Trevor Bauer impressed, if not entertained, through each of his first two Spring Training starts with the Los Angeles Dodgers. And while his right eye was again a talking point Thursday night, it was due to trouble it gave Bauer that resulted in command issues.
He began the outing against the Seattle Mariners with a walk and two batters later put another on with a hit by pitch. Bauer’s second walk of the inning load the bases with one out. He followed that by walking a run in.
The Dodgers rolled the inning over after Bauer needed 26 pitches to retire only one of five batters faced. “So the first inning, my right eye wasn’t really focusing well for whatever reason,” Bauer explained. “So I did some CO2 exhalation stuff to kind of lock that back in.
“Not sure if it was the lighting or what it was, but I kind of felt like my head was swimming. So I got that locked back in and then my delivery was just out of whack too a little bit in the first. I was rushing a little bit, probably trying to throw a little too hard out of the game.
“Something I’ve obviously emphasized this spring is trying to make sure I step on the velocity pedal a little bit just to make sure that I’m in the ranges I need to be. Legs were a little bit tired today after I re-introduced sprints to my routine the day before yesterday, so legs were a little bit tired after doing that.
“All just part of Spring Training and getting the body ready to go for the season.”
Bauer ran into more trouble in the second inning as Taylor Trammell led off with a base hit, however he was caught stealing. Seattle loaded the bases with two outs but Bauer worked out of the jam.
He retired the side in order in the third inning and struck out Trammell to start the fourth before being removed at 65 pitches. “It’s Spring Training, so not too worried about it,” Bauer said.
“What I’m pleased with is I was able to lock it in after that and get back in a groove. Second inning was a little bit shaky as well but by the third and fourth I locked it in pretty well. I felt like I had better command, better feel of the game and was kind of getting on a roll. So happy with that part of it, for sure.”
Bauer not looking forward to batting
While Bauer reached the target number of pitches as part of his Spring Training progression, he’s — or any other pitcher — has yet to bat in a game. With MLB not expected to implement a universal designated hitter in 2021, pitchers will again get to step in the batter’s box.
Some are excited over the opportunity, but Bauer is not among them. “Not really,” he answered when asked if batting was something he was looking forward to. “I’ll talk to the coaches about it, but no.”
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