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Trevor Bauer Told a Batter What Was Coming to Troll the Astros

In Tuesday’s Hot Clicks: Trevor Bauer sends a message about cheating, two Cubs stars mic’d up during the game and more.

Trevor Bauer is not subtle

Trevor Bauer is undoubtedly the most abrasive pitcher in MLB. He knows you probably don’t like him, and he doesn’t care. 

Bauer has been calling out the Astros for cheating long before it was cool. In 2018, he accused Astros pitchers of illegally doctoring the baseball and made a start against Houston in which his spin rate mysteriously jumped. An article published Monday at Fangraphs suggested Bauer may have conducted some other spin rate experiment in 2019

There’s no question about what he did in Monday’s spring training start, though. Facing his first hitter of the day, Bauer decided to just straight-up tell one batter what was coming. No need for a trash can or an Apple Watch. Bauer intentionally tipped his pitches by motioning with his glove. 

Bauer’s pitch sequence went fastball, fastball, changeup, fastball—and he was able to induce a flyout to center.

Reds outfielder Derek Dietrich gave a very tongue-in-cheek interview with Fox Sports Ohio in which he explained Bauer’s motivations. 

“Trevor and I are good friends,” Dietrich said. “If you’ve followed baseball this offseason, there’s a little thing going on with sign stealing. So, Trevor’s not too fond of it, so he figured he’s gonna try something new this season. He’s gonna start telling the batters what’s coming. That way there’s no ifs, ands or buts about what’s going on. Just, here it comes, try to hit it.”

Bauer obviously isn’t going to do this in the regular season but it’s a clever way to express your displeasure with the scandal. It’s just a shame Bauer is in the National League now and we won’t get to see how he’d make his feelings known in a game against the Astros. 

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Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.