WATCH: Trevor Bauer breaks down at-bats during NPB preseason debut in Japan

Modified Mar 26, 2025 04:56 GMT

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Former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer made his preseason debut at the NPB in Japan. The 34-year-old made a return to reigning champions Yokohama DeNA BayStars, for whom he had played for in 2023. In the clip Bauer shared, he broke down the at-bats during his preseason appearance.

For the first time since 2023, Bauer made his first appearance for the BayStars on Sunday against the Orix Buffaloes at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

The former Cy Young winner featured some at-bats against the Lions and broke it down. The clip featured leadoff hitter Keita Nakagawa, Tomoya Mori, and a 10-pitch at-bat featuring Ryoma Nishikawa during the first inning.

Here's the video:

In the second inning, Bauer boasted his pitching arsenal with the bases loaded against two-time NPB All-Star Kotaro Kurebayashi as he got out of the jam. He finished the game after a three inning output of two runs given up on five base hits, two walks and two strikeouts. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.

In an interesting side note, the game had a long delay after Bauer had argued a balk called on him by the umpire.

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The pitcher's next appearance would be against the Saitama Seibu Lions on March 23, 2025.

Trevor Bauer rocked by the Saitama Seibu Lions in latest NPB preseason appearance

Unlike his brief appearance against the Orix Buffaloes, where he was pulled after three innings, Trevor Bauer's latest NPB spring training appearance against the Saitama Seibu Lions was anything but ideal.

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Like the customs implemented in MLB Spring Training games, the NPB's version also features a mix of main squad talent and players from the farm team.

Bauer, though, had a difficult time facing the Lions at Belluna Dome in Saitama. In his five inning outing, he gave up four earned runs on nine base hits, with one walk and five strikeouts.

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The game ended 4-2 for the Lions, with all the runs given up by the reigning NPB champions being issued by Bauer.

Yokohama is now set to defend its crown as the Japan Series champions as it faces the Chunichi Dragons on the league's opening day on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. local time.

In a rare ace versus ace matchup, the BayStars have assigned three-time All-Star Katsuki Azuma to star opposite Dragons All-Star Hiroto Takahashi.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Bhargav