Cleveland Indians: Trevor Bauer set to be key piece for Indians in 2017

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer may have frustrated fans during the 2016 postseason, but a strong start can erase any ill will.

Trevor Bauer is a player who continues to be polarizing among Cleveland Indians fans. While some love his personality, others still can’t let go of a simple accident involving a drone.

The Indians easily won the ALCS over the Toronto Blue Jays, but drone “jokes” continue to live on among those who seemingly believe Bauer purposely slashed his handed in some sort of drone ritual.

Regardless, Bauer is set to pitch this afternoon in Goodyear to start his 2017 season.

The spotlight was on Bauer in the postseason not only because of the drone incident, but because he was thrust into the postseason rotation once Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco hit the disabled list. Fans may forget that Bauer starting in the postseason may have not even happened if not for those injuries, making his successes in October and November that much more impressive.

He started the postseason by beating Rick Porcello and the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS, and finished it with two key outs in the top of the tenth inning in Game 7 of the World Series. The team obviously lost, but those two outs kept hope alive for another comeback.

And after starting last season in the bullpen, he is set to be a key piece in what is considered one of, if not the, best rotations in all of baseball.

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Being in the rotation to start the season should help Bauer in his preparation for the season. Preparing as a starter will allow him to work a normal routine, preventing him from having to change things up as he did last year when moving from the bullpen back to the rotation.

This should only translate into early success, which can help those bitter fans move on from an honest mistake that didn’t hurt the team at all last postseason. Ultimately, fans just want to see the team win the World Series. And if the Indians are going to do that in 2017, Bauer is going to be a major key to success every five days.

He may not even be needed to start any postseason games, but he will surely be out in the bullpen to do whatever it takes to help the team. So drop the unnecessary hate toward Bauer. He gave it his all last season, and one freak accident will not define his tenure in Cleveland.

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The anger will pass with some early-season success, so it is now up to Bauer to prove he deserves this role as a key piece in one of the league’s best starting rotations.