Trevor Bauer isn’t this good by accident. Listen to this year’s third overall pick describe his repertoire and it’s hard not to get the distinct impression that he is intent on combining his wits with his physical skills to become as effective as possible.
“I throw a four-seam fastball, I throw two variations of the curveball, two variations of the slider, two variations of the change-up, a split fingered fastball and two variations of a reverse-slider, which is kind of a cross between a fastball and a screwball," Bauer explained on a conference call with reporters. "It’s a little bit slower than a sinking fastball and a little bit faster than a screwball and has a left-handed cut fastball action to it.”
The 20-year-old's extensive repertoire worked wonders at the collegiate level in 2011, as he posted a 1.25 ERA with 203 strikeouts and 36 walks in 136 2/3 innings for UCLA. D'Backs GM Kevin Towers sees Bauer and fellow first rounder Archie Bradley as future members of Arizona’s rotation and D’Backs’ amateur scouting director Ray Montgomery agrees.
“We see [Bauer] as a potential rotational guy for us and I think his talent gives him a chance to make an impact on us sooner rather than later,” Montgomery said in a statement.
Bauer has an unorthodox workout regimen and unusual Tim Lincecum-like mechanics (the righty models his mechanics after Lincecum and his pitching style after Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee). In conversations with D’Backs vice president of scouting and player development Jerry DiPoto, Bauer was relieved to determine that his thoughts on pitching aligned closely with those of many in the Diamondbacks’ front office.
“The organizational philosophy as far as training and pitching and sequencing pitches and player development fit with my ideas that I already had on my own,” he said.
Bauer understands that Arizona may decide to shut him down for the season as a result of his heavy workload so far. But the Golden Spikes finalist says he's looking forward to the possibility of representing the D’Backs at the Major League level and was honored to have been selected third overall.
“It’s a credit to all the hard work I’ve put in over the years, all the hours of preparation and video analysis, conditioning on days you don’t really want to be conditioning,” he said. “And it’s a credit to the Diamondbacks organization as well, since they talked to me to get an idea about why I do the things I do.”
