Trevor Bauer has suffered back-to-back losses for the first time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and wasn’t overly sharp in each outing. Bauer’s spin rates again were down as MLB’s enforcement of their rule against foreign substances looms, but his command against the Texas Rangers also lacked.
“I was a little bit shaky early on, finding my command a little bit, and then I think I actually threw the ball pretty well,” Bauer said after the 12-1 loss. “I missed with some fastballs, some cutters. Really, the one that hurt was I couldn’t consistently land my curveball.
“To lefties I didn’t really have that pitch that I could land. I seemed to land it fine to righties but for whatever reason to lefties I couldn’t land it. That was really the one that was the most difficult to navigate around.”
Mookie Betts uncharacteristically dropping a fly ball in center field put the leadoff man on in the third inning and led to the Rangers taking a lead. Bauer then surrendered a two-run home run to Jonah Heim in the fourth inning, and the book closed on six runs (four earned) allowed.
In addition to being frustrated by early struggles, Bauer also lost concentration after the Betts error and soft hits Rangers had to beat the shift.
“Starting off the (third) inning, there’s the pop-up, and as it’s hit you’re like, ‘OK, that’s an out.’ And then it’s not. In my head, I was a little bit behind the eight ball there,” Bauer said.
“I think I allowed myself to get frustrated instead of competitive, and then the inning kind of spiraled from there. That’s my fault. I’ve got to be better about staying in the right mindset there. It happened a couple other times in the game that didn’t really cost me, but just on some of the little hits through the shift. I’ve just got to be better about that.”
Despite the rough outing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts credited Bauer for pitching into the seventh inning as it helped preserve the bullpen. Meanwhile, the right-hander already had an early idea on how to improve moving forward.
“I’ve got to land my curveball. I’ve just got to be better about that,” Bauer said. “But little things in baseball, tonight could’ve looked a lot different if I get through the seventh inning, it’s seven innings and two earned runs. The conversation is a lot different.
“If the third inning doesn’t get as wacky as it does to start off, then that saves me a lot of pitches and changes the way the lineup stacks up. As a season goes along you’re going to have outings like this.
“Things aren’t always going to go your way, and as a competitor you’ve got to find a way to get around it, continue to be successful and give the team a chance to win. I just didn’t do a good enough job of that.”
Bauer waiting for clarity on sticky situation
After a start against the Atlanta Braves, Bauer said there had been an abundance of messages regarding MLB’s expected enforcement of their rule against foreign substances but that they offered no clarity.
That remained the case one week later. “People still have heard a lot, they’re hearing a lot and no one seems to know what the rule are,” Bauer said. “Hopefully we get some clarity on all that stuff.”
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