On Sunday afternoon, news broke that Arizona Diamondbacks top prospect Trevor Bauer had been removed from his Triple-A start after only 50 pitches. Shortly thereafter, Jack Magruder of FoxSportsArizona.com reported that the 21-year-old right-hander would make his big-league debut on Thursday against the Atlanta Braves.
Bauer will start in place of Joe Saunders, who was placed on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation on Saturday.
Selected by the Diamondbacks with the third overall pick in the 2011 First-Year Player draft, Bauer enjoyed a spectacular season at UCLA, where he went 13-2 with a 1.25 ERA and led all NCAA pitchers with 203 strikeouts. He also fired 10 complete games, including nine consecutive games to conclude the season.
As one would expect, Bauer garnered every award under the sun for his dominance in 2011: Golden Spikes Award, Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year and Pac-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year. In his career at UCLA, Bauer set the school record for wins (34), strikeouts (460) and innings pitched (373.1).
Signing shortly after his selection, Bauer wasted no time making an impact in the professional ranks, as he was promptly assigned to High-A Visalia of the California League. The right-hander made three starts spanning nine innings, posting an impressive 17 K/4 BB mark in the process.
The Diamondbacks remained aggressive, promoting him to Double-A Mobile where he ultimately made four starts. However, success didn’t come as easily for Bauer in the Southern League, as his heavy workload over the course of the season likely led to fatigue during the final month.
The right-hander registered a 7.56 ERA—although his SIERA sat at an impressive 3.44—over 16.2 innings for Mobile, allowing 20 hits and eight walks while picking up 26 strikeouts. Despite allowing 17 earned runs in 25.2 innings, Bauer still showcased his frontline starter potential by posting an eye-popping 15.09 K/9 rate.
While there was speculation that a strong spring training might earn him a spot in the Diamondbacks’ rotation, Bauer struggled with his command—primarily with his fastball—and was subsequently assigned to Double-A. However, it was obvious that the hard-throwing youngster wasn’t far away from making an impact in the major leagues.
Although he didn’t quite show the improved command that the organization had hoped, Bauer was exceptional in his eight starts for Mobile, going 7-1 with a 1.68 ERA, 3.24 SIERA, 11.17 K/9 and 4.84 BB/9 in 48.3 innings. Clearly pitching well above the league standards, Bauer was promoted to Triple-A Reno in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
While some pitchers often struggle to post similar numbers in the PCL, Bauer had no problem repeating his success. In eight starts spanning 44.7 innings, Bauer registered a perfect 4-0 record in addition to a 2.82 ERA, 3.18 SIERA, 11.28 K/9 and 4.43 BB/9. Once again, his command was less than spectacular, although his pure stuff and desire to compete was once again overly apparent and too good to remain at the level.
As I noted in my scouting report on Bauer when I ranked him as baseball’s ninth-best prospect in early May, I would be shocked if the right-hander wasn’t the first player from the 2011 draft class to reach the major leagues.
Known for his unprecedented foul line-to-foul line long toss that’s vital to his durability and a testament to his work ethic, Bauer employs a torque-like delivery that creates deception and allows pitches to explode out of his hand. At only 6’1”, 185 pounds, the right-hander’s delivery allows him to incorporate every bit of his energy and strength into every pitch.
A student of the game, Bauer has been rumored to have up to eight different pitches, though, upon his big-league arrival, both fans and opposing hitters will likely only see four or five of them.
His fastball consistently sits in the 92-97 mph range, as he occasionally takes a little off to generate either cutting or sinking movement—like I said, he treats pitching as an art form.
Bauer’s best pitch is easily his curveball, which receives double-plus grades for its almost unhittable pace and late, downward shape. Also in his arsenal is a plus slider that looks similar to his fastball out of the hand, an above-average changeup with fading action and a solid-average splitter that continues to improve.
There’s no guarantee that he will be up for good, as his command can still be iffy at times. The strikeouts and ugly swing-and-misses will definitely be there, but if he struggles to locate his pitches and in turn fails to work late into games, it’s conceivable that the organization may send him back to Triple-A to iron out some kinks.
However, a 4-to-5 BB/9 may be part of Bauer’s game for the span of his career and something that the team may be forced to tolerate. At the same time, he’s always been the type of pitcher who has performed better in the face of advanced competition; so don’t be surprised if his walk rate stabilizes as he gains big-league experience.
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