He is a monster. Or a victim.
Or somewhere in between.
Wherever the truth lies — following multiple sexual assault allegations that produced a record 194-game MLB suspension, but no criminal charges — led Trevor Bauer to Long Island, where the 35-year-old former Cy Young Award winner made his first stateside start in nearly five years in the Ducks’ season-opening 7-0 loss Tuesday at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.
Bauer, who spent the past three years playing abroad, pitched four innings in front of a sellout crowd (6,896) in Central Islip, allowing two runs, five hits and three walks, while recording eight strikeouts on 93 pitches (56 strikes).
“I just want to be around American fans and enjoy playing baseball in my home country because I’ve not been allowed to play baseball in my home country for years for no good reason,” Bauer said. “So instead of getting bitter about it, I want to come and enjoy the fans that are here and feel like I am accepted in American baseball … I have a huge, passionate fan base. Logically I know that I’m loved by the American baseball community, but once you get to the MLB level and the large brands in baseball and the media, they just hate me. So it’s easy to feel like I’m an outcast here and I don’t want to feel like that.
“Coming out tonight and seeing all the people that came out and how early they were at the ballpark and how passionate they were about watching me pitch … all this stuff was awesome for me. It makes me feel better about baseball because I don’t want to hate the game. I want to enjoy the game. Baseball’s given me a lot.”
After going 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 MLB seasons — most recently appearing with the Dodgers in 2021, as the sport’s highest-paid player — Bauer starred for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan in 2023, then was named the Pitcher of the Year in the Mexican Baseball League in 2024.
Last year, the right-hander returned to Yokohama and finished with the worst ERA (4.51) of any starter in the league, but an AL scout in attendance Tuesday was relatively impressed with Bauer’s stuff.
“He showed flashes of the guy he used to be and a guy who can help a club,” the scout said. “He went out and handled himself well. He showed flashes of the breaking ball he had in the past. Certainly the velocity is not what it once was, but it’s still solid, mostly 92-94. He didn’t throw the ball particularly well on the inside part of the plate with his fastball, but I think it was a really good first outing. You’d expect him to get sharper and probably tick up in velocity.
“You’re talking about a guy who was at the top of the game. Is he back there? No, but he looked like a guy who could go out and compete.”
Bauer — who has long denied wrongdoing, claiming every sexual encounter was consensual — can point to countless athletes who pleaded guilty to crimes, then returned to the top of their sport.
In MLB, José Reyes, Aroldis Chapman and Domingo Germán, among others, served lengthy suspensions for violating the domestic violence policy, then resumed their careers as if nothing happened.
Bauer has offered to play for the major league’s minimum salary, but no MLB team has been willing to pay the price of the PR hit.
“I could put up a 0.00 ERA and strike out more people than Mason Miller and it wouldn’t change anything,” Bauer said. “I’ve known what this is the entire time. I’m blackballed. I’m not allowed to play Major League Baseball … I’ve literally offered to pay my entire salary back and play for zero dollars. When I say there’s nothing I can do, that everything is completely out of my control, I have offered everything. It just doesn’t matter.”
After making millions in Japan, Bauer — who made more than $100 million in his MLB career and likely missed out on nine figures more — is essentially playing for pennies in the suburbs. The Ducks are not just a showcase for his arm, but for his 1.14 million YouTube subscribers, who will hear the unfiltered starter miked up for every game.
In Suffolk County, his brand isn’t toxic, but an attraction, convincing so many to brave the cold. They chanted for “Tre-vor Bau-er,” overwhelming the gift shop to buy orange shirts bearing his name, staying deep into the night for postgame autographs.
They came by the thousands, the young and the old, the indignant, the ignorant — and all in between.
