LIDOM: Trevor Bauer, Ever One To Make Mounds Out Of Mole Hills, Is Right About Mound Conditions

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Trevor Bauer, oft maligned, knows how to get attention.

Hours before his third start for the Estrellas Orientales, Bauer, who might best be described as a content machine, released a 30-minute video on his YouTube channel enumerating his complaints about the conditions under which he (and others) had to pitch during his second start in LIDOM, when his Estrellas Orientales traveled to Estadio Cibao in Santiago on Nov. 4.

The game started with a light rain falling that got progressively heavier. Bauer began to slip on the mound, and he requested a drying agent, commonly referred to as "diamond dust," to be applied to the mound.

The umpires apparently declined to direct the ground crew to put diamond dust on the mound, and told Bauer to either pitch in the conditions or leave the mound.

But the real fracas began later that evening, when video of Bauer slipping on the mound, gesticulating at the umpires, and losing his cool hit X, a place where, right or wrong, emotion often trumps reason for the purpose of generating controversy and the content views that come along for the ride.

"Trevor Bauer hasn't seen big league action in over half a decade, but that doesn't stop him from complaining to everyone within earshot about the inferior mound conditions in the Dominican Republic. Once a big baby, always a big baby," said the account @BaseballBros, which first posted the video at 9:06 a.m. the next morning; nearly simultaneously, a video interview where the 2020 Cy Young Award winner ripped into the Major League Baseball Players Association and Tony Clark hit Instagram as well.

That Bauer is long gone from Major League Baseball is a matter of fact; whether he is still good enough to pitch at the game's highest level and whether a team should sign him is a matter of opinion.

Never one to pull a punch, Bauer fired back at @BaseballBros less than seven hours later, thumbing out a 418-word missive on X that concluded with him telling us there'd be a full breakdown of the situation coming to his YouTube vlog.

And today, that vlog went live, 30 more minutes of content from baseball's controversial content machine.

Watch it if you've got 30 minutes to burn on a lengthy complaint, but there's live baseball, including a game involving Bauer, to be watched tonight.

Similarly, the umpiring crew working the game between the Aguilas Cibaenas and the Gigantes del Cibao four nights later faced a similar situation - in the sixth inning, Gigantes pitcher Tyler Thomas requested that diamond dust be applied to the mound as rain in San Francisco de Macoris intensified. His request was also denied. He left the game with two outs in the top of the sixth, but his replacement, Cristopher Molina, only faced one batter, giving up a double to Steward Berroa before the game was delayed by rain and ultimately called.

Reposting the video of Thomas's request that ESPN's Enrique Rojas posted to X, Bauer said, "Just put the damn drying agent on the mound so the players won’t get hurt. It’s not that complicated. Umpires stomping on the mound insisting it’s safe is ridiculous for a professional league. ESPECIALLY when the solution takes 2 minutes and works really well."

Perhaps aside from Pete Rose, no ballplayer has been better at getting mileage out of his complaints by litigating them both loudly and in public than Bauer, who frequently makes pitcher's mounds out of mole hills.

The thing is, Bauer is in the right here. It's a matter of safety for the athletes, and the umpiring crew that night should have directed the grounds crew to apply diamond dust.

There was no rain in the forecast for Bauer's start Tuesday night in San Pedro de Macoris, which saw him give up five runs, all earned, on four hits and two walks in 2/3 of an inning to the Leones del Escogido.

If something else was bothering him, he'll surely tell us soon enough.

Where to Watch – The Dominican Republic’s LIDOM and the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico are streamed live on MLB.tv with commentary in Spanish. You’ll need to have a subscription to watch.

Tonight's LIDOM Schedule
All times Eastern Standard Time
6:30 p.m. - Toros del Este (7-12) at Aguilas Cibaenas (6-12)
6:30 p.m. - Leones del Escogido (13-6) at Estrellas Orientales (8-10)
6:30 p.m. - Tigres del Licey (13-6) at Gigantes del Cibao (9-10)