When news spread that the Dodgers had signed 2020 AL Cy Young Award-winner Trevor Bauer to a lofty three-year / $102 million contract back on February 11 that will take him through the 2023 season, it was met with mixed feelings among Dodger fans. Let’s face it, the 30-year-old North Hollywood, CA native and first-round (third overall) draft pick in 2011 by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of UCLA came with some baggage; most notably for his occasional controversial comments and videos on social media. Then again, it was difficult for Dodger fans not to be excited about his MLB-best 1.73 ERA in 2020 that resulted in that aforementioned AL Cy Young Award.

Although the hard-throwing right-hander seemed to have toned down his social media activities during his first Spring Training camp with the Dodgers, there were still some – perhaps even many – who still weren’t sold that his acquisition by the Dodgers was a good thing.

…until Saturday morning.

Although Bauer had effectively checked off all of the Spring Training boxes, most importantly building up his pitch count, what he did before his final tune-up of the Spring gave Dodger fans – even skeptical Dodger fans – a good look at the real Trevor Bauer.

On March 11, 2021, Southern California resident and huge Dodger fan Megan Aronson posted this on Twitter:

Megan’s tweet went viral. It also caught the attention of Trevor Bauer.

“That was my entire childhood. I got bullied mercilessly nonstop by kids in school,” said Bauer. “I hated going to school. I was just miserable for 17 years of my life. I just wanted to try and do something special for him and give him some hope that things get better and keep being himself and all that.”

But it’s what happened after Megan’s tweet went viral that gives us a look at who Trevor Bauer really is and what makes him tick.

“The next thing we know, we get a call from the Dodgers, and Trevor had experiences being bullied as a kid and said that he had seen the tweet and it really ripped at his heartstrings,” Aronson said. “He said he wanted to invite us to come be their guests at a game, which is just incredible.”

Not only did Kanon, Megan, and the rest of her family attend Bauer’s start on Saturday against the Cleveland Indians (his former team), he met with them before the game and presented Kanon with a custom-made Dodgers jersey that included a personalized autograph that read: “It’s cool to be different! Keep being you!”

As for the game itself, it was anything but close, with the Indians crushing the Dodgers 9-2. Bauer allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits, including a home run by Indians second baseman César Hernández. That said, Bauer accomplished what he set out to do in his final start of the Spring.

“Everything was really sharp, cleaned up a lot, a little bit of mechanical stuff that I had going on,” Bauer said. “So, mechanics felt great, velo felt great, I was up to 98 again today. Everything was in a really good spot – threw curveballs for strikes, threw sliders for strikes, covered in and out. Even threw a couple change-ups, I got a swing and miss on a change-up, ground ball on a change-up. Overall, I’m in a really good spot.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts concurred.

“At the end of the day, he was having fun out there,” Roberts said. “He got his work in, he threw the baseball really well, and he came out of it in a good spot again.”

Earlier in the day, Roberts told reporters that his pitching rotation for the first four games of the regular season would be left-hander Clayton Kershaw on Opening Day, Bauer, right-hander Walker Buehler and left-hander Julio Urias. However, he would not name his fifth starter, from among right-handers Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin and veteran left-hander David Price.

Not exactly a bad problem to have, is it?

Play Ball!

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