Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch thinks Trevor Bauer should mind his own business rather than worry about what Houston is doing.
Hinch was asked prior to Tuesday’s game against the New York Yankees about Bauer’s implications that the Astros’ pitchers are cheating.
“I roll my eyes at it,” Hinch said in response. “But I do think people need to sweep their own front porch and deal with their own situations more than throw allegations around that are unfounded. I don’t know if it’s a personal vendetta or if he’s got a problem with things.
“In this situation, it’s time to get to baseball. We’ll have to deal with it again when he comes next week because he’s decided to make himself front and center on dealing with baseball curiosities. Our guys are pretty good. They don’t need to be thrown under the bus like that.”
The allegations from Bauer arose on Tuesday morning when he weighed in on a Twitter thread about the spin rate the Astros’ pitchers have accomplished on their breaking stuff. A higher spin rate causes breaking balls to curve more, making it tougher to hit.
Some wondered if they’re doctoring the baseball. Bauer seems to be in that group.
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) May 1, 2018
Bauer suggested that Houston is doing something shady to bump the spin rate for their pitchers.
If only there was just a really quick way to increase spin rate. Like what if you could trade for a player knowing that you could bump his spin rate a couple hundred rpm overnight…imagine the steals you could get on the trade market! If only that existed…
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) May 1, 2018
Bauer later said on Twitter that using pine tar, for instance, gives a serious bump to the spin rate one can achieve on breaking pitches.
Spin rate increases about 350 rpm on average in our tests when using pine tar vs no pine tar. That was at 70ish mph. The effect is slightly less pronounced at higher mph, but still between 2 and 3 hundreds rpm increase at about 90mph
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) May 1, 2018
Two Astros pitchers, Lance McCullers and Collin McHugh, responded to Bauer on Twitter.
Not jealous my friend. Promise you that. I respect what you all are doing over there. My gripe is with the hypocrisy of @mlb for selectively enforcing rules when it suits them
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) May 1, 2018
If only there was this thing where we learned from the same person who has been around baseball for a long time who is a really good coach and a better man.
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) May 1, 2018
Bauer is standing firmly behind his belief that Houston’s pitchers are doing something with the ball. After all, what they’ve done with pitchers has been incredible. They’ve acquired guys like Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole in trades, and both pitchers have taken their games to another level with Houston. Their strikeout numbers are especially high to start the season.
Astros starters after six turns in rotation:
Verlander 4-0, 1.36 ERA, 48 K's in 39.2 IP
Keuchel 1-4, 4.00 ERA, 28 K's in 36 IP
McCullers 4-1, 3.71 ERA. 44 K's in 34 IP
Cole 2-1, 1.73 ERA, 61 K's in 41.2 IP
Morton 4-0, 1.72 ERA, 45 K's in 36.2 IP— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) May 1, 2018
Maybe something will come out in time. Until then, Bauer will come off looking jealous, but it’s not like he’s worried about speaking his mind.
