LF.
Gonsolin starts.
TRADE?
Dustin May starts Tuesday, that means he’s lined up for the 5th start of the season. Price scratched today and at the same time May slotted in for Tuesday and lined up for the 5th starter spot. Pollock scratched at the last moment. I smell a trade.
Relax. Not feeling well and games don’t count.
Trevor Bauer is a very good pitcher, a savvy showman and canny capitalist who has cashed in on a Cy Young performance in a freakish 60-game season to sign a contract that will help him win a World Series championship with his hometown team, which would further enhance his market value.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But I still wish he had signed with the Mets–or better still, the Angels–and that Friedman focussed more on securing the homegrown talent (like Urias) to long-term deals while ensuring that pitchers like May, Gonsolin, Gray and Miller have the opportunity to thrive. (And Jimmy Nelson too!)
Trevor Bauer is a pitcher __________ who won a Cy Young last year. Not many of those guys floating around. So he’s a little quirky. If it doesn’t bother his teammates why should you care. Joc is a guy who hit 25 hr’s and OPS .843 in 18 and 36 hr’s and .876 in 19. Not many of those guys floating around either. I’d love to have both guys on my team any day
Tonight’s Lineup:
1. Betts RF
2. Seager SS
3. Turner 3B
4. Bellinger CF
5. Muncy 1B
6. CT3 – DH
7. Pollock LF
8. Barnes C
9. Lux 2B
I guess Price wants to pitch to Barnes too?
Super-excited to see if Pederson can keep it going.
He’s not Rich Hill, but I always liked watching him play.
Joc is hitting .500 against RHP.
He is also hitting .167 against LHP.
In his career, he has proven he can consistently hit below .200 against LHP. I think he will stay in that Zip Code.
I’ll take the “under” on him hitting .500 against RHP.
Joc is going to be what he always was.
Pessimism unleashed.
I’d call it a dose of reality!
Joc will have his moments… as he always has, but he will hit below .200 against LHP and probably ht .250 or .260 against RHP. I see nothing that has ever convinced me otherwise!
a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Trevor Bauer is a Dodger starting pitcher. I ignore stuff unless it’s really bad or effects the team that I follow (The Dodgers).
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but the Dodgers position player active roster is down to 13, the expected number. There are no surprises Rios, McKinstry, Lux, Beaty all made the roster.
There are 17 pitchers still on the active roster. 4 of them eventually will be moved to AAA, The IL, or traded.
I’m tired of preseason, bring on the regular season.
For what it’s worth, I checked around the internet and they have the first 4 Dodgers starting pitchers in this order Kershaw, Bauer, Buehler, Urias. Nobody has listed the 5th starter yet.
I’ve noticed that Bellinger is always swinging for the fences. Somebody needs to tell him before the season starts to knock it off and just try to get on base.
Trevor Bauer is a……. man with mediocre career stats who is now extremely well paid and dependent on a foreign substance.
Foreign? What country is it from? I hope it doesn’t have to get here through the Panama Canal.
We may find out just how dependent Trevor is upon that foreign substance if MLB decides to crack down the way they have indicated they will. Maybe he’ll surprise you Badger and be good even without it. Or maybe MLB won’t crack down and he’ll be bad even with it. It’s going to be an interesting season with regard to Mr. Bauer.
Most ballplayers relate to baseball fans as athletes. Bauer does it as an athlete/video-Twitter personality/salesman/entrepreneur/in-your-face personality. He says he was bullied in school but instead of shrinking into a shell he decided to use his strangeness as an asset. Although I don’t approve of everything he does, I do find him to be fascinating and I guess that’s all he really wants from me. That and to buy one of his shirts or hats. I don’t think I’ll be doing that.
Foreign. Rule 6.02(c) 2-6
I’m indifferent to his quirks. I doubt he was bullied – he’s big, he’s strong, he’s athletic and he’s crazy. He may have been teased and considered an oddball. His effectiveness has been anything but consistent with his mean being an ERA just below 4, ERA+ of 114. With Pelican he’s likely better than that. ERA and xFIP should be around 3.6-3.9 this year. If they crack down on the Pelican et al. – who knows. He’s on a team that should score enough for him to win 15 games. Worth $40 million? Yeah, sure. Not my money.
That substance helps pitchers from being scatter arms as well as add spin. Flattening the seams a little would cancel out added spin from foreign substance while allowing the foreign substance to improve grip.
Tacky fingers is the new spit.
Scatter arms don’t make it past A ball. MLB pitchers are the best in the world. They don’t need to cheat. Change speeds, hit your spots, allow your defense to make plays.
