Tag Archives: Jake Bauers

Jake Bauers traded to Seattle

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Baseball Club has traded the first baseman to the Seattle Mariners.

The Jake Bauers saga in Cleveland has finally come to a close as the team traded the struggling first baseman to the Seattle Mariners Friday. Bauers was designated for assignment previously and will be receiving either a player to be named later or cash in exchange for Bauers.

Things just never clicked for Jake Bauers in Cleveland. Bauers was a promising prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays system before being acquired in a deal that shuffled the roster a bit. The deal sent Yandy Diaz to Tampa Bay, Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle, and Carlos Santana back to Cleveland.

Jake Bauers slashed just .218/.305/.352/.656 in 160 games in Cleveland, these numbers are a bit boosted after some slightly higher numbers in 2019. The 2021 season was a disaster as Bauers slash line was rather uninspiring (.190/.277/.280/.557) with a 56 WRC+. Perhaps a fresh start in a new city can revitalize his career, because as of now it appears to be hanging on by a thread.

Cleveland needs to make some roster changes soon

Posted on by
Advertisements

The time is is coming soon for the Cleveland Baseball Club to make a handful of roster changes.

The theme of the 2021 season for the Cleveland Baseball Club has been transition. Continuing to compete while turning over the roster and finding out about some of their younger players. Well, the time is coming to turn the roster over yet again and find out about some more guys. The team is overachieving record wise and is not really a threat to make a postseason run. With injuries starting to pile up it is best to figure out what the team has in two of the often mentioned options in the minors at the expense of two others on the major league roster.

Those two on the current roster? Jake Bauers and Yu Chang. The two guys in the minors? Bobby Bradley and Daniel Johnson.

Bauers simply has not developed and is just brutal to watch at the plate. Some of that can be due to Bauers not living up to expectations after being acquired from Tampa prior to 2019. Although some of that falls on the organization as they simply have a hard time developing hitters for some time now. Bauers is slashing .198/.287/.292/.579 with a 63 WRC+ on the year, this is just not acceptable production and cannot be justified to keep getting playing time. As far as Chang goes he is nothing more than a bench player. There was some optimisms from certain sections of the fanbase that he could be something more, but he just isn’t really a player that should get regular playing time. Considering the lack of production and an injury to a key offensive player (Franmil Reyes), Cleveland needs players who can play on a regular basis. This just appears to be the perfect time to find out more about some of their players currently in the minors.

And that brings us to Bobby Bradley and Daniel Johnson. Many have been clamoring for them to replace a handful of players on the current roster for quite some time. To the dismay of many they have had to wait their turn, mostly to sort some things out with guys like Jake Bauers. The time has come for them to get their shot at being everyday players so the team can figure out what they are. There are still questions and concerns about if they are able to play at the major league level. Sure, both Bradley and Johnson could struggle as well, but is time to turn the page with Bauers and Chang by opting to go with Bradley and Johnson.

At the end of the day it is about determining whether or not some of these fringe type players can be regular contributors. It does not appear that is the case with Bauers and Chang, which is why going through this process with Bradley and Johnson should begin sooner rather than later. In reality it is more than possible that the true answers for Cleveland are in the next group of players yet to be called up. That is when things should get a bit more exciting down on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

Cleveland takes down Angels 3-2

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Baseball Club came away with their second straightwin on the road against Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels.

After two straight games of Shohei Ohtani punishing Cleveland’s pitching, they got to return the favor Wednesday. Cleveland managed five hits and two runs, including a solo home run from Jake Bauers against Ohtani as he lasted only 4.2 innings.

The first run of the game actually came in the 1st inning on a Franmil Reyes RBI double with Jose Ramirez scoring. This was the first of two runs scored by Ramirez in the contest. Ramirez would later score in the 6th inning on a what turned out to be a game-winning infield single from Josh Naylor, the second big time play from the Cleveland outfielder in as many days.

On the mound it was Aaron Civale who pitched well. Civale allowed two runs on four hits with just one walk while striking out eight Angels batters. Emmanuel Clase would pitch the 8th inning and only needed nine pitches. James Karinchak took the 9th and struck out two and walked one on 17 pitches.

Cleveland is currently 2.5 games back of the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central and will return to play Friday when they return home to host the Minnesota Twins.

Cleveland takes down Seattle 4-2

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Baseball Club took down the Seattle Mariners 4-2 in the first game of their road series.

Things got a little bit dicey late in the Cleveland Baseball Club’s 4-2 win over the Seattle Mariners Thursday. After 8 spectacular innings from Zach Plesac, Emmanuel Clase came on in the 9th for the save. Clase would manage to get two outs, but would walk the bases loaded. Bryan Shaw would come on in relief of Clase and proceed to strike out Luis Torrens to secure the victory.

