CLEVELAND -- Trevor Bauer’s first relief appearance of the season and just the second of his career with the Cleveland Indians did not go as planned in the team’s home opener.
During the Indians’ (0-1) home-opening loss to the Boston Red Sox at Progressive Field Tuesday, Bauer allowed two hits, two earned runs, one walk and a two-run home run in one inning of work in the 6-2 defeat in front of the home fans.
“It is different a little bit,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “I know what he did at the end of the season. I thought the ball was coming out of his hand better than anybody because it looked to me like every pitcher was down a couple clicks just because it was so cold, but he had real good arm speed. He just misfired on that pitch.”
Bauer was relegated to the bullpen after having the best spring of any pitcher in the competition for the final two spots in the starting rotation behind the 2014 Cy Young Award winner, Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and young fire-baller Danny Salazar.
The Indians’ management elected to go with Cody Anderson and Josh Tomlin in the rotation ahead of Bauer.
Bauer started 2015 with a six-inning no-hit effort in a win over the Houston Astros in the season’s first week, but struggled with control issues throughout the year. In 31 appearances, Bauer allowed a team-high 79 walks against 170 strikeouts in 176.0 innings of work. Bauer posted an 11-12 record and 4.55 ERA in his second full season with the Indians.
Already up by two runs heading into the ninth inning, the Red Sox tacked on a pair of runs when retiring designated hitter David Ortiz blasted a two-run home run to right-center field off of Bauer. Ortiz’s home run against Bauer was the 504th of his career, which tied him with former Indians first baseman Eddie Murray for 26th all-time in Major League history.
“He’s very dangerous,” Francona said of Ortiz. “He thought he got the one before that, but the ballpark was playing big, especially in that direction. He hit the last one through the wind. We walked him the time before. He’s smart and he’s dangerous. I wish he would’ve retired this year.
“Trevor looked like he tried to throw a cutter, a backdoor cutter and came all the way across the plate into David’s swing.”
Although Bauer’s first appearance in 2016 did not go quite as planned, Francona remains confident in his 25-year old hurler after watching him post a 1-0 record with a 2.25 ERA and 19 strikeouts against four walks in 20.0 innings of work in five spring-training games.
“I think we can use him really any way we want,” Francona said. “I do think guys settle into roles a little bit as the season progresses. The first month is always a little bit…guys have to be patient, but if he pitches like he can, he can be very valuable in any role.”
