Trevor Bauer impresses in Dodgers debut

Trevor Bauer truly knows how to keep us on the edge of our seats, that’s for sure. Making his Dodgers debut, LA’s biggest offseason addition took a no-hitter into the seventh inning... at Coors Field. Truly something that isn’t an easy feat.

Things fell off the rails in the seventh inning as he allowed four runs, but it was still an overall great outing from the reining NL Cy Young Award winner.

“He was in control the entire game,” manager Dave Roberts said following the game. “He left a couple pitches up late. Overall, I thought it was a fantastic outing.”

Through the first six innings, Bauer had struck out nine and issued only one walk along while not allowing a hit. Then in the seventh, he allowed four runs thanks to two separate two-run homers. He added another strikeout, finishing the game with 10.

“Break down the hitters and what their strengths and weaknesses are,” Bauer said when asked about his preparation for his first game with his new team. “Get on the same page with my catcher. Signs, sequences, different things like that. Physical preparation. Go out there and try to embarrass people.”

He certainly did that, as through the first ²⁄₃ of the game he looked practically untouchable. Bauer got 15 swing-and-misses, with eight of them coming on his cutter which was his bread and butter all night.

“I got in a rhythm with the cutter,” he said. “It’s usually my best strike pitch. Overall I thought everything was pretty good.”

He knew he was throwing a no-hitter, but said that he didn’t care too much and it wasn’t something he was overthinking, especially considering the fact he was doing it at Coors Field, the most hitter-friendly park in all of baseball.

“I think the whole “not favorable to pitchers” thing is overblown,” he said. “Guys come in and beat themselves mentally. I don’t really care. If it happens, it happens. Unless you strike out 27 guys, there are going to be balls put in play. It’s luck whether or not they’re hit at people. I look at it as luck and just try to focus on my preparation. That’s where I try to focus.”

Bauer said that he didn’t have a chance to go back and watch film on his pitches, saying he can’t watch video anymore thanks to the new “Astros rule”. Yup, we’re one start into his Dodgers career and he’s already bagging on the 2017 AL West champions, you gotta love it.

With 10 strikeouts on the night, Bauer will be donating $10,000 to the Think Together foundation, an after-school STEM and robotics programming for middle school students in southeast LA.. Earlier on Friday, Bauer tweeted that he’d be donating $1,000 for every strikeout to a foundation during the season, with a different one every month. So, not only do you get to root for him to get as many strikeouts as possible to help the Dodgers, he’s doing it for a great cause.

“It’s something I’m passionate about,” Bauer said. “No need to brag about the things I do, but I wanted to make this public with the Dodgers foundation. Obviously I grew up in Southern California and I’m passionate about education and want to give our youth opportunities. I look forward to supporting more organizations as the year goes along.”