Trevor Bauer started the season as an American League Cy Young candidate.
He ended it wearing a Cincinnati Reds uniform and a 4.48 ERA, with his last act as a member of the Cleveland Indians chucking a ball over the center field wall at Kauffman Stadium. It was a bizarre season for Bauer, but a fitting end considering his tumultuous tenure with the Tribe.
The former first round draft pick was shipped to Cleveland in December 2012 after one season in Arizona, where he seemed to clash with pretty much everyone in the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse. Bauer spent the next five seasons searching for consistency before putting it all together in 2018 by ditching his two-seam fastball, improving the velocity on his four-seam fastball and sinker, and keeping hitters off balance with his slider and change-up.