Cincinnati Reds: Trevor Bauer revisits old feuds with Astros players

With the MLB punishing the Houston Astros organization after the sign-stealing controversy come to fruition, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer is revisiting his old twitter feuds with Astros players to lay some fresh salt on some old wounds.

If you don’t follow Cincinnati Reds starter Trevor Bauer on social media, one thing you need to know is that he is a huge advocate of analytics, science, and technology to improve his pitches and game on the mound, using Driveline Baseball during the off-season to help improve and tweak his game.

The feud between Bauer and the Astros originally started almost two years ago, when DB’s founder Kyle Boddy raised some questions on twitter about how newly-acquired pitchers (such as Gerrit Cole) had somehow increased their spin rate once they joined the Astros organization.

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While Boddy’s initial tweet is no longer available, Bauer took the opportunity to voice his opinion that the Astros pitchers may be doctoring baseballs with a foreign substance; an illegal method that allows pitchers to gain a better grip on the baseball to allow for better baseball grip and greater spin rates on all different types of pitches, hopefully resulting in more strikeouts.

Not surprisingly, several of Houston’s players were quick to respond to Bauer’s accusations.

Pitcher Collin McHugh would respond that the Astros coaching staff was the reason behind the newly acquired player’s improvement, while Lance McCullers Jr. went on to say that Bauer appeared to be jealous of the Astros pitcher’s development and that the jealousy “isn’t a good look on you”.

And then there was Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, who used his newly acquired Championship swagger as a means to mock Bauer’s accusation after his Cleveland Indians blew a 2-0 lead during the ALDS series to the New York Yankees.

Even Astros manager A.J. Hinch weighed in on the situation, saying that Bauer’s accusations were “unfounded” and that “our guys are pretty good… they don’t deserve to be thrown under the bus like that.”

After the MLB completed their investigation in regards to the sign-stealing allegations this past week, MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred would fine the Houston Astros to a tune of $5 million dollars and forced the organization to forfeit their 2020 and 2021 1st and 2nd round picks in the upcoming amateur drafts.

General manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were also be suspended for 1 season, but both managers would be immediately fired by the Astros top brass after the suspensions were handed out by the commissioner.

Depending on which team you root for, you will most likely hear a broad spectrum of opinions when you talk about the severity of the punishments handed out by the MLB.

While some may view these punishments as harsh, there are quite a few opposing fans and media personalities who feel like the 2017 World Series title should be stripped away from the Astros because of these allegations and actions (especially Dodgers fans).

Then there is Trevor Bauer, who took these punishments as an opportunity to reignite a twitter feud that had only appeared on occasion since beginning in May 2018.

Bauer made sure to check in on McCullers Jr. to see how his early 2020 days were unfolding after the sign-stealing punishments were handed out and then went on to use the Astros 2019 slogan of #TakeItBack on Bregman’s prior chirp about World Series balls spinning differently.

Bauer would then make sure everyone knew how he felt about A.J. Hinch’s interview about the twitter war between the righty and the Astros players, while also posting a trash can inspired Phil Collins mash-up, mocking the sign-stealing/relaying methods of the Astros team.

He would cap his night off by making sure his good buddy McHugh knew the definition of hypocrisy in regards to his tweets about the Astros coaching staff being the influential source of the increased spin rate during their previous exchange.

While the rivalry between Bauer and the Houston Astros appears to be reignited, unfortunately for baseball fans, the Cincinnati Reds and Astros will not meet anytime this season.

Barring a trade, Cincinnati Reds starter Trevor Bauer will unfortunately not be able to meet his old Astros friends anytime soon and hash things out on the diamond (or in the parking lot like ‘the good old days’).

Bang the trash cans and keep throwing balls over center field walls folks.

More punishments may soon be on the way.