Trevor Bauer (32, Yokohama), from the US Major League (MLB) Cy Young Award, lost his face again on the Japanese stage.
Bauer started the 2023 Japan Professional Baseball Hiroshima Toyo Carp game held at Yokohama Stadium in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan on the 16th and recorded 8 hits and 7 runs in 2 innings. On the 9th, the previous appearance, against the Yomiuri Giants, he gave up 7 runs (6 earned) in 6 innings, and was sluggish for two consecutive games. His season ERA rose to 8.40.
Bauer went 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA in 11 games in 2020, which was operated as a shortened season, and won the National League Cy Young Award. During his 10-year MLB career, he went 83-69 with a 3.79 earned run average. Ahead of the 2021 season, he signed a contract for a total of 120 million dollars (160.9 billion won) over three years. However, in April 2022, when he was suspended (final 194 games) for domestic violence and sexual assault policy violations, the Los Angeles Dodgers gave up the remaining salary and released Bauer.
Bauer, who had not been able to compete for more than a year and a half due to discipline, chose a new challenge by signing with Yokohama메이저사이트, Japan. His estimated annual salary is 400 million yen (3.9 billion won).
When a pitcher with a Cy Young Award and 83 MLB career wins chose to challenge the Japanese stage, interest in Bauer’s every move was poured.
The start was good. Bauer reported his first victory with 7 innings and 1 run against Hiroshima on the 3rd, his first team debut in Japan. However, in the match against Hiroshima, which we met again after the match against Yomiuri on the 9th, he was beaten from the beginning. The Yokohama bench replaced it with a pinch hitter when Bauer returned to bat at the end of the second inning as if he could not watch it anymore.
Yokohama, which lost momentum from the beginning, lost 5-7 and lost its sixth straight season. The starting point of the losing streak was against Yomiuri on the 9th, when Bauer allowed 7 runs.
After the sluggish match against Yomiuri on the 9th, Bauer said, “I think I have to learn more because I don’t know Japanese batters yet. I pay my respects to Japanese baseball. I will try to make better results in my next appearance by using today’s failure as an experience.” . Before starting the game on the 16th, he expressed his determination, “I will stop (losing in a row) in the games I throw,” but after the game, he said, “I was in the best condition (this year), but I was very unlucky.”
Daisuke Miura, coach of Yokohama, was concerned after the game, “He has to take measures from now on.”