I have no problem with allowing Pelican Grip. The problem I have is it’s against a clearly defined rule. Don’t ignore the rule, change it if it needs changing. There seems to be a lot of that going on these days.
Thank you Mark for the link.
So much great information.
Here’s what the Media Guide says about Trevor Bauer:
Graduated from Hart High School in Santa Clarita, CA, the same high school that produced Major
Leaguers James Shields, Kevin Millar, Bob Walk and Todd Zeile…as a junior at HHS went 12-0, 0.79
to earn first-team All-CIF Southern Section Division I and All-Southern Selection honors from the
California Baseball Coaches Association (CBCA)…also was named to the Los Angeles Times’ high
school All-Star team…attended UCL A, where in 3 seasons he went 38-4, 2.36 and each year was named
to the All-Pac-10 team…was the first pitcher in UCL A histor y to win at least 10 games in more than one
season…finished his career ranked among the school’s all-time career leaders in wins (1st), innings
pitched (1st), strikeouts (1st), complete games (2nd, 15) and ERA (8th)…as a junior in 2011 went 13-2, 1.25
with 203 strikeouts in 16 starts…that season established single-season team and Pac-10 records for
strikeouts while leading all collegiate pitchers in complete games (10) and strikeouts…following that
2011 campaign earned the prestigious Golden Spikes Award and was named the National Player of the
Year by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, College Baseball Foundation and Perfect Game USA…
also was named 2011 Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year and was a finalist for that year’s Dick Howser Trophy,
awarded to the top NCA A Division I player…as a sophomore in 2010 went 12-3, 3.02 in 18 starts, became
the first Bruins pitcher to lead the nation in strikeouts (165 in 131.1ip) and received second-team AllAmerica recognition from Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball…in 2009 was named Freshman
Pitcher of the Year by Louisville Slugger and first-team Freshman All-America by Collegiate Baseball
and several other publications af ter finishing 9-3, 2.99 with 2 saves in 10 starts and 10 relief apps…was
Pac-10 Freshman of the Year…established a school record for wins by a freshman…in 2009 played for
the Team USA national collegiate team…in 2015 was nominated for the Bob Feller Award af ter teaming
with and designing a t-shirt for Athletes Brand to benefit the Lone Sur vivor Foundation, which spreads
awareness and raises money for soldiers returning from active dut y…in August 2016 funded and
hosted Cleveland Indians Career Day for students from Max Hayes High School who were interested
in technology and robotics…in 2017, together with Carlos Carrasco created special t-shirts featuring
their unique baseball art work that benefited hurricane relief efforts in Texas and Puerto Rico…started
production company Momentum Films LLC to raise the profile and brand of other small-market MLB
players and to promote baseball as a sport for youths, giving the opportunit y for current players to
humanize themselves while allowing fans unique access points…in 2019 received a PG Sports Social
Media Award as baseball’s Athlete of the Year…early in his professional career trained at the Texas
Baseball Ranch and at a seminar there first met Driveline Baseball’s Kyle Boddy, currently the Reds’
director of pitching initiatives and pitching coordinator…Bauer became Driveline’s first professional
client and now spends 2 months in the off-season in the Seattle area.
I grew up in the “Sticks and stones …” era, so I long ago stopped worrying or paying much attention to what people say. I do however, pay close attention to what people do.
Anytime someone does a good thing for a kid is a huge plus in my book.
If you want to see the Dodgers’ Media Guide, here it is:
https://ladodgers.sharefile.com/share/view/s0de186e7f1b34d33bd46201cfa831f69
You have to download it.
Adding on to what DL said above, Bauer is here for 1 reason: to start game 3 on the road at SD, Atl, NY, etc.
What he does in October will determine if he was worth it. He could go 15-12, with a 3.52 ERA, or go 22-6, with a 2.52 ERA, it doesn’t matter. He will ONLY be judged in those Game 3’s (and possibly a game 7)
Unless I get lucky in the season ticket holder lottery and get Opening Day tic, my first game will be 2 weeks from today vs the Nats. I might not leave the stadium until Kersh and Mookie kick me out!
Bobby, I’ll find out tomorrow evening if I’ll be able to get a couple tickets for the 9th of April. I’ll let you know if any extra will be available at that time. I recall you stating how important it is to you to be there for the stadium’s season opener. So I’m okaying Mark to pass along to you my email address and phone # if he still has it, perhaps you should do the same. That is if you’re interested. You’d be forced to be sitting near me. Supposedly I’m getting 4 good seats……..we’ll see.
The Dodgers signed Bauer for one reason: to start postseason games. (He’s also insurance for Kershaw leaving.)
I think they also wanted to prevent any other team (especially in their division) from getting better.