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Trevor Bauer is struggling mightily in Japan. The former Big League pitcher has seen his ERA balloon to 8.40 through three starts in Nippon Pro Baseball.
In his two most recent appearances, he’s surrendered seven earned runs, failing to get past the third inning in his latest performance. Fans, however, aren’t surprised to see him flounder.
After all, it has been two years since he last pitched in the MLB. He’s also getting used to a new league, new hitters, and a new baseball.
The Nippon league uses a smaller baseball, strike zone, and playing field.
Still, many likely didn’t see him starting his NPB career this poorly.
Thing actually got off to a great start as he threw seven innings of one-run ball in his debut. It’s gone downhill since, with his latest outing being his worst.
In his third start, it took Bauer 69 pitches to get through two innings of work. He gave up seven runs on eight hits.
Trevor Bauer’s final line in his 3rd NPB start
2.0 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 69 PI
Back to back starts with 7 runs allowed pic.twitter.com/QQQ8u8EN7E
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) May 16, 2023
This coming after being taken yard on three different occasions in his second start of the year.
It’s safe to say that opposing hitters are seeing the ball very, very well when Bauer is on the mound.
Ryoma Nishikawa bangs a no-doubter off Trevor Bauer pic.twitter.com/nW3J0SDyZa
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) May 16, 2023
Fans have been quick to comment on the slow start. Many are happy to see him struggle given his exit from the MLB.
One person wrote, “I love it,” while another sarcastically said, “That’s a shame.”
Others, though, have pointed to his lack of pitching over the last few years as to why he’s being shelled.
This follower posted, “Not overly surprising? Bauer hasn’t pitched in MLB since ‘21. It’ll take a few starts for him to get accustomed to pitching in a new league and professionally in general.”
Someone else agreed, writing, “I totally get why everyone hates Bauer, but if we are going to judge this from strictly a baseball standpoint, 3 games after missing nearly two years is hardly a relevant sample size.”
His subpar performance is not a complete shock to see, but if Bauer wants to stick around, he’ll need to clean some things up on the mound.