As previously mentioned, Zach Plesac had another great outing. Plesac allowed two runs on just two hits over 8 innings. In fact, Plesac held the Mariners hitless through 7 innings until a leadoff single from J.P. Crawford registered Seattle’s first hit of the game in the 8th.

These were the first runs allowed by Plesac in his last three starts after keeping the Reds and White Sox scoreless over 13.2 innings coming into this game.

Cleveland got things started early offensively as Franmil Reyes launched a home run in the 2nd inning. The home run from Reyes was a welcome to the league moment for Mariners pitchers Logan Gilbert who was making his MLB debut.

Stil in the 2nd, Josh Naylor would follow the Reyes home run with a single to center and subsequently go to second base on a wild pitch. Jake Bauers would drive in Naylor to increase Cleveland’s lead to 2.

In the 3rd inning it was Jose Ramirez who came to the plate and he found a home run pitch. Ramirez would drive in Amed Rosario on his American League leading 11th home run of the season.

Cleveland still remains 1 game back of the division leading Chicago White Sox after the win. Chicago will face the Kansas City Royals for three games while Cleveland’s series with Seattle continues.

Cleveland bounces back to take down Reds

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Baseball Club pounded out 11 hits and scored nine runs as they bounced back to defeat the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

It was a much better time out for the Cleveland Baseball Club Saturday as they came back from being no-hit the day before and came away with a 9-2 victory against the Cincinnati Reds. Cleveland did not have a problem when facing Luis Castillo as they managed to score 6 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits in 4 innings off the Reds starter. To say they were a bit happier to be facing Castillo in this contest is an understatement. Cleveland would score three more runs just two innings later off of Ryan Hendrix.

Cesar Hernandez led the Cleveland batters in the RBI department on the day, tripling with the bases loaded leading to Jake Bauers, Austin Hedges, and Andres Gimenez. Speaking of Bauers, the Cleveland first baseman went 2-4 in the contest as he is becoming a little more consistent at the plate recently. Josh Naylor went 2-3 with two runs scored as he is starting to heat up at the plate. Jose Ramirez also had two hits, going 2-5 with 2 RBI.

As far as pitching is concerned, it was Aaron Civale who had yet another impressive performance. Civale allowed 1 run on 5 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts as he was able to keep the Reds bats in check. Civale’s ERA now sits at 2.91 on the season and he continues to be one of Cleveland’s most consistent arms.

Cleveland rallies to defeat Royals 7-3

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Baseball Club scored seven consecutive runs as they rallied to defeat the Kansas City Royals.

Things were not going great for the Cleveland Baseball Club early in Kansas City. A combination of the Royals getting 3-0 lead and Angel Hernandez just being plain awful made it seem like that it was not going to be their night. Luckily Cleveland was able to score seven unanswered runs from the 6th inning on as they managed to win the second game in a row in comeback fashion against Royals.

Everything got started when Royals shortstop Nicky Lopez committed a throwing error with the bases loaded. This led to two runs for Cleveland in the 6th inning. Harold Ramirez would follow with a game-tying RBI single.

Ramirez would drive in another run as he would double home Franmil Reyes in the 8th. Josh Naylor would subsequently drive in Ramirez with a single of his own. The Cleveland scoring run was capped off with a Jake Bauers two-run homer, his first of the year.

After an atrocious 1-17 start to the year, Bauers is starting to turn things around just a bit. Bauers is slashing .283/.375/.464 with an OPS of .839 over his last 33 plate appearances, including two doubles and one home run. There are two multi-hit outings mixed in with some hitless appearances along the way, but maybe things are heading in the right direction.

On the mound

It was an all hands on deck day for the Cleveland pitching staff. Phil Maton served as the opener, allowing 1 runs on 2 hits and 1 walk in 1.1 innings. Sam Hentges would follow Maton, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits in his 3.1 innings of work.

Nick Sandlin and Nick Wittgren pitched the middle innings with neither player allowing a baserunner. Cal Quantrill would pitch the final two innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out two.

Cleveland is now one game back of division leaders Chicago and Kansas City. The Cleveland offense is struggling to find their stride, but as long as they have their pitching staff they have a puncher’s chance.

Cleveland begins series with 1st place Royals

Posted on by
Advertisements

The 13-13 Cleveland Baseball Club travel to Kansas City to take on the 16-10 American League Central division leading Royals.

Put your hand up if you had the Kanas City Royals leading the American League Central at the beginning of May. That’s right, nobody predicted this early season start for the Royals and the Cleveland Baseball Club will be facing a tough task in their four-game road series in Kansas City.

Cleveland’s starter for Game 1 will be Aaron Civale. Civale is coming off an outing which saw him allow 4 runs on 8 hits in 7.2 innings against the Minnesota Twins. One of the more interesting aspects of that performance is that Civale got the Twins to hit into 18 ground ball outs with 8 fly outs and 4 strikeouts.

