Trevor Bauer has long been one of the most outspoken players of Major League Baseball, with the Houston Astros among his targets. Now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bauer’s opinion of the Astros aligns with that of his teammates.
On a night in which he flirted with a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies, Bauer found reason to mention the Astros by alluding to their sign-stealing scandal that rocked the sport. The right-hander got through six no-hit innings before allowing two home runs in the seventh.
Trevor Story hit a leadoff single on the first pitch he saw, and Charlie Blackmon’s home run came on the second. Bauer then walked C.J. Cron before his next pitch was swatted over the fence by Ryan McMahon.
The sudden struggles naturally led to questions over whether the Rockies picked up on Bauer’s tendencies or simply made adjustments in their approach. “I don’t know. I think I executed well,” Bauer began.
“Maybe I fell into some patterns, maybe they started looking soft. I didn’t have time to really go back and break down the video since we’re not really allowed to watch video in-game anymore. New Astros rules or something like that. I’ll have to go back and look at it.”
When MLB closed off video rooms for in-game access last season, they provided players with iPads that were loaded with clips of their opponent from prior games. This year teams do have access to in-game video on those iPads, just with catcher signs removed.
Bauer pleased with Dodgers debut
Although the outing ended in disappointing fashion, Bauer overall was content with the start. “I get in a rhythm with the cutter in the middle innings and it’s usually my best strike pitch,” Bauer noted. “The slider was really good, the cutter was really good.
“I thought the curveball was actually pretty good too, when I needed it. I think I threw threw of the five were really good. The one Blackmon hit I wasn’t really that upset with. I was trying to land it for a strike and didn’t really expect him to swing.
“Overall, I thought my stuff was good. I executed well. I had one bad at-bat when I walked Cron, but other than that I think everything was pretty good.”
As for coming 12 outs away from a no-hitter, Bauer said it “never” crossed his mind.
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