NEWSLETTER
Last night, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that multiple baseballs used during Trevor Bauer’s last start had been removed from play after umpires were alerted that they were sticky and had visible markings. The league is attempting to crack down on the use of illegal grip substances that can artificially increase spin rate, and Bauer notably demonstrated monster, top-of-the-league spin rate jumps last year after complaining very loudly that the league wasn’t doing anything about the use of these substances. Then he won the Cy Young and got signed by the Dodgers to a front-loaded three-year, $102 million deal with opt outs after each of the first two years.
Bauer, as he does, responded to the report in an impressively petulant way:
balls from every other pitcher being taken out of play in literally every other game this season are? Also lol to @MLB who already has “sources” talking to gossip bloggers about a supposedly confidential process a week into the season 😂😂😂 thumbs up y’all keep killin it! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) April 9, 2021
Twice referring to Rosenthal as a national “gossip blogger” (an odd choice for derision, given that Bauer is, himself a vlogger), Bauer noticeably does not deny any of the substance of Rosenthal’s report. Instead, he implies only that he’s being targeted in the public by MLB/Rosenthal for attention, even as other pitchers have had balls removed from play for investigation (again, that’s Bauer’s implication, not something that has otherwise been reported).
The Athletic report indicates that Bauer was asked for comment, but declined to do so.
Bauer’s equally outspoken agent Rachel Luba had public thoughts on the news, not quite admitting anything, but also not necessarily helping the cause:
Lol honestly couldn’t have said it better myself @trevorplouffe https://t.co/kUgk4UUrwF
— Rachel Luba (@AgentRachelLuba) April 9, 2021
There was absolutely a time three years ago when Bauer was at the fore of this issue, sounding the alarms – in particular – about how the Astros would add a pitcher, and then his spin rate and performance would suddenly and dramatically spike (Gerrit Cole got most of that attention, and it has since been alleged that he was indeed being provided substances). But man, you lose the shit out of the moral high ground when you later decide to join the party, cheat a guy like Yu Darvish out of a Cy Young, and cash in an enormous contract on the basis of what certainly appears to have been the use of substances. (Again, Bauer *himself* has said that the kind of spin rate jumps he saw last year could not be achieved without illegal grip substances.)
So yes, to be fair, Bauer very well might be targeted more than other players, both by MLB and the media. But that’s not a gossipy or shameful or conspiracy thing – it’s because he put those targets on his back with his own words and actions. He invited these things over the past few years, and for a guy who craves the attention and the engagement (and benefits massively from it), I don’t have a lot of sympathy for his situation. More importantly, the outside evidence sure makes it look like he was cheating last year, and in a very extreme way (not only were his spin rate spikes enormous, they vaulted him into the top spot across baseball in spin rate, and his performance jumped right with it). He made himself the face of this topic. Of course MLB should investigate.
This was on HBO’s Real Sports in January 2020 — 5 months *after* Trevor Bauer started cheating with foreign substances. pic.twitter.com/B7QbArgzpr
— Tony Adams (@adams_at) April 9, 2021
This was from February 2020. Notice when his spin rates spiked — the last month of the 2019 season. pic.twitter.com/fvvuinnic1
— Tony Adams (@adams_at) April 9, 2021
