Trevor Bauer delivers a pitch in the Diablos Rojos del Mexico’s game three playoff win at the Leones de Yucatan. (Photo Courtesy of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico)
Rarely does a professional pitcher have as dominant a season as Trevor Bauer, the 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner, had with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in 2024.
Exiled to the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, Bauer led the league in strikeouts with 120, tied for the league lead in wins with 10, and was second in ERA with a 2.48 mark, doing all that in just 83 1/3 innings across 14 appearances. He’ll start game one of the Serie de Campeonato on Saturday for the Diablos Rojos when they face the Guerreros de Oaxaca at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu.
In a recent interview, Othon Díaz, the president of the Diablos Rojos, told Mexican media outlet Mediotiempo that Bauer, “what I want to say is that Trevor deserves a much bigger opportunity in baseball.”
While Bauer’s accomplishments in the LMB drew the attention of Major League Baseball fans whose teams needed another starter, they weren’t enough to earn him a contract with an MLB club.
After all, he was suspended for 324 games by Major League Baseball for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy following allegations of sexual assault by a woman in Ohio. The woman claimed that Bauer beat her during a sexual encounter in 2017 when he pitched for the Cleveland Guardians. Two other women stated in 2021 they experienced similar dangerous behaviors from Bauer during sex, though at least one accuser has since been indicted for fraud related to her claims.
The suspension was later reduced to 194 games by an arbitrator. Bauer had already sat out for that amount time and was reinstated to Major League Baseball.
Bauer had signed a three-year deal worth $102 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers in February of 2021, and was prepared to start pitching again with his team following his reinstatement. He was subsequently designated for assignment by Los Angeles, and released six days later.
For his part, Bauer has steadfastly denied all the allegations made against him and has never been arrested for, charged with, indicted on charges of, or convicted of any crime related to the accusations that have dogged him.
After his stellar season in Mexico City, the UCLA alum was selected by the Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico – the country’s winter league – in the annual foreign player draft.
But the winter season doesn’t start until October, and Bauer has a playoff game ahead of him, one that he wants to win and help push the Diablos Rojos on game closer to the Serie del Rey. The Diablos Rojos were the hottest team in professional baseball – in any league – this summer, going 71-19 during the LMB’s regular season, beating the defending LMB champion Pericos de Puebla four games to one in the first round and sweeping the Leones de Yucatan in the second round.
Erick Leal, Brooks Hall, and Jose Luis Bravo will start the next three games of the Serie de Campeonato against Oaxaco for the Diablos, who are looking to win their first title since 2014.
“I do feel sad that he won’t have that opportunity. I think he deserves it as a human being, as a baseball player and as a representative of world sport. I would like to see him, after we are champions, not before, to see him in places where the importance is at the level that he deserves,” Diaz told Mediotiempo.
It might be wishful thinking, but for Diaz and Bauer, that possibility is just eight wins away.
NOTEBOOK: The Serie de Campeonato between the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos and the Sultanes de Monterrey begins tonight at 9:30 p.m. EDT at Estadio Exxon Mobil Super in Monterrey, with Dos Laredos’ Robert Stock facing Monterrey’s Julio Teheran. Game times for the series, as well as venues for Dos Laredos home games, have been announced, with game three taking place at Parque La Junta in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and games four and five at UniTrade Stadium in Laredo, Texas.
Liga Mexicana de Beisbol Series de Campeonatos
* – If Necessary
Friday, August 23
10:30 p.m EDT – Game One – Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos at Sultanes de Monterrey – Estadio Exxon Mobil Super
Saturday, August 24
7 p.m. EDT – Game One – Guerreros de Oaxaca at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu
8 p.m. EDT – Game Two – Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos at Sultanes de Monterrey – Estadio Exxon Mobil Super
Sunday, August 25
5 p.m. EDT – Game Two – Guerreros de Oaxaca at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu
Monday, August 26
9 p.m. EDT – Game Three – Sultanes de Monterrey at Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos – Parque La Junta
Tuesday, August 27
8:30 p.m. EDT – Game Four – Sultanes de Monterrey at Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos – UniTrade Stadium
10 p.m. EDT – Game Three – Diablos Rojos del Mexico at Guerreros de Oaxaca – Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos
Wednesday, August 28
8:30 p.m. EDT – Game Five* – Sultanes de Monterrey at Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos – UniTrade Stadium
10 p.m. EDT – Game Four – Diablos Rojos del Mexico at Guerreros de Oaxaca – Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos
Friday, August 29
10 p.m. EDT – Game Five* – Diablos Rojos del Mexico at Guerreros de Oaxaca – Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos
Saturday, August 30
10:30 p.m. EDT – Game Six* – Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos at Sultanes de Monterrey – Estadio Exxon Mobil Super
Sunday, August 31
7 p.m. EDT – Game Six* – Guerreros de Oaxaca at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu
8 p.m. EDT – Game Seven* – Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos at Sultanes de Monterrey – Estadio Exxon Mobil Super
Monday, September 1
5 p.m. EDT – Game Seven* – Guerreros de Oaxaca at Diablos Rojos del Mexico – Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu
