Diamondbacks P Trevor Bauer has reached out to teammates to mend fences

Diamondbacks starting pitcher Trevor Bauer came across as a bit arrogant after a few bad starts last summer for Arizona and ended up being demoted for the rest of the season after just four starts. This offseason, it would appear he has seen the error of his ways.

Bauer is accountable for his attitude last season. (US Presswire)

Diamondbacks starter Trevor Bauer came across as a bit arrogant after a few bad starts last summer for Arizona, and he ended up being demoted for the rest of the season after four starts. This offseason, it would appear that he has seen the error of his ways.

Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall told reporters (including Jesse Sanchez and Jack Magruder) Bauer admitted he made mistakes and has even reached out to some veteran teammates, including closer J.J. Putz. And though there had been some whispers the D-Backs might trade Bauer this offseason, Hall told the reporters that this wouldn't be happening.

Bauer made his major-league debut June 28 as a 21-year-old with significant hype. The third overall pick in the 2011 draft, he was the crown jewel of the D-Backs farm system. But after two bad starts to begin his career, Bauer refused to make any adjustments and, in fact, seemed pretty defiant about pitching up in the zone.

"Ninety-five percent of the hard-hit balls are pitches at the bottom of the strike zone," Bauer said at the time. "When I'm executing and throwing fastballs at the top of the zone, I've never been hit consistently. Sometimes people guess and hit a ball out, but that's not going to happen on a consistent basis."

Note that this was after two big-league starts, so Bauer seemed to be suggesting that his success in college and the minors pitching up in the zone would definitely continue in The Show, where the hitters are exponentially better. There were other comments about shaking off All-Star catcher Miguel Montero because Bauer didn't feel like he needed to adjust to the weaknesses of opposing hitters. And, surely, there was more that never made it to the media, otherwise there probably wouldn't be a need for Bauer to reach out to his veteran teammates.

Bauer turns 22 in January. He went 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and 17 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings. His 13 walks were pretty troublesome. In 14 Triple-A starts, Bauer was 5-1 with a 2.85 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 97 strikeouts in 82 innings. He still profiles as a future ace, assuming he can make adjustments at the highest level.

The comments Friday from Hall signal a step in the right direction.

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