Cleveland Indians: Trevor Bauer Has Been the X-Factor

Trevor Bauer Has Been the X-Factor For the Cleveland Indians

Trevor Bauer had quite the start to his 2016 season.

It all started in the spring. Bauer pitched well in Goodyear as he cut down on his walks and mixed up his pitches more – the two things that had plagued him in the past – but the changes were to no avail as he was the victim to the numbers and was sent to the bullpen, as the Cleveland Indians chose to go with Cody Anderson and Josh Tomlin as their 4th and 5th starters. Then the season started, and things began to unravel. Cody Anderson had a shaky start to the season, and there were some rumblings of Bauer taking his spot in the rotation, but then an injury forced the issue. 

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Carlos Carrasco hurt his hamstring in Detroit on April 24th, which left a gaping hole in the Indians rotation, a hole that was filled by Bauer. Bauer came in to relieve the injured Carrasco on that cold April afternoon, and he didn’t really do anything special. He gave up two runs in 3 1/3 innings and actually ended up getting the win in relief. At this point in the season, Bauer had made six appearances out of the bullpen, pitching 11 1/3 innings with an ERA of 4.76. But this injury to Carrasco would end up being a turning point in Bauer’s season.

Since he was bumped into the rotation by the aforementioned injury, Bauer has made 10 starts, and in those starts, he has a record of 3-2 and has an ERA of 3.23, and has struck out 51 batters and only walked 19. But it’s his most recent starts that have been the most dominant. Bauer has gone 7+ innings in each of his past four starts and hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in any of those starts. The Indians are 3-1 in those games, and the only reason that they lost the one game was because of a bullpen meltdown.

Next: Indians Sign Multiple Draft Picks

Bauer’s dominance has forced the Indians to shuffle their pitching rotation, as Cody Anderson (1-4, 7.48 ERA) was hit with an early demotion, which led the Indians to call up Rookie Mike Clevinger, who did not do much better in his short stint in the big leagues (0-1, 8.79 ERA in three starts). Clevinger was then subsequently sent down to Triple-A when Carrasco was activated, and since then the Indians have hit their stride. They’re dominating in every facet of the game, and Trevor Bauer has done his part to help contribute to that dominance.