Baseball: Get ready for the Trevor Bauer Show

Always expect the unexpected from Trevor Bauer, the former Hart High and UCLA pitcher who will be starting tonight for the Cleveland Indians.

Those who have followed the 25-year-old right-hander through the years know he speaks his mind and does whatever his very smart brain tells him to do.

So no one was really surprised that the reason he had to skip a scheduled game two starting assignment against the Blue Jays was because he cut his finger working on a drone.

Jim Ozella, his high school coach at Hart, remembers an April Fools’ Day when Bauer showed up on the bus with his arm in a sling.

“The pitching coach, Ruben Escobar, is freaking out. ‘Bauer hurt? What is wrong with him.’ I shrugged my shoulders,” Ozella said. “It was Bauer playing with the pitching coach.”

Bauer was so smart in high school that he graduated early and skipped his senior year to join UCLA as a freshman in 2009. He always wanted to be an engineer.

I remember my interview with him in the fall of 2008. He’s quirky but brilliant. He was 17 and more than ready to head off for college. He knew his destiny and wasn’t afraid of the future.

He developed numerous pitches from various angles in high school and was always working on a new pitch.

Ozella remembers him being a major competitor dedicated to his unique pitching program.

There was a game against West Torrance at Birmingham under the lights.

“The poor hitters didn’t have a chance,” Ozella said. “He was dominating.”

UCLA Coach John Savage was there to watch.

The rest is history. Bauer starred for the Bruins, was drafted No. 3 overall by the Diamondbacks, got traded to the Indians and now he’s in the spotlight on the field and off.

He’ll be in perfect control regardless.

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