Cleveland Indians RHP Trevor Bauer and Houston Astros 3B Alex Bregman aren’t letting up with their personal war of words on social media.
When you combine two talented, confident baseball players, their egos are bound to clash. That’s exactly what’s happening with Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer and Alex Bregman, third baseman for the Houston Astros.
On Wednesday, Bauer pitched eight innings of one-run ball in Houston as the Indians beat the Astros 2-1. Bregman went 0-3 against him with a walk. The next night, Bauer took to Twitter to take a jab at his long-time adversary. “Hey little buddy, did I dominate you last night?” Bauer asks a swaying Bregman bobblehead as the song “Oh Yeah” by Yello plays in the background.
It took a day for Bregman to respond, but on Saturday afternoon he finally did. “If he calls that dominating I’m really happy for him,” he said with more than a hint of sarcasm to reporters in the Astros clubhouse. “We’ll see him again. I’m proud of him.” When asked why Bauer keeps trying to provoke him on social media, Bregman continued his mocking praise of the Indians right-hander. “I’m just really proud of him. Proud of him that he dominated.”
The origins of the Bauer-Bregman social media feud go back to last May when Bauer accused pitchers on the World Series champion Astros of using a foreign substance on the baseball. Bregman responded with a tweet saying, “Relax Tyler … those World Series balls spin a little different.” Of course, the next time the Indians and Astros played, Bauer taped Tyler on his jersey above his name. Then in November, after the Astros swept the Indians in the ALDS and Bregman hit a home run off Bauer in Game 2, they went at it again.
Bauer openly challenged Bregman to take batting practice against him, offering $1,000 for every home run Bregman hit. Bregman, alluding to Bauer’s 6.75 ERA in their postseason series, replied “I’ll save them for the postseason next year.”
In January Bregman posted a video on Twitter of himself in a Kobe Bryant jersey. Bauer responded by renewing his offer with the taunt that Bryant “never ducked a challenge.” Bregman wrote back, “[Conor] McGregor don’t fight in the prelims kid,” causing Bauer to point out that Bregman, who lost in the ALCS, and McGregor were both defeated. “Bro … you were our best player in the postseason last year … stop,” Bregman replied.
Their latest war of words shows neither player is willing to let this feud die out. Both Bauer and Bregman rank among the top players at their position in baseball. The 28-year-old Bauer has a 3-1 record in six starts so far this season with a 1.99 ERA. Bregman, meanwhile, is batting .301 with four home runs in 2019, a year after hitting 31 homers and driving in 103 runs.
Just don’t expect them to exchange cards during the holidays this year.