CLEVELAND _ Trying to recreate a game-like situation and amp up his own adrenaline, Trevor Bauer spent time on the mound during his simulated game on Tuesday taunting Jose Ramirez to step into the box against him.
Bauer pitched three simulated innings, throwing roughly 17-19 pitches per inning. It was the first time he faced live hitters, another step along his rehab process as he recovers from a stress fracture in his right fibula. Eric Haase, Brandon Barnes and Adam Rosales rotated taking at-bats against him.
Bauer said last week an issue with bullpen sessions or simulated outings is that it's difficult to match the same intensity or adrenaline levels of a regular, major-league game. Specifically, it's difficult to find the normal velocities on pitches. Trash talking helps, and Bauer and Ramirez went back-and-forth with some friendly banter.
Bauer finished his first inning of work, returned to the dugout and said, "Get Jose in there, I guarantee I hit 94," Bauer joked. He added he'd throw any pitch Jose wanted, to which Ramirez replied by pointing to the outfield and saying, "Home run pitch."
But, the marquee matchup never happened.
After Bauer completed his final inning, he walked up to Ramirez in the dugout, put his hand up as if to gesture Ramirez is all talk and said, "All this talk and no action." Ramirez's retort: "What are you throwing, 82?" Indians general manager Mike Chernoff ended up leaning over the railing laughing at the exchange.
"Jose talks a lot. There's no action behind it," Bauer joked. "He's always telling me he's going to hit a homer off me and face me and all that stuff. And then he gets a chance, and it's, 'Nah, I don't want to face you.' "
Friendly taunting aside, it was another positive step for Bauer as he works his way back in hopes of contributing in the postseason in some way. He still has some hurdles to clear, but Bauer said he told manager Terry Francona that he was available to pitch Tuesday night. Of course, Bauer would likely pitch with one arm and one leg if the team would let him.
"No, I think I have to pass some (tests) fielding my position, covering first and some bunts, stuff like that," Bauer said. "Based on the information I have right now, I would feel comfortable execution-wise being able to go into a big-league game. So, we're close."
An added benefit to Bauer's session on Tuesday was the feedback garnered from Haase, a catcher who spent time between "innings" giving Bauer feedback.
"Yeah, it's nice, because he sees it from both angles, right?" Bauer said. "He's catching. He hasn't caught me this year, but that's valuable when you have someone that catches and someone obviously that hits that can give you that feedback from both angles. So, it's valuable."
From the Indians' standpoint, it is also their goal to get Bauer back into game action as quickly as possible to give him the maximum amount of innings prior to the postseason to round into form. But they have to balance that with the risk of pushing him too fast and sustaining a setback. At this point, there is no clear timetable and the next step has yet to be determined.
"I'm glad he feels that way. I don't think that's going to happen, but it's nice to hear him say that," Francona said of Bauer's desire to pitch now. "I thought he took a good step in the right direction. So what we'll do next is we'll sit with him and the medical staff and figure out where the next step is. That's where we're at. We need to sit and talk with the medical staff and feel what's in his best interest. We know Trevor wants to pitch. From our standpoint, the quicker we can get him in a game, without risk, the better. But that's where you gotta listen to the medical guys, too."
One question that remains is if Bauer should return to the starting rotation or the bullpen once he does return. Bauer, as a pitcher who would throw 300 innings a season and pitch on short rest every time through the rotation if he was allowed, would certainly like to be on the mound as often as possible.
"I don't control that," Bauer said. "I say this all the time, I pitch when they tell me to pitch, whether that's in the starting rotation, in the bullpen, not at all. That's their decision."
