Trevor Bauer
From BR Bullpen
Trevor Andrew Bauer
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 2", Weight 185 lb.
- School UCLA
- High School William S. Hart High School
- Born January 17, 1991 in North Hollywood, CA USA
Contents |
[edit] Biographical Information
Trevor Bauer was the third pick of the 2011 amateur draft, but wasn't the first UCLA pitcher taken that year.
[edit] High School
Bauer was 4-1 with a 2.07 ERA as a high school sophomore. In 2008, the junior improved to 12-0, 0.79 with 106 whiffs to 15 walks in 70 2/3 innings. He was All-State and was invited to the US junior national team trials. He graduated early to start his college career in 2009.
[edit] UCLA
Bauer made a big splash as a freshman at UCLA, posting a 9-3, 2.99 record and two saves. He held opponents to a .225 average. He got the most wins by a UCLA freshman since Pete Janicki in 1990. He tied for 4th in the Pac-10 Conference in wins, was 7th in ERA and 8th in strikeouts. He outshone Gerrit Cole, a more heralded UCLA signee and fellow freshman who had been the Yankees' #1 pick in 2008. He was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and All-Conference (joining Mike Leake, Drew Storen, Cole, Josh Spence and Brad Boxberger among others). He was named Freshman All-American by Baseball America alongside Sean Gilmartin, Taylor Jungmann and Noe Ramirez as starting pitchers (Danny Hultzen was picked in a utility role). Collegiate Baseball picked him as the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year. He had a 1-1, 4.67 record that summer for Team USA's college edition, which did not play in a major tournament.
As a sophomore, Trevor led NCAA Division I with 165 strikeouts (in 131 1/3 innings), 10 ahead of runner-up Asher Wojciechowski and 12 more than teammate Cole). His record was 12-3, 3.02. He set a school record for strikeouts. He also led the Pac-10 in innings, tied Seth Blair for the most wins (tied for 5th in all of Division I) and was 6th in ERA. In the 2010 College World Series, he fanned 24 in 15 innings, beating both Texas Christian University and the University of Florida. He was the first UCLA hurler to win a College World Series game. UCLA finished second nationally and Bauer was named to the All-Tournament team; Matt Purke of TCU was the other pitcher chosen. He was All-Conference, though Blair was named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year with a higher ERA and fewer strikeouts. Baseball America picked him as second-team All-American, joining Hultzen, Jungmann and Purke as the starting pitchers.
After leading the country in strikeouts as a sophomore, what could Bauer do for an encore? Repeat the feat, but with more Ks. He struck out 203 batters in going 13-2 with a 1.25 ERA and completed his last 9 starts. He became the first Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year from UCLA since Janicki in 1992. He was named Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, the first UCLA player ever to take that award. The right-hander was the third straight pitcher to claim that award, following Stephen Strasburg and Chris Sale. He broke Alex Sanchez's school record of 328 strikeouts, finishing with 460. He also set UCLA career records in wins (34) and innings (373 1/3). He broke Mark Prior's 2001 record for most strikeouts by a Pac-10 pitcher in a season. Only Tim Lincecum's 491 outranked him for a career. He capped his collegiate career by being named recipient of the 2011 Golden Spikes Award as the best college ballplayer in the USA.
[edit] Draft
The Arizona Diamondbacks took Bauer with the third pick of the 2011 amateur draft, following teammate Cole and Hultzen (Bauer had much better statistics for both 2011 and his career than Cole, yet Cole went first due to a quicker fastball). It was the first time since 1978 that a college had two of the top three picks - Bob Horner and Hubie Brooks had been taken that year. Despite the draft success, UCLA didn't make the super-regionals, let alone the 2011 College World Series. It wasn't Bauer's fault, as he had been unbeaten in the postseason. He was the fourth UCLA top-3 draft pick, following Tim Leary, Troy Glaus and Cole. He signed a contract with the D-Backs on July 25th, relatively early for such a high pick, for a signing bonus of $3.4 million.
[edit] Minors
He was sent to the Class A Visalia Rawhide of the California League to begin his professional career. He debuted on July 30 with two shutout innings against the Stockton Ports, striking out three and allowing one hit. In his first 9 innings as a pro, he whiffed 17. After three games, he was promoted to the AA Mobile Bay Bears and made 4 more starts before the end of the year. Overall, in 7 starts, he pitched 25 2/3 innings with a record of 1-2, 5.96, and 26 strikeouts against only 8 walks. He was invited to the Diamondbacks' major league camp in 2012. Even though he was optioned back to Mobile, he pitched quite well, with a 3.60 ERA in 4 games, confirming that he was still on a fast track to the minor leagues. He went 7-1 in 8 starts for Mobile, with a 1.68 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings, giving up only 33 hits, to demonstrate beyond any doubt that he was too good for that level. On May 17th, the Diamondbacks took note and promoted him to the AAA Reno Aces.
[edit] Repertoire
Bauer has been clocked in the mid-90s on his fastball and throws a four-seam fastball, two different change-ups, two curveballs, a dot slider, a circle slider, a reverse slider, and a split-fingered fastball.
[edit] Sources
- LA Times
- UCLA bio
- 2010-2011 Baseball Almanacs
