The Tragedy of Trevor Bauer
One of the dark horse candidates for the Cleveland Indians this season was Trevor Bauer. Analysts around the MLB vouched for Bauer and noted his continued progression throughout his career.
The success of the Cleveland Indians would partially depend on if Bauer would be able to take the next step in his career.
Bauer’s ERA has dropped slightly every season since 2015, this season featured a massive improvement. Cutting his ERA in half, Bauer was close to finishing a career-high season.
Bauer, unfortunately, has had a run in with the injury bug. Although Bauer is injured, it was noted on Friday evening that the right-hander would miss between four and six weeks; he has already set career highs.
In six fewer appearances this season, Bauer has struck out 18 more batters and has a 2.22 ERA compared to a career ERA of 4.75. Bauer has also achieved career-highs in fewer innings as well. Bauer checks in at 166.0 innings compared to 176.1 for the 2017 season.
Bauer has become a fan favorite over the years and a public enemy for fans of other teams. Bauer takes to Twitter regularly to bash his haters. He gives back to the community and has shown his love for Cleveland on multiple occassions.
Bauer made news when he took to Twitter to call out the defending World Series champion Astros on their pitching. Bauer stated that the pitchers were using foreign substances to gain speed and rotation on the ball. Subsequently, every pitcher in the rotation saw an increase to their ERA after Bauer called the starting rotation out.
The bad news for Cleveland fans is that Bauer will be sidelined for at least four weeks with a stress fracture in his right ankle. The good news is that Trevor Bauer has already commented on the injury and states that he’ll back in time for October baseball.
Being back in time for the postseason should bring mixed signals for Cleveland fans. Bauer has seen his struggles in the playoffs, but the new-look Bauer has yet to pitch in October.
In the five-game series against the New York Yankees last October, Bauer pitched in two of the games and posted a 1-1 record.
The biggest question for Bauer will be if he will experience rust in the first outing back. Four to six weeks out from the current date lands you in the third week of September. Bauer would be able to make at a minimum one start and at a maximum three starts.
It’s a shame to see Bauer miss the end of an amazing regular season, he had an actual case for CY Young in the AL. Bauer will still make an appearance for the Cleveland Indians in the regular season,. He’ll use those appearances to fine tune his game before the postseason.
As of August 17th, Bauer places second in WAR among AL pitchers (5.8), third in ERA (2.22), second in innings pitched (166.0) and fourth in strikeouts (214).
Image: ESPN
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