TREVOR BAUER IS SPOUTING ALOT ABOUT THE CHEATING ASTROS & GERRIT COLE

What can I say, Trevor Bauer is doing a lot of talking lately. It's actually quite fascinating. It's like a good book or movie that you just can't walk away from. He's an interesting study...that's the best way I can put it.

The Astros cheating scandal isn't going away. We're still talking about it at BYB, fans are talking about it and so are the players. Spring Training hasn't been a distraction for this at all. I'm sure the Astros would like it to just go away so they can turn the page and get back to baseball but....as long as guys like Bauer keep talking and saying some crazy things it will just keep the cheating scandal in the headlines.

Have you heard Bauer's latest comments? Check them out HERE. He has an interesting idea to try and combat another cheating scandal. I guess if you are just going to TELL the batter what is coming he figures there will be no need for buzzers, trash can banging or electronics at all. So, here's the intentional tipped pitch....let the best man win.

Sounds crazy to me, but what do I know. He's looking for a formula for success I guess. He didn't find it last year when he pitched to a 6.39 ERA in 10 games with Cleveland before getting traded to Cincinnati. Now he's starting the season with the Reds and looking for a bounce back year before he hits free agency at the end of the season. I can't imagine how TELLING the opposing batter what pitch is coming will help improve his ERA but....he did it with Matt Beaty on Monday and still managed to strike him out. I guess give him points for trying to be innovative. It's still crazy though.

Before the Astros sign-stealing scandal rocked the baseball world, Bauer was already pretty critical about Astros pitchers using foreign substances to increase spin rate on their pitches in 2018. He wrote a piece on Derek Jeter's Players Tribune HERE that basically said he had studied spin rates for many years and no matter what he tried he was not able to improve it without the use of any "foreign substances." He also went on to say that he estimates 70% of pitchers use some sort of illegal substance to do it.

But does his estimate apply to him? Bauer's own spin rate increased last season so maybe he is speaking from experience? And if he is one of the 70% he also isn't denying it. He also isn't mincing words about the Astros pitching staff including Gerrit Cole who had his own increase in spin rate and then he tried to throw Cole under the bus, who happens to be his old UCLA college teammate and someone he has bad blood with. He didn't directly implicate Cole, but history shows they have a lot of history with each other and both drafted in the 2011 draft...so possible shots fired?

"When I see a guy go from being a good pitcher for one team and spinning the ball at 2,200 rpm, to spinning the ball at 2,600 or 2,700 in Houston, I know exactly what happened." - Bauer

So the drama of the Astros cheating scandal goes on and current and former Astros continue to take the heat. I think Bauer has a lot of balls. I admire that he wants a fair game and isn't afraid to be creative to play a fair game. I admire that if he is going to get beat that he wants to do so on a fair playing field. All admirable things right now in an era where baseball's integrity is lost.

We may never know the whole story between Cole and Bauer. It was strained to begin with and this doesn't help. What do you think about Bauer's piece on the Players Tribune? And do you think Bauer was talking about Cole? It's just another chapter in baseball's bruised history now that we will have to watch.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj