You want a deep dive into how a pitcher thinks? Or at least how Trevor Bauer thinks?
As a bonus, do you want Max Kepler to be the star of Bauer's show?
You're in luck.
If you remember back to last season, Kepler hit home runs in three straight at-bats against Bauer in a June game at Cleveland. Then, for an encore, he hit two more in his next at-bats against Bauer in July.
Bauer, an outspoken pitcher with a first-rate social media presence, promised last week that he would talk about being dominated by Kepler on YouTube. He did it Wednesday night.
It's a great and funny show, and a smart one, too.
"All right, you heathens, you Internet trolls out there in Minnesota and everywhere else," Bauer began. "You asked me about the time Max Kepler hit five straight homers off me. You win, all right? I'm going to break down Max Kepler hitting five home runs off me.
"And even better, I'm going to go through the entire season's worth of at-bats to show how the first at-bat of the season and the second at-bat of the season influenced the at-bats later ion the season. You win. You happy now?"
Sitting at a table, Bauer starts off by showing Kepler's at-bats in the second game of the season, which started with a game time temperature of 26 degrees at Target Field.
There's lots and lots to take in: Most interesting is how the scouting report on Kepler from 2018 didn't hold up because of changes Kepler made for the 2019 season.
"Look at his body," Bauer says at one point. "Here we go. See this pitch. This is why Max hits this pitch really well."
The pitch Bauer talks about results in a long foul ball at Target Field, but it foreshadows what's to come in Cleveland. "It probably should have been a homer," he adds.
We recommend watching the whole thing, but if you want to fast forward to the home run breakdowns, they start at about the 20-minute mark. We'll refrain from spoilers.
It's a fun ride for pitchers … for Twins fans … and especially those who are fans of Kepler and/or Bauer, who was traded by Cleveland to Cincinnati later in the 2019 season.
Bauer also breaks down the at-bat after the fifth home run, when he struck out Kepler and playfully mocked himself in another video.
As this Twins fan told Bauer on Twitter, watching is well worth the effort.
