DETROIT, MI - APRIL 10: Trevor Bauer #47 of the Cleveland Indians stands on the mound after giving up a two-run home run to Niko Goodrum of the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at Comerica Park on April 10, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Indians 4-1. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

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Sure: it might have been the fact that his own teammates melted down and wasted his efforts on Saturday night, but what Trevor Bauer said could cause him some trouble for the rest of the year.

The Atlanta Braves have just one more game against Cleveland tonight (getting underway as this is being written), but it’s actually kind of funny that Saturday night’s game has the potential to cause some lasting impressions on one of the Indians’ best starting pitchers.

Trevor Bauer pitched well. No doubt. He got into the 7th inning while striking out 10 Braves while walking only 2, yielding 3 hits, and giving up 2 earned runs. That’s essentially what was expected.

He was even the recipient of some kind strike calls that were outside of the ‘rulebook’ strike zone.

So we’re good, right? He did his job well. Unfortunately for the Indians, he wasn’t around for the end of the contest as he had to leave for pitch count reasons. 120 pitches, to be exact.

So he leaves… and all kinds of chaos and mayhem followed.

Oh, maybe that’s why he made a few comments to the media last night… he wanted to have finished the game, perhaps? Not give the bullpen a chance to walk 5 Braves in the 9th inning en route to a 5 run inning and a Cleveland loss? Okay.

In turns out that the Atlanta Braves came in with a strategy… and Trevor Bauer didn’t like it.

In case you missed it…

Here are the comments from his post-game presser, courtesy of Fox Sports Ohio on youtube:

The statements:

“I don’t know… didn’t seem like they wanted to hit tonight. Seemed like they were looking to take pitches and foul pitches off and.. (shrigs)…so… guess it worked out for ’em.

His next answer to an unintelligible (off mic) question underscored the annoyance he had about the Braves

[This] adjustment I made, based off of what they were doing, which was… nothing. [snip] I mean… they won the game, so I can’t say too much about it.

The rest of his answers were talking about times he’s seen this strategy before and his means of trying to combat it (keep throwing strikes).

The trick may be that Bauer was probably mis-understanding the strategy. Here’s Freddie Freeman’s response about Bauer… and yes, the Braves heard every word the Indians’ starter said:

“We heard that,” Freddie Freeman said. “It makes no sense. I don’t think he even knows what he was saying. It’s 40 degrees out. He’s a good pitcher, and we’re going to try to work you. I think we’re [usually] one of the most free-swinging teams there is. I think that comment is just … he hasn’t done his research.” “If it was 80 degrees, I think a lot of us would have hit some pitches,” Freeman said. “But it was 40. We were just trying to grind and grind and grind. He’s a good pitcher. I don’t know if he gave the right compliment to our team. But that’s him, and he can say whatever he wants.”

The strategy – if that’s even the right word – clearly worked. Bauer left in the 7th and the bullpen had to finish up, which didn’t really work for the home team.

The irony here is that over the past multiple years, it’s been Cleveland that was known for their sterling bullpen performances and yet on Saturday night that’s what failed… while at the same time the much-maligned (by us, too) Braves’ relievers were spectacular.

Unintended Consequences?

The trouble for Trevor Bauer, though, may be that he voiced his evident displeasure for the “spoil that pitch” strategy.

Atlanta was responsible for jumping his season ERA to 2.20 after 5 starts in 2019… even with an increased strikeout rate. It had been 2.05.

More importantly, though, they got him out of the game. And now the entire league knows that he was annoyed by the Braves running up his pitch counts.

You can bet that others will be trying exactly the same thing against him.

Some teams will have the patience and discipline needed to pull this off… some may not. Either way, Bauer had better prepare for being annoyed a lot more often.

Oh, and in case you think the Braves might have been playing favorites…

Corey Kluber: 109 pitches through 7 innings earlier that day.

Shane Bieber: 36 pitches… in the 1st inning of Sunday night’s game

Sorry Trevor… you could have just stayed quiet about it. But now: the cat’s out of the bat.