The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bauer kept the faith in himself, teammates
After low point in midseason, starter has been dynamic on the mound
Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer never lost faith, both in himself and his team.
That faith has been validated and rewarded.
On Oct. 3, before the Indians worked out on a sun-bathed fall afternoon at Progressive Field, manager Terry Francona announced Bauer would start Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Oct. 5 at home against the New York Yankees or Minnesota Twins.
In the regular season that saw the Indians blaze their way to a 102-60 finish and win a second straight American League Central Division title, Bauer finished 17-9 with a 4.19 ERA. In 32 appearances (31 starts) covering 170 1/3 innings, he finished with 190 strikeouts and issued 60 walks.
The victory and strikeout totals were career-highs for the former UCLA standout traded in December 2012 by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Indians in a three-team deal.
The journey that carried Bauer to this point of his fourth big-league season followed a winding path.
He got off to a slow start, bottoming out on July 16 in a 7-3 road loss to Oakland. He lasted only two-thirds of an inning, yielding four runs on three hits
before Francona decided he had seen enough and made the call to the bullpen.
Sitting at 7-8 with a 5.59 after that truncated outing, Bauer seemed to be going nowhere fast. Nor did the Indians, who were 47-43 after the loss and had a 1 ½ game lead over the secondplace Twins. Three days and two losses later, the Indians were 48-45 and a mere one-half game ahead of the Twins.
“The numbers were what they were at that point, but I felt in general I’d pitched better than the numbers,” Bauer said before the workout. “I never doubted that if I kept believing in myself and trusted the process, the numbers would get better.”
At that conspicuously low point of the season, Bauer was convinced there were brighter times in the offing for the Indians as a team.
“I told (outfielder Michael) Brantley we’d figure it out and go 25-4 or something crazy like that,” Bauer said. “I don’t know if he believed it, but I did.”
The Indians did better than that, winning a franchise-record 22 straight games and 33 of their last 37 games.
Bauer was right about himself, too. He won 10 of his last 11 decisions after the drubbing in Oakland, posting two victories each over the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox.
The Yankees and Red Sox are playoff teams, so Bauer did some of his best work against elite lineups.
”I thoroughly enjoy playing this game at the highest level for the highest stakes,” Bauer said. “As a pitcher, you want to prove yourself to be better than the batter you’re facing.”
With so much riding on the outcome, Bauer said he wouldn’t be nervous taking the mound in Game 1 of the ALDS.
“There is no reason to be nervous,” Bauer said. “The game is the same. I’ll be ready. All the work is done.”
Bauer is no stranger to this setting. He got the start in Game 1 of the ALDS last season, working 4 2/3 innings and surrendering three runs in what ended as a 5-4 victory over the Red Sox. The Indians went on to sweep the Red Sox and advance to the AL Championship Series against Toronto.
Between the two series, Bauer became the center of attention when he suffered a deep cut on the pinky finger of his right hand while working on one of his drones. He got the start in Game 3 of that series in Toronto but was forced from the mound in the first inning when the sutures in the injured gave way and blood poured from the wound.
The Indians won that game and the ALCS in five games en route to the World Series, where they were beaten in seven games by the Chicago Cubs.
Francona had referred to what he calls “the drone incident” several times in recent weeks and did so again while talking to reporters on Oct. 3.
Bauer said he’s at peace with that chapter of his professional past and is focused on the present and Game 1 of the ALDS.
“It’s time for me to get out there on the mound and perform,” he said.