A Look Into the Unique Mind of Trevor Bauer

This from Paul Feinberg at UCLA Magazine, an inside look at Trevor Bauer and most interestingly, a peek into his mind. This piece sets the stage by mentioning his story, something we've covered here. Bauer graduated a semester early from high school and got to UCLA last spring to start his freshman year with the baseball team when he should have been a high school senior. He went on to have an incredible season, racking up National Freshman Pitcher of the year while playing in the shadow of first-round pick Gerrit Cole.

Feinberg also mentions that Bauer played second-fiddle in high school too, but the best part is this.

"I was looking for new challenges academically," he says.

Those challenges include courses in mechanical engineering, mathematics and physics, which the cerebral Bauer also applies to his pitching. "I'm constantly making adjustments, making up different spins and different breaks. I can make my curveball break down and in or down and out on a righthanded batter," he notes.

This is one thing about Bauer that really has really gone under the radar, but is so evident when you watch him pitch. I've been sitting there at games watching him pitch and he'll throw some pitch that he hasn't thrown before and a few of us just start laughing. It's truly as if he's making things up as he goes along out there, but it's not like he'll say "what the hell" and go with it. As this piece mentions, the guy knows his stuff. He knows his physics and he knows the physics of pitching so what he's "making up as he goes along" is really the result a calculated and creative thought process.

Bauer is pitching in the shadows of a guy who throws in the high 90's when he wants it, which makes it so it is necessary to point out that he's actually been the better of the two stellar sophomore starters. Make sure you check out the rest of Feinberg's piece for some quotes on Bauer's relationship with Coach Savage and some other cool stuff.