And for his next trick, Trevor Bauer will take the pile with a hand tied behind his back.
OK, this may be overkill, even for a pitcher known to push the limits of his physical and mental training techniques, but one should not underestimate the winner of the 2020 National League Cy Young Award, who signed a $ contract 102 million for three years with the Dodgers in February.
Bauer made his second game in the spring on Saturday, dropping two strokes and eliminating three in three goalless entries from a 2-1 loss and seven entries to the National West League rival, San Diego Padres, at Camelback Ranch.
The right-hand needed 27 shots to complete a laborious first inning, which ended up eliminating Victor Caratini and Ha-Seong Kim with runners in the second and third. Bauer made many of these shots with his right eye closed.
“I thought if they couldn’t hit me with one eye open, it would be difficult to hit me with both eyes open,” said Bauer, whose fastball was between 94-96 mph and touched 98 mph. “Just having a little fun. There is definitely a reason behind this. ”
Did Bauer care to share that motive?
“If I wanted to share,” he said, “I would have already done it.”
Bauer said he goes into one-eyed mode every day in hitting, bullpen, long-toss and live training sessions. Some days he closes his left eye. Some days he closes his right eye.
The approach “definitely takes away the perception of depth,” he said. Many ophthalmologists believe that covering one eye strengthens the other. Bauer does this to challenge himself.
“I like to feel uncomfortable and throw different things in my way and try to find a solution to that,” he said. “This is how you improve. Find a way to feel uncomfortable, then get comfortable with it and do it again. ”
How do the opposing hitters feel about Bauer throwing fast balls at 96 km / h and a wide variety of speeding shots with one eye closed?
If you’re like me, you didn’t get to see what happened today, so here’s a recap. 🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/WrPQJbzmrv
– Trevor Bauer (ト レ バ ー ・ バ ウ ア ー) (@BauerOutage) March 7, 2021
“I don’t know,” he said. “You may have to ask them. I have very limited experience in getting feedback from hitters while doing this. I expect much more this year. “
Coach Dave Roberts said he noticed Bauer close his right eye on a “handful of pitches” in the first.
“I think when he can’t get his command, it kind of recalibrates him,” said Roberts. “I think there may have been a curve that he made with both eyes closed, I don’t know. But there is a method to his madness, and he overcame it, so apparently that was the key.
Bauer made 52 shots, 36 for hitting, in his throw and opened the game by losing a nine-shot battle with Jurickson Profar, who scored to the right. Tommy Pham walked and Austin Nola came in second.
Both runners advanced into a wild field. Bauer hit Caratini and Kim with sharp breaking balls. He left the field aiming for the right eye and then exchanged words and laughed with Profar.
“He just said it would be fun to compete against you this year, and I kind of laughed, said, ‘I’m looking forward to it,'” said Bauer. “It will be fun.”
Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer talks to catcher Austin Barnes after warming up in the bullpen before Saturday’s game.
(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
Especially when Bauer faces Padres’ third baseman, Manny Machado, who has 10 hits, including four home runs, in 17 career hits against Bauer. Machado owns Bauer in such a way that the pitcher jokingly refers to him as “my father”.
Machado was among several frontline Fathers, including Fernando Tatis Jr., Eric Hosmer, Wil Meyers and Trent Grisham, who did not travel to Camelback Ranch for Saturday’s game.
“I’m just mad that Manny didn’t make that trip, you know?” Said Bauer. “He’s already dodging me. I wanted to see you. “
Bauer will see Machado soon, and he will be fed up with him this season. The Dodgers beat the Fathers in October in a three-game NL Division Series that featured several furious exchanges between the teams.
In an effort to end the Dodgers’ eight-year reign as division champions, the Fathers stepped up their rotation by acquiring Blake Snell, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, and they ended an eventful winter by trapping Tatis, the dynamic young shortstop, for a contract. of $ 340 million for 14 years.
Fans and players are looking forward to a rivalry so intriguing that Dodgers’ third baseman Justin Turner said, “We are going to have 19 World Series games this year.” Bauer, who spent most of his nine-year career in Cleveland, is looking forward to it.
“The higher the risk, the more excited I get and the better I usually do,” said Bauer. “So, I’m totally involved in this.”
Quiet ride
Reliever Brandon Morrow, who returned to the Dodgers on a secondary league contract after losing all 2018-2019 due to elbow and nerve decompression surgeries, should not pitch in an exhibition game.
Roberts said the 36-year-old right-hand man, who emerged as a dominant man during the Dodgers race at the 2017 World Series, has not suffered any physical setbacks.
“He’s on the slowest program,” said Roberts. “We just want to appreciate what he has been through in the past two years and make him develop his arm strength by playing live hitting and bullpening. [sessions]. “
Roberts expects Morrow to be “peaking” at the opening of the April 1 season.
“And to think that Brandon would be in a regular routine [spring] program was not realistic, ”said Roberts. “He’s doing great. He understands the situation that would put him in the best position to help us this year, and that is what we have decided ”.