Trevor Bauer criticizes Japanese baseball, blames MLB office for blocking return - Chosunbiz
Cy Young Award-winning 'eccentric pitcher' Trevor Bauer (35) will pitch in the Dominican winter league this winter. Once considered the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, he was expelled over personal life issues and has since played in Japan, Mexico, independent leagues in the United States, and now the Dominican winter league. He even claimed he tried five times to return to MLB but did not receive approval from Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Bauer, who plays for the Estrellas Orientales, made his winter league debut on the 30th (Korean time) as the starting pitcher in a home game against Águilas Cibaeñas at Estadio Tetelo Vargas in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic. His debut, delayed two days after the Sept. 28 Águilas Cibaeñas game was rained out, saw Bauer pitch five innings, allowing two hits, five walks, four strikeouts and one run (unearned). He was removed in a tied game and received no decision.
Bauer played in three leagues this year alone. He started the season with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, an independent league in the United States, going 5-1 with a 2.57 ERA in seven starts (42 innings) before heading to the Mexican League in June. With the Diablos Rojos del México he made six starts (32 2/3 innings) and went 4-1 with a 4.41 ERA.
After signing with Estrellas Orientales in mid-September and announcing his move to the Dominican winter league, Bauer has been active online, sharing pitching know-how on his social media. On the 24th he candidly expressed his thoughts on Japanese baseball.
Having experienced two seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in 2023 and 2025, Bauer said, "Japanese baseball is honestly not fun. On every team there seem to be about three hitters whose job is simply to foul everything off. They don't try to get hits; they just make contact."
He added, "For left-handed hitters, once it's two strikes it's like 'foul off the fastball.' They seem to be in the lineup to force the starting pitcher out around the fourth inning. That makes you throw about 30 more pitches. You think, 'even if you throw an 87 mph (140 km/h) pitch right down the middle, it's still a foul?'"
Still, he acknowledged Japanese hitters' contact ability. Bauer said, "The skill of hitting the ball with the bat is really unbelievable," and summarized Japanese baseball's offensive traits: "Last year there were even two instances where a ball bounced on the ground and came up as a hit. They hardly ever swing and miss, but they lack power. Everything is singles, and the rest is a game of constant running to score."
That was not all. The day before (the 23rd) he also argued that Japan's reputation for strong defense is overrated. Bauer said, "You'd think Japanese defense is good, but it's not. Their defensive range is only about a step to either side. On the team I played for, players receive a season-end bonus, and next year's contract is determined by a specific formula, so errors are penalized. Because they get paid less, fielders only defend their own spots. They don't want to make errors, so if a ball goes past to the side they just leave it," claiming Japanese fielders play conservatively.
Bauer performed well in Japan in 2023, making 19 starts (130 2/3 innings) and going 10-4 with a 2.76 ERA, but struggled in 2025, with 21 starts (133 2/3 innings), a 4-10 record and a 4.51 ERA. Known for losing his temper at times, Bauer was sent down to the second team late in the season due to poor conditioning and was hammered in an exhibition game against an amateur team, leaving him off the postseason roster.
After a re-signing with DeNA failed, Bauer has continued his career moving among the United States, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Bauer's agent Rachel Luba said in an interview with Japanese media last April that she received an offer from a Korean team, but the authenticity of that claim is unclear. A KBO team had considered signing Bauer a few years ago but backed away because of concerns over his personal life. Now at 35 his skills are not what they used to be, and it seems no team is willing to take the risk.
Bauer, who won the National League Cy Young Award with the Cincinnati Reds in 2020, fell from grace amid a series of incidents and controversies throughout his career. Above all, the consequences of his misconduct were severe. After being accused of sexual assault in June 2021 during his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bauer was suspended for 324 games. After appeals, the suspension was reduced to 194 games in December 2022. He was eligible to pitch from the start of the 2023 season, but he was released after failing to properly apologize or show remorse to the Dodgers and instead offering excuses. The Dodgers cut ties and still covered the remaining $22.5 million in salary. Other teams could have signed Bauer for the league minimum of $720,000, but none reached out to him.
But Bauer targeted the MLB office as the biggest obstacle to his return, saying it was not the teams but the league office blocking him. In an interview with Dominican Republic outlet Diario Libre on the 29th, he claimed, "I've nearly finalized contracts five times, but the same thing happened every time. The team said everything was fine and only final approval remained, but two days later they said, 'I can't say what happened, but we can't sign the contract.' What's happening is pretty clear. Ask Commissioner Manfred why they won't let me play. I don't know either," expressing his frustration.
It has been five years since Bauer last pitched in the majors, and he said, "I'll stay with Estrellas through the end of this season and I want to win the Caribbean Series. We will win, and I'll think about next year when the time comes," withholding comment on his future.
