Towers explains Trevor Bauer demotion

It didn’t quite live up to the name “BauerMania”.

Trevor Bauer, the Diamondbacks’ prized right-handed
pitching prospect who reached the majors faster than
anyone else in the 2011 draft class, was optioned to
Triple-A Reno Wednesday after struggling in his first four
starts with Arizona.

General manager Kevin Towers joined Doug and Wolf on
Arizona Sports 620 Wednesday, and didn’t beat around the
bush in explaining the roster move.

“He really wasn’t the same,” Towers said. “I don’t know if
he’s going through a dead arm period. The velocity was
down, the location was down, he wasn’t able to land the
curveball like we saw in the minor leagues. The changeup
was really the only one of his pitches that was working
really well.”

Bauer dominated in the minor leagues at two levels earlier
this year, going 11-1 with a 2.23 ERA in 16 starts at
Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno.

But after getting the call-up for a June 28 start in
Atlanta, the former UCLA Bruin struggled mightily going 1-
2 with a 6.06 ERA in 16.1 innings of work. He also lacked
control with 13 walks, two wild pitches and one hit
batsman.

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