So Bauer struggled, big deal!

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.

Follow @Vincemarotta