Have you ever wondered why a young pitcher wouldn't develop multiple pitches instead of just focusing on two or three? If there are so many ways to throw a ball, why not learn them all? Trevor Bauer, the Arizona Diamondbacks third-overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, clearly had the same question.
Bauer is known as a baseball intellectual who's studies the game and the art of pitching from every angle. He's got a similar frame as Tim Lincecum so he modeled his mechanics on those of the two-time Cy Young winner. You can see it clearly in their similar mechanics in this video of Lincecum and this one of Bauer.
Trevor started working with his pitching coach when he was ten-years-old and that dedication has clearly paid off.
"I throw a four-seam fastball. I throw two variations of the curve ball, two variations of a slider, two variations of a change-up, a split-finger fastball, and two variations of a reverse slider which is kind of a cross between a two-seam fastball and a screwball. It's a little bit slower than a sinking fastball and it's a little bit faster than a screwball. It kind of has a left-handed cut fastball action to it," Bauer explained.
"It's six different pitches with slight variations on most of them, four out of six. I like to pitch with my off-speed stuff. It's always been a strength of mine. The things about having a repertoire that deep is that every night you have something to go to. If this pitch isn't working you can pitch with that pitch. I feel like every time I'm out there I have at least three pitches going. There's some days I go out there and all six of them are working really well. Those are the fun days but I feel like I give myself a chance to compete even on days when 50 percent of them are working because I have so many different variations."
To top that off, he's modeled his pitch sequencing on Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. You can see why the Diamondbacks love him so much.
For more on the 2011 MLB Draft, visit AZ Snake Pit for in-depth coverage of theArizona Diamondbacks and SB Nation's Baseball Nation for national draft coverage.