Bloody finger forces Indians starter Trevor Bauer to leave ALCS Game 3

Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer cut his finger on Friday and the wound re-opened.

The Indians were forced to make an early call to the bullpen in Game 3 of the ALCS when a wound on Trevor Bauer’s pinky finger re-opened. 

Bauer cut the finger while repairing his drone on Friday and required 10 stitches to close the wound. The Indians pushed his first start of the series back from Game 2 to Game 3 in order to give the cut more time to heal. 

Because the cut is on the outside of the finger, the team believed Bauer would be able to pitch through it. The finger began to bleed profusely in the bottom of the first inning and home plate umpire Brian Gorman said Bauer had to be removed from the game. 

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Dan Otero replaced Bauer and pitched 1 1/3 innings. The Indians went on to win, 4–2, and Bauer tweeted after the game:

Bauer explained how the injury happened during his press conference on Sunday. 

“So I plugged it in, like I've done thousands and thousands of times, and for whatever reason it was sitting like this, I was plugging the battery in and my finger happened to be right here, and for whatever reason these three propellers didn't spin like they were supposed to and this one spun up at max throttle,” he said. “It never happened to me before. I have no idea why it happened. And my finger just happened to be in the way of the prop and it cut me.”