Only four Kansas City Royals batters have faced Civale in the past. Hunter Dozier, Cam Gallagher, and Whit Merrifield are a combined 4-8 with 1 double against Civale with Nicky Lopez being 0-3.

Starting for Royals is Daniel Lynch, who will be making his major league debut. The 24-year old left handed pitcher stands 6’6″ and was the 34th overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft. During Lynch’s two seasons in the minors he has a 2.50 ERA, 1.192 WHIP, and 9.6 K/9.

First pitch will take place at 8:10 P.M. at Kauffman Stadium

Jake Bauers will be Opening Day first baseman

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Baseball Club made their decision about who will start at first base.

This is not the outcome many expected or hoped for, but Jake Bauers will be the starting first baseman for the Cleveland Baseball Club on Opening Day. Bauers is getting the nod over Bobby Bradley as he did make the roster along with some other fringe players.

Like it or not this outcome was inevitable. Jake Bauers was out of options and they still really do not know what they have in him. While there are extremely large sections of the fanbase done with him, the fact of the matter is that 213 career MLB games for a 25-year old is not nearly enough to come to a conclusion about who he is as a player and what his future could be.

The Cleveland Baseball Club owes it to themselves to give Jake Bauers a legitimate chance before moving on. There are so many who complain that the team moves on from players to often (Jesus Aguilar and Yandy Diaz come to mind, but they are middling at best), but at the same time want to shift their focus to the younger Bradley. Bradley should get his chance at some point, but Jake Bauers needs to play right now. Cleveland can afford to make Bradley wait just a little bit longer. If and when a time comes to move on from Bauers, Bradley can hopefully step right in and make an impact. Until then it is the Jake Bauers show at first base.

Cleveland options three players

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Baseball Club has optioned Jake Bauers, James Hoyt, and Jefry Rodriguez to their alternative training site.

After the Cleveland Baseball Club set their rotation Tuesday it was only a matter of time before the rest of the roster would take shape. The club has made three roster moves before the Opening Day roster deadline.

Jake Bauers, James Hoyt, and Jefry Rodriguez will all head to the alternative training site. The moves with Hoyt and Rodriguez are hardly surprising considering the rotation being set and the bullpen is what it is right now.

Jake Bauers’ future with the team is questionable right now. The reemergence of Bradley Zimmer takes an outfield and left-handed bat spot out of the mix for Bauers. Tyler Naquin is also another player who takes playing time away from Bauers and seems to regained a prominent role. The rest of the outfield are right-handed hitters and that does not really impact Bauers all that much.

The key for Cleveland’s outfield is health. While it is encouraging to see the likes of Bradley Zimmer and Tyler Naquin playing well in Summer Camp, they do have a lengthy injury history. If either player were to go down with an injury it would provide Jake Bauers an opportunity to redeem himself. Until then all he can do is keep working and improve his game. Bauers is still young enough that he can be an impactful player somewhere down the line, he just might have to wait a little bit longer for an everyday chance.

A shot at redemption for Jake Bauers

Posted on by
Advertisements

Cleveland Indians outfielder Jake Bauers did not have a good Spring Training and will have a chance to redeem himself if baseball activities resume.

Perhaps this is wishful thinking. Maybe it is just looking for a silver lining during a time without sports and direction. It is probably a little bit of both to be honest, but when looking at Cleveland Indians outfielder Jake Bauers, it is easy to see that he has a shot at redemption when/if baseball activities resume.

Jake Bauers time in Arizona was not going well. In 9 games Bauers was 4-28 with 11 strikeouts. His slash line was quite poor (.143/.143/.179/.321). Only one of his four hits went for extra-bases (a double) and he only managed to drive in two runs. Combine his performance during Spring Training with what was seen in 117 games for the Tribe last year and things do not look great.

Jake Bauers is still young (24), but at some point it has to start to turn into something. Being a prospect only carries someone for so long and eventually something has to come of it. Bauers made some adjustments to his swing since last season and that could have played a factor in his lackluster Spring Training performance.

Jake Bauers made adjustments to his swing, but the results were not immediate.

It is one thing to make adjustments in a training atmosphere, it is another to use those adjustments during games. With the extended time off it is possible that Bauers can work out all the issues with his swing and make some tweaks that could improve his performance at the plate. It is not like there is a whole lot else going on right now.

If the season does begin this year teams will need some time to get back up to speed. a second Spring Training of sorts. While it could be an abbreviated version, the reality is they will need several weeks to get everyone back into the swing of things. For someone like Jake Bauers, he could use this second Spring Training as a way to redeem himself and prove that he belongs as a member of the Cleveland Indians.