Ducks' Trevor Bauer makes Atlantic League debut, says he's 'blackballed' from MLB

The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner with the Reds kicked and threw to the plate and the 2026 season was in motion. Trevor Bauer was pitching for the Long Island Ducks against the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip.

It seemed like a very long way from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Or Dodger Stadium, his previous home park in the U.S. back in 2021.

But Bauer wanted to compete in his own country again after pitching the past three seasons in Japan and Mexico following his long MLB suspension.

The 35-year-old righty would surely love if being a Duck in the Atlantic League can become a ticket back to the major leagues, but he sure isn’t counting on it.

“I’m blackballed,” Bauer said after his start. “I’m not allowed to play Major League Baseball. It is what it is. I’ve done everything I can.”

So there he was in the crisp 45-degree air for the start of his Ducks debut Tuesday night. There was a supportive sellout crowd of 6,896 and at least one major-league scout sitting behind home plate.

The fans and the scout saw Bauer yield two runs, five hits and three walks and strike out eight.

But he left after just four innings, having thrown 93 pitches, 56 of them for strikes. He displayed a sharp curve, but 93 mph showed up a lot on the scoreboard for his fastball. Bauer and the Ducks took a 7-0 loss in the opener.

“The velocity wasn’t great because it’s cold,” Bauer said. “I hadn’t pitched in a game in eight months or something now. For having no spring training starts and jumping right in, I thought it was good.”

Lew Ford’s review?

“I thought Trevor had great stuff tonight,” the Ducks’ manager said.

Bauer arrived owning an 83-69 record with a 3.79 ERA across 10 major-league seasons. But the 30 teams have avoided signing him since the Dodgers released him in January 2023 after his suspension was reduced from 324 to 194 games.

He was deemed to have violated MLB’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, but he labeled what went on as consensual and he wasn’t charged.

So he went to pitch in exile, sandwiching two seasons with Yokohama in Japan around a 10-0 2024 season in Mexico.

Pitching here now on Long Island is a positive for him.

“I just want to be around American fans and enjoy playing baseball in my home country because I have not been allowed to play baseball in my home country for years for no good reason,” Bauer said.

“So instead of being bitter about it, I want to come and enjoy the fans that are here and feel like I am accepted in American baseball, which I know I am. . . . Logically, I know that I’m loved by the American baseball community. It’s just once you get to like the MLB level and the large brands in baseball and the media, they just hate me.”