Can The Indians' Trevor Bauer Sustain His Claim To Being The Most Durable Pitcher In The Majors?

Trevor Bauer hasn’t yet been named to the American League All-Star team but may very well land a spot when rosters begin to shuffle due to schedules and injuries. He nevertheless has been one of the most fascinating pitchers to watch, consistently going deep into games for the Cleveland Indians in an era when bullpens take over earlier and earlier.

Bauer faces the Royals in Kansas City tonight, and it’s a good bet he’ll throw at least 115 pitches. He’s done that 10 times already this season, including four starts of 120-plus pitches. The rest of the AL has 11 starts of 115-plus pitches, and no other major-leaguer has more than three.

Max Scherzer, who is known for his durability, has done it three times. Lance Lynn, Mike Minor, Jon Lester and Patrick Corbin have turned in two 115-plus pitch starts. No one else in the majors as more than one.

Unlike Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Corey Kluber and others built like traditional workhorses, Bauer is no freak of nature. He’s listed at 6-1, 205 pounds but has had to work hard to build up his frame to handle the strain of attacking hitters every fifth day.

Bauer has trained relentlessly for years at Driveline Baseball, a data-driven academy outside Seattle, to increase both his velocity and endurance. In a season when Cleveland has lost Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger for long stretches, Bauer is keeping the Indians’ rotation together.

He’s 6-6 with a 3.55 ERA, piling up 119 innings pitched in 18 starts. But you have to wonder if he can sustain this form while managing such a high workload the rest of the season. 

“The fight I have is that I feel a responsibility also for his career,” Francona said after Bauer threw 127 pitches in a win over the Royals last week. “You know, you’ve got one arm, and I fight that, because he fights me to stay out there, which I love. I mean, I love that. ... I don’t want pitchers that want to come out of the game. I admire that about him. But I want him to pitch for 15 years, so I worry.”

Bauer believes in himself. He points out that his 127th pitch last Wednesday was a 97-mph fastball. He turned in that outing despite battling some undefined “physical limitations’’ in recent outings.

“Everyone’s banged up throughout the year,” Bauer told reporters after the start against Kansas City. “But I’m working through it. I feel good about where I’m at right now.”

Not long ago, 120 pitches was considered the maximum safe threshold for pitchers in an outing. It has worked its way lower in recent years, with 115 becoming accepted as a breaking point.

It’s never been clear how much stress an arm can handle. Verlander continues to pitch effectively at 36 despite delivering a total of 51 starts of 120-plus pitches in a run of five seasons (2009-13) for Jim Leyland’s Tigers, including six extended starts in postseason games. 

But both Kerry Wood and Mark Prior broke down after they were pushed hard by Dusty Baker with the 2003 Cubs. Wood threw a total of 4106 pitches that year, including 562 in four postseason starts. Prior’s bulk total was reduced by a stay on the disabled list but he threw 3769 pitches in 33 starts. That’s 114.2 pitches per start, slightly higher than Wood (114.1).

Bauer leads the majors with 2019 pitches, averaging 112.2 per start. He projects to make 16 more starts, including tonight, which at his current pace would give him 3814 total pitches for the season.

That would be the most in the majors since Verlander threw 3941 in 2011. 

Bauer is considered a candidate for a possible trade because he is eligible for free agency after next season. He has gone his entire career on one-year contracts and isn’t looking for an extension from the Indians.

Bauer is being paid $13 million this season, fourth highest on his team. He could ask for $20 million-plus through arbitration next season. The challenge for him to continue to hold up physically, and he’s betting on himself.

Source: Forbes.com

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