Trevor Bauer imitates his teammates' batting stances to draw his first walk ever
Trevor Bauer imitates teammates' stances to draw a BB
Trevor Bauer's third plate appearance during Friday's game against the Pirates was ... interesting. Either the Indians' batters were telepathically controlling their pitcher from the dugout, or Bauer decided to show off a few very accurate impressions at the plate.
Because in a nine-pitch at-bat, Bauer imitated the batting-stance peculiarities of Mike Aviles, Jason Kipnis and Ryan Raburn.
For the record: Bauer used Aviles' stance four times, Kipnis' three times and Raburn's twice. This is very important stuff, folks.
- Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 4, 2015
His version of Kipnis' straight-bat starting point was particularly inspired:
Was Bauer simply trying to provide some additional in-game entertainment? Did his teammates give Bauer a couple of tips that he found a bit too useful? Was he hoping that imitating, for example, the batting stance of Kipnis -- who leads the AL in BA -- would bring him good fortune?
Whatever it was, it worked. After working Pirates reliever Antonio Bastardo for nine pitches, Bauer drew his first walk, ever.