Trevor Bauer finds success at the plate in his first live at-bat in over two years
Trevor Bauer is back in Japan playing for the Yokohama DeNa BayStars for his second stint. The hard-throwing righty first played for them in 2023 and had a lot of success on the mound.
He appeared in 24 games, holding an 11-4 record with a 2.59 ERA across 156.2 innings of work. So far this season, he holds a 4-0 record with a 4.30 ERA on 23 innings pitched.
NPB teams in the Central League, like the BayStars, do not have a designated hitter for their pitchers. Trevor Bauer stepped up to the plate for a live at-bat in over two years, and he found success.
Bauer broke down his at-bat for all of his followers to see. First, he could step to the plate during a game without getting some practice in. He headed to the batting cages and started laying some bunts down.
Once he got the feeling for meeting the ball out front and getting the right bat angle, he was ready. With a runner on first base, the former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher was looking to at least advance the runner.
However, his back was against the wall after two failed bunt attempts. A foul ball on this third bunt attempt would mean he would be out, but he came up clutch in the end.
Bauer pushed a bunt in between the first baseman and the pitcher. When the pitcher fielded the ball and tried to make the play at second, the runner was safe, and so was Bauer at first base.
While bunting could look rather easy, most professional batters will tell you it is not. After not having a live at-bat in over two years, to successfully bunt a ball with two strikes is rather impressive.
Trevor Bauer had found success at the plate during his time of his time in the MLB
This was far from Trevor Bauer's first time with a bat in his hands. He had been to the plate 83 times from when he made his debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks to playing with the Dodgers.
He went hitless through four at-bats with the D-Backs, but his fortunes would change with the Cleveland Guardians. He got his first hit during the 2015 season. He would go on to get four more hits throughout the year, bringing his total to five in the MLB.