Trevor Bauer fires back at fan doubting his value next to Shohei Ohtani

Trevor Bauer does not lack confidence. The former MLB pitcher firmly believes he should be back in the league after almost four full seasons away, and he believes he's one of the most marketable players in baseball.

He has said in the past and it came up again on March 10 that he's the second-most popular player in the sport behind Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star who has now won three MVP awards.

After a lengthy debate about how good Bauer is right now in Japan, the idea that Bauer is as prominent as anyone not named Ohtani got brought into question, but Bauer simply said that no one can disagree with his statements:

"You just don’t have the facts on your side to argue against those points. Especially the second most popular behind Ohtani point. Facts are facts, no matter how you feel about them."

Trevor Bauer compared himself to Shohei Ohtani (Imagn)

It's unclear what facts Bauer is referring to in this situation, as popularity is not a fully quantifiable thing. Still, Bauer remains confident that he'd be more popular than even the best of the best in the MLB if he were to be signed.

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Trevor Bauer comes to defense of poor start in NPB

Trevor Bauer had a bit of a rough start in his second stint in the NPB with the Yokohama Bay Stars. He struggled, striking out just two after claiming he'd strike out half the batters he faced.

Despite the issues, Bauer maintains that it's not a talent issue but rather one of rust. He said on X in response to a fan who criticized:

"My first 15 innings after not pitching for 2 years were bad. My last 115 innings I had a 1.9 ERA. My last 100 innings I had a 1.6 ERA and was the second-best pitcher in the league over that time span behind Yamamoto, who signed for 330 million a couple months later."

Bauer cited the fact that the last time he pitched in Japan, he was able to bounce back and pitch nearly as well as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who went on to sign with Bauer's former team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also noted that a poor outing shouldn't define an entire season or career.