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This former Cy Young winner will start on opening night for the Long Island Ducks.
Trevor Bauer, formerly of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Guardians, Cincinnati Reds, and Arizona Diamondbacks, will be pitching in the United States again. The former Cy Young Award winner has signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, the team announced in a press release on Thursday.
The 35-year-old right-hander, who pitched in MLB most recently with the Los Angeles Dodgers, is projected to serve as the club’s opening night starter on April 21 in Central Islip, New York. In a unique twist, Bauer will also be mic’d up for all games and practices, turning his comeback tour into a content creation venture for both his and the team’s social media outlets.
“I’m looking forward to competing in front of U.S. fans again this season,” Bauer said in the Ducks’ press release. “The Ducks have had some incredible players come through their organization, and I’m excited to be part of that tradition.”
Long Island Ducks Land Former Cy Young Winner Trevor Bauer
Bauer’s resume speaks for itself at the Major League level. A first-round pick — third overall — by Arizona in the 2011 MLB Draft, he reached the big leagues in 2012 and stayed there for 10 seasons, pitching for the Diamondbacks, Indians, Reds, and Dodgers. Across 212 starts, Bauer went 83-69 with a 3.79 career ERA and 1,416 strikeouts in 1,297.2 innings.
His best season came in 2020, when he won the NL Cy Young Award after posting a 1.73 ERA with 100 strikeouts in 73 innings for the Reds. He followed that up with a strong 2021 campaign for the Los Angeles Dodgers, going 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before his career was derailed by a 194-game suspension.
Trevor Bauer’s Winding Road Back to the United States
The path from Dodger Stadium to the Long Island Ducks has been anything but conventional. After being released by the Dodgers in 2023, Bauer pitched for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, going 10-4 with a 2.76 ERA in 130.2 innings that first season.
He then headed to Mexico in 2024, where he dominated. Bauer went 10-0 with a 2.48 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 83.1 innings for the Diablos Rojos del México, earning Mexican League Pitcher of the Year honors.
But his return to Japan in 2025 didn’t go as planned. Bauer finished 4-10 with a 4.51 ERA in 133.2 innings for the BayStars. He admitted to The Japan Times that he was “completely lost” on the mound during his struggles.
What This Means for Trevor Bauer in 2026
We last saw Trevor Bauer in Major League Baseball pitching for the LA Dodgers in 2021. Now, Bauer lands with the Long Island Ducks — an Atlantic League club that has served as a showcase for MLB hopefuls for over two decades. Ducks’ President Michael Pfaff said the team is “happy to offer him this opportunity to showcase his talents to MLB clubs while giving fans unprecedented access to Ducks baseball.”
Whether any MLB team comes calling remains to be seen. No MLB organization has signed Bauer since his release from the Dodgers, and the content-heavy approach — mic’d up for every game and practice — suggests this is as much a media play as it is a baseball one. But at 35, with a Cy Young Award on his shelf and 83 big league wins to his name, Trevor Bauer clearly isn’t done trying.
Justin Carlucci brings 13+ years of journalism experience to Heavy. A veteran of multiple industry-leading companies, he has hosted SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio shows and contributed to the New York Post, combining traditional sports and news reporting with expertise in sports betting and fantasy sports. More about Justin Carlucci
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