The Los Angeles Dodgers began their title defense with an 8-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Opening Day. Looking to get back in the win column, the club sends Trevor Bauer to the mound for his first start of the regular season.
The right-hander revealed he is not feeling any nerves ahead of his debut. “No, I don’t. It’s baseball. It was a normal Spring Training and now normal start of the season,” Bauer said.
“Go out there and have the same competitive attitude that I always do. I don’t expect to have any butterflies.”
Bauer is coming off a solid spring in which he finished 1-2 with a 4.24 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 28 strikeouts over 23.1 innings (six games). However, he revealed that he does not put much stock into Spring Training statistics and was only focused on his health.
Bauer, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, went 5-4 with a league-leading 1.73 ERA, 2.88 FIP and 0.80 WHIP in 11 starts as a member of the Cincinnati Reds last season.
He last took the mound at Coors Field in 2017 and spoke about the challenges that come with pitching there. “I started that game, I think on two days’ rest. I had a start in Kansas City that got cut short, so my routine was really off,” Bauer recalled.
“Movement on the pitches, I didn’t really notice a whole lot of difference. To me, you go out there and get the guy out. If you’re missing then you need to make an adjustment and throw it over the plate. It’s baseball, everyone has to deal with it.
“I don’t put a whole lot of stock in the elevation and whatever else. It’s a baseball game. You go out there and compete to win the game.
“I think having a normal routine and staying in a normal mindset and on a normal bullpen schedule and all that stuff is going to put me in a spot where I feel comfortable on the mound. We’ll see what the results are.”
The Rockies counter with Antonio Senzatela, who became the club’s No. 2 starter following Kyle Freeland’s shoulder injury that will sideline him for at least one month.
Senzatela enjoyed an impressive, albeit shortened spring, pitching to a 3.12 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 8.2 innings of work (two starts).
The 26-year-old looks to build off a career 2020 season in which he went 5-3 with a 3.44 ERA, 4.57 FIP and 1.21 WHIP in 73.1 innings (12 starts).
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
CF: Cody Bellinger
1B: Max Muncy
C: Will Smith
LF: AJ Pollock
2B: Gavin Lux
P: Trevor Bauer
Rockies lineup
LF: Raimel Tapia
3B: Josh Fuentes
SS: Trevor Story
RF: Charlie Blackmon
1B: C.J. Cron
2B: Ryan McMahon
CF: Chris Owings
C: Dom Nuñez
P: Antonio Senzatela
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