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Arizona Diamondbacks' Trevor Bauer, left, watches the action against the San Diego Padres with teammate Wade Miley after Bauer was pulled from the game during the fourth inning in an MLB baseball game Tuesday, July 3, 2012, in Phoenix.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Trevor Bauer was sent down to the minor leagues by the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday.

For those fans who think the sky is falling and Bauer's career is in jeopardy because of a less-than-stellar 16.1 innings of big league work -- calm down.

I'm not here to say that Bauer was good in his first tastes of big league action. He wasn't. You want your starter to last more than four innings -- something the youngster failed to do in three of four outings in a Diamondbacks' uniform.

But Bauer is in pretty good company when it comes to start-of-career struggles. Don't believe me?

Tom Glavine broke into the big leagues with a wretched Atlanta Braves team in 1987, and looked entirely lost in his first four starts. The future 300-game winner went 1- 2 with a 5.72 ERA and had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4-to- 15. Eesh. In fact, Glavine lost 17 games in his first big league season.

Greg Maddux came up with the Cubs in 1986, and got four starts in September. His 1-3 record with a 6.43 ERA doesn't exactly spell future Hall of Famer, does it?

The list goes on. Randy Johnson posted a robust 6.16 ERA in his first four big league starts with the Montreal Expos -- and three of those games happened in Quebec, so there wasn't any added pressure due to pitching in front of a big crowd.

Opponents hit .327 against Roger Clemens in his first quartet of outings and that helped contribute to a 5.54 ERA.

Curt Schilling? He looked nothing like the calm, cool and collected postseason ace he'd become when he stunk up the joint with Baltimore in 1988. The right-hander had a 1-3 mark and an astronomical 9.82 ERA while opponents hit .355 against him.

You get the point.

Trevor Bauer wasn't very good in his first four starts, and while it's a disappointment that he was unable to solidify a spot in the Arizona rotation, it's nothing to panic over.

He'll go back down to Reno and dominate, and will be able to rely on this rocky experience the next time he puts on the Sedona red.

9 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
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  • Abuse
    daamage wrote...
    Big Deal.
    It is a big deal. These are game the Dbacks need to win. Don't down play a bad decision to bring him up.
  • Abuse
    CroDawg wrote...
    It's not a big deal...
    I think the DBacks were right to bring up Bauer. They needed some sort of spark. It didn't work out. The DBacks not winning has nothing to do with the call up of Bauer. It was not a bad decision (especially with injuries), it just turned out to now work as they were hoping. Hey Vince, can you now write an article about how Kendal Marshalls first D-league start is not a big deal? Many fans are already ready to write him off as a bust. Unbelievable I tell you. I guess growing pains of development just do not exist anymore.
  • Abuse
    daamage wrote...
    Bryce Harper Effect
    Cro dawg, point taken. BUT, Heres a team with a healthy Josh Collmenter, and a Patrick Corbin that's proven he's ready. It was totally a bad decision because he proved hes not mentally ready. The talent is there, no doubt. Seemed like a PR move more than anything hoping they could have their own lil Bryce Haper.
  • Abuse
    CroDawg wrote...
    @ Daamage
    Point taken. But I think it was worth taking a shot. Had he come out and won 3 straight it might have really jump started the club. Unfortunately nothing has worked in getting the DBacks to just get on a little roll.
  • Abuse
    the cooker wrote...
    Starts
    A lot of the kids problem may be that he has started 20 games this year and he may not have ever pitched that much in his life.
  • Abuse
    Chuck H. wrote...
    @daamage
    Had Bauer gone 3-1 vs 1-3 and looked like the dominant pitcher he was in the minors, this would be mute. The club did the right thing by bringing him up and giving it a try, and have now done the right thing by sending him back down. They did it early enough for the team as a whole to rebound. Keep in mind, before the break, the club was 4 games out. Bauer didnt pitch in Chicago. That slide is on the rest of the team.
  • Abuse
    Chuck H. wrote...
    Overall....
    Overall... I'm fairly certain the brass felt the outcome would be MUCH different than what it was.
  • Abuse
    DisgustedD wrote...
    He'll be baaccckkkk
    Bauer just needs to realize that the hitters up in the Majors are the best there is. Guys have better bat speed, better eye at the plate, & are just better overall. He'll get his control down & be back for the playoff run in Sept.
  • Abuse
    RemyG wrote...
    Still More to See From Him
    The point our writer makes is that this is such a small sample size of starts, Bauer's performance in no way is absolutely what we should expect from him. Let's also consider calling him up was the right thing to do because you want to see what your pitching prospect has in the show. The experience should humble him while he spends time in Reno. Let's no overreact to just 16.1 IP.
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