Tuesday morning was a very interesting time to be on Twitter if you are a baseball fan, and it included one of the more outspoken ball players in Trevor Bauer.
Kyle Boddy of Driveline Bases tweeted out a response to a question posed around the increase in spin rates for Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton, who all recently, relatively speaking, joined the Astros.
That prompted Bauer to send these tweets in response to Boddy, whom he trains with in the off-season. It's worth noting that Bauer and Cole were teammates at UCLA, and supposedly didn't really get along too well.
To summarize, Bauer is insinuating that the Astros are using pine tar or some sort of substance so they can achieve a better grip on the bull, thus resulting in the ball to spin at a higher rate, netting more swinging strikes. Since being acquired from Pittsburgh, Coleβs spin rates have increased from 2165 RPM to 2332 this season. Spin rates are the number of revolutions that a baseball will make over a minute after being released from the pitcherβs hand.
Those accusations didnβt sit well with Astros starter Lance McCullers, who fired back at the Indians starter.
Alex Bregman chimed in, and roasted Bauer pretty good.
Six-year veteran Colin McHugh offered up his opinion of Bauer's allegation, to which Bauer replied to.
Manager A.J. Hinch responded to the βridiculousβ claim.
Whether you think Bauer is on to something or not, all this does is fuel the fire for when the Astros and Indians collide next. Mark your calendars for May 18th in Houston when the two teams kick off a three-game set, and then meet each other again a week later in Cleveland for a four-game series. You can bet there will be some tension if or when Bauer faces them next on the mound, because thatβs a pretty bold assertion to make. He's 7-0 with a 2.89 ERA over his career against the 'Stros.
Bauer finished up this tweet strom by saying he never accused the Astros of cheating.
What do you think? Is Bauer more so trying to get the MLB to investigate? Do any of Bauer's teammates use pine tar to get a better gripe?
