While he is only one man, one part of that five-pitcher unit that had made waves through the first four months of the 2016 season, fewer individuals in the Cleveland Indians clubhouse needed to right his own ship more than Trevor Bauer. The team’s X-Factor, Bauer just so happened to be sporting an 8.37 ERA over his past five starts, allowing 22 earned runs on 33 hits. The control problems of his earlier years in the bigs picked a horrible time to creep back into the equation with his BB/9 rate jumping from 3.12 in the first half of the season to 5.92 since the All-Star break. Worse, his ground ball rate dropped, his line drive rate jumped, and his home run-per-fly ball rate nearly doubled (8.8 to 14.3). Things could not have been much worse for Bauer, a kid who earned a starting spot after being sent to the bullpen to start the season, and his production (or lack of) could not have come at a worse time.
All of the fan fare, all of the accolades and all of the forecasts and prognostications that pegged the 2016 Cleveland Indians as postseason darlings were doing so because of one, dominating reason: The Starting Rotation. Think for a moment that two Indians starters were named to the American League All-Star team, and neither were Josh Tomlin (9-2 record, 1.12 WHIP) or Carlos Carrasco (8.88 strikeouts/9, 1.10 WHIP). Think a little more and realize that there was a stretch during the Tribe’s incredible month of June where the starters posted an absurd 2.50 ERA though 194.1 innings1. And then think one last time (I promise) about how that very same starting rotation, during the month of August, ranked 29th amongst its peers in both ERA and FIP.
As the Indians have watched their substantial lead in the AL Central get sliced into one a third its original size (large in part to losses to the lowly Twins and frustrating Yankees), the offense has more than done its part. Despite having an outfield that includes Rajai Davis, Tyler Naquin and Lonnie Chisenhall, the Tribe, for the first week of August, was tied for fourth in runs, third in wRC+, and fifth in OPS. In that head-scratching series against Minnesota, the Indians put up run totals of 5, 6, 5 and 9, respectively—all amounts that would otherwise win games for any team, let alone one with a starting rotation boasting the best numbers in the bigs—but said rotation coupled with the bat of Max Kepler had other ideas. All of this makes what Bauer did on Tuesday night, leading to a much needed Indians win against the Washington Nationals, that much more impressive.
For the first time since late-April, the Indians did not put Chris Giminez behind the plate for a Bauer start, opting instead for Roberto Perez. The last series against the Nationals didn’t fare well for the Tribe as they managed to steal a walk-off win against Jonathan Papelbon, but were later thwarted by Stephan Strasburg who blanked them through seven. Worse, Bauer was going up against Max Scherzer, the league’s leader in strikeouts who just so happened to be sporting a 15-1 record, on the road. The stoic and methodical power never outwardly appears like he is ever dealing with pressure, but if there was any moment where his team needed him the most, it was Tuesday.
ESPN’s iPhone app was pushing alerts throughout the night, but they were all directed at Scherzer who was his usual, dominant self, not allowing a single hit over the first six innings. It wouldn’t be until midway through the seventh when Francisco Lindor (because of course) punched a two-strike four-seam fastball back up the middle when the focus quickly move from Scherzer to the fact that Bauer was also holding the opposition scoreless, facing no more than five batters in an inning. Oh—and that five-batter second frame? It ended like this:
While Scherzer was the one making folks anxious, there was Bauer, casually blanking the Nationals over 6 1/3 innings, allowing just four hits and striking out four for good measure. That ground ball that had been evading him for much of the last month made an appearance throughout the night, no bigger time then when a one-out double from Anthony Rendon was quickly rendered meaningless by back-to-back ground outs from Wilson Ramos and Chris Heisey.
“For me, I want to make sure he doesn’t get the win. If he’s going to throw a no-hitter, I want to make him throw 10, 12, 14 no-hit innings,” said Bauer following the game. “The way you do that is keep it scoreless. It was kind of a challenge. Obviously, when you face a guy like that, you know it’s going to be low-scoring anyways. I’m happy it turned out the way it did.”
Bauer can be maddening when he shows little emotion following poor starts2, but he more than makes up for it when he spins gems and follows them up with a desire to have his opponent throw inning totals that would ostensibly represent two starts worth of pitches.
For the Indians to punch their ticket to the 2016 postseason, they’ll have to rely on what got them this far. Their strength is undoubtedly in their arms, and no team that gives up a seven-game stretch that includes a 9.74 ERA in 32 1/3 innings can expect that sort of production to lead to any sustainted success. Corey Kluber did his part against the New York Yankees this past weekend, tossing eight innings of five-hit ball. Carlos Carrasco may not have earned a win, but he followed Kluber up with nine strikeouts in a seven-inning quality start. Factor in Bauer’s work on Tuesday night and you have a rotation that was struggling, but suddenly spun a 1.27 ERA over it’s last three starts.
The next leg in the challenge for the Indians’ staff to get back on track comes Wednesday afternoon when Tomlin, who gave up seven earned runs in four-plus innings during his last outing, attempts to complete the two-game sweep. While the Indians can afford to have a slip-up from time to time, they can ill afford to have weeks like last. If the injury sustained by Danny Salazar has any lasting implications, it will be up to guys like Bauer to step up and fill in the void. If Tuesday night was any indication, Indians fans can step off of the ledge and get back into their seats as fall baseball is right there for the having.
- During the 12-game winning streak, that ERA dipped to 1.91 with just 52 hits allowed over 89 2/3 innings
- “It wasn’t for lack of trying,” he would say after allowing eight runs in 2 2/3 innings a week earlier.