There’s a lot to like about Trevor Bauer.

He throws hard (94-95 mph), his strikeout percentage consistently hovers around 25 percent, and he has compiled 11 wins or more in every season since 2015 while in Cleveland.

There should be even more to like after being dealt to the Reds, joining a solid rotation led by Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray and moving to the NL, where he will face light-hitting pitchers instead of potentially dangerous designated hitters. But Roto Rage isn’t sold the move will be all sunshine and rainbows for the mercurial starter.

Bauer entered Friday having issued 63 walks, the most in the majors and more than he allowed in all of 2018 (57). This isn’t surprising considering his career walk rate hovers around 10 percent.

Bauer has become susceptible to the long ball, allowing 22 over his first 24 starts after allowing just nine last year. He allowed 20 or more from 2015-17. This is concerning, as Great American Ball Park is a homer-friendly stadium, a park where he is 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA, 1.57 WHIP and three homers allowed in three career starts.

Bauer showed us what he was capable of as an All-Star in 2018, a career year in which he went 12-6 with a 2.21 ERA and 221 strikeouts. Outside of that one season, though, it’s been a lot of mixed results. He was 47-41 with a 4.36 ERA from 2012-17, and he was 9-8 with a 3.79 ERA in his first 24 starts for the Indians this season. Even his FIP (4.16) and xFIP (4.28) indicate he has gotten lucky this year.

Maybe this is whom he truly is: a pitcher capable of greatness, but one who always will allow social media fodder, throwing balls over the center-field wall in a fit of rage or drones interfere with his talent.

Here’s a look at how being traded will affect the fantasy value of other pitchers:

Zack Greinke, Astros

Barely touches 90 mph with his fastball, but he has the third-lowest walks per nine (1.3) and 11th-best ERA (2.90), has already picked up 10 wins and strikes out 24 percent of batters. He also is now the No. 3 pitcher behind Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole in a pitcher-friendly park in front of a stacked lineup.

Aaron Sanchez, Astros

Landing in Houston could be the best thing to happen to Sanchez, who has not won since April 27 (0-13, 7.49 ERA in his past 17 starts) and owns the worst ERA and walk percentage among qualified starters. He’s only 27 and is on a team that gets the most out of its pitchers. This is a team that helped turn Charlie Morton from a middling starter (46-71, 4.54 ERA, 6.3 strikeouts per nine from 2008-16) into one of the best fantasy options (41-13, 3.18 ERA, 10.6 strikeouts per nine). He’s worth keeping an eye on.

Marcus Stroman, Mets

Good news: The first-time All-Star returns to his native Long Island to pitch in a pitcher-friendly park for a suddenly hot team with a killer rotation, and he historically has been a strong second-half pitcher (20-18, 3.25 ERA, 1.23 WHIP). Potentially bad news: He’s not pitching for the team he wanted to (Yankees), is a groundball pitcher who doesn’t have a great defense behind him, and his FIP indicates there could be a downturn in that 2.96 ERA.

Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks

The 23-year-old rookie (1-3, 2.72 ERA, 10.7 K/9) has not allowed more than two earned runs in six of his first seven big-league starts, and is now in Arizona, where he has a better chance of picking up wins. Roto Rage believes Gallen is a must-own pitcher, and he’s available in more than 80 percent of ESPN leagues.

Shane Greene, Braves

Greene has been enjoying a career year in Detroit, going 22-for-25 in save chances with a 1.18 ERA and 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s now the ninth-inning man for the team atop the NL East and should get more save opportunities, but his .178 BaBIP, high strand rate (85.2 percent) and 3.69 FIP are concerning.

Tanner Roark, Athletics

There’s nothing particularly exciting about Roark. He doesn’t walk too many batters, nor does he get a ton of strikeouts. He doesn’t kill your ERA, but he doesn’t exactly help it. He’s just a guy with an arm who may have a little more streaming appeal when he pitches at home.

Mike Leake,Diamondbacks

Moving to Arizona doesn’t boost or hurt his fantasy value, as he remains a decent streaming option in the right matchup.

Roenis Elias/Daniel Hudson/Hunter Strickland, Nationals

If you had been depending on any of these guys for saves, it might be time to call it quits.

Big Hits

Andrew Benintendi, OF, Red Sox

Entered Saturday hitting .329 (27-for-82) with four homers, 16 RBIs, 14 runs and a 993 OPS in his first 20 games since the break.

Jack Flaherty, SP, Cardinals

Has allowed just four runs over his past five starts while going 1-1 with a 1.15 ERA, 39:9 strikeout-walk rate and a .140 opponent average.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, Blue Jays

Entered Saturday with a six-game hit streak and at least one hit in 10 of his past 13 games while hitting five homers and driving in 22 runs.

Josh VanMeter, 3B/OF, Reds

The most added player in ESPN leagues this week, who should benefit from the Reds trading Yasiel Puig, was 15-for-40 (.375) with four homers and eight RBIs over his past 15 games.

Big Whiffs

Merrill Kelly, SP, D’backs

Has not won since June 12, going 0-5 with a 6.02 ERA and .271 opponent average over his past eight starts. He has allowed 10 homers in that span.



Welington Castillo, C, White Sox

Has not homered since June 11, going 6-for-42 (.143) with one RBI, two runs scored, 16 strikeouts and a .386 OPS over his 15 games since.

Sandy Alcantara, SP, Marlins

The All-Star has not won since June 21, going 0-4 with a 7.29 ERA over his past six starts. He allowed 10 homers in that span.



Kyle Freeland, SP, Rockies

In his first four starts since returning to the majors, not much has changed, as he’s 0-4 with an 8.66 ERA and .342 opponent average. He’s 0-6 with a 9.30 ERA in 11 starts since his last victory, on April 18.

Check Swings

Jonathan Villar entered Friday hitting a respectable .277 with three homers and 11 RBIs in his first 19 games since the All-Star break. But he was hitting .406 with two homers, six RBIs and six — yes, six — stolen bases in his past seven games.

Travis d’Arnaud remains red hot. He went 26-for-76 (.342) with eight homers, 25 RBIs, 11 walks, 18 runs scored and a 1.136 OPS in July, and entered Friday with a five-game hit streak. He remains available in more than 65 percent of ESPN leagues.

Some more trade deadline thoughts: Franmil Reyes should get plenty of playing time in Cleveland, whether as an outfielder or DH, which means plenty of home runs (Yasiel Puig should be solid there, too). Nick Castellanos should benefit from the move from Detroit to Chicago, as his bat is just too good not to find success in that Cubs lineup. Scooter Gennett going from Cincy to San Fran likely will prove the power surge witnessed in 2017 and 2018 was a mirage.

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