When the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Trevor Bauer to a record-setting contract last month, they not only added one of the best pitchers in all of baseball to their starting rotation, but also one of the most analytically-minded players as well.
Bauer regularly trains at Driveline Baseball and will try to find any edge that he can. “I spend probably an hour a day between logging data, taking my measurements and doing that stuff,” Bauer recently explained.
“I collect like 40 to 50 metrics on myself every day and then I employ four or five analysts that do a lot of that work for me. Between consultants and full-time employees, I have a team that looks at it and gives me advice.
“I have the right people in place and we spend a lot of time on it. It’s very important.”
One of the biggest keys to Bauer’s success in recent years has been his fastball, which he throws nearly 50% of the time. His heater last season averaged 93.8 mph, which was down from a career-best 95 mph in 2018.
So far in Spring Training, Bauer’s fastball has touched the upper-90s with consistency. He noted increasing his velocity was a priority of his this season.
“(Jacob) deGrom does it every year. There’s plenty of guys that do it,” Bauer said. “(Charlie) Morton started throwing significantly harder in his mid-30s.
“It’s probably not a 1-to-1 correlation, but if you work hard enough and do the right things, I’m still in my physical prime. Twenty-seven to 32, somewhere in that range, there’s just no reason why you should throw slower when you’re in your physical prime.
“It’s just a matter of finding the right training tools, the right routines and stuff like that. I pay more attention to that stuff and track that closer than anybody else I’ve ever been exposed to, so I have no doubt I’ll figure it out at some point. I just haven’t figured it out yet.”
Bauer explains pitching with one eye closed
After striking out back-to-back batters in the second inning of last week’s start against the San Diego Padres, Bauer pointed to his right eye being shut while walking off the mound.
“I figure if they can’t score off me with one eye open, it’s going to be difficult to score off me with two eyes open,” he explained. “Just having a little bit of fun.”
Bauer later offered some insight by explaining the challenging circumstance can ultimately be beneficial. “I like making myself uncomfortable and throwing different stuff my way and trying to find a solution for it,” he said.
“I think that’s how you improve. You find a way to make yourself uncomfortable, get comfortable with it and do it again.”
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