Dodgers: Trevor Bauer Says He Saved His Best Stuff For Padres’ Manny Machado This Year

The Dodgers versus Padres rivalry is going to be one of the best storylines of the year. Adding fuel to the fire is the rivalry between Trevor Bauer and Manny Machado that has been brewing for years. 

The Machado and Bauer rivalry runs deep, dating back to their days in the American League. So much so that Bauer did a video breakdown of just how much Manny has been able to hit his fastball. But that doesn’t stop the Dodgers pitcher from feeling confident. 

In an appearance on SportsNet LA this week, Bauer talked about that rivalry with Machado and the Padres. Bauer says that Manny did get him in the past, but he’s not going to get him in his time with the Dodgers. 

It hasn’t been too competitive. Basically, I set him up for this moment. I faced him only once or twice a year when he was in Baltimore and I was in Cleveland. We haven’t been in the same division but now that we are, I saved my best stuff and I saved it all for now. He had his time, this is my time. I’ll flip that script real quick. 

A quick look at the numbers will tell you everything that you need to know about the matchup up to this point. Machado has 10 hits in 17 at-bats against Bauer in his career, including 4 home runs off of the Dodgers’ biggest free-agent signing.

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But Bauer has also been much better over the last 3 years, most recently winning the NL Cy Young award in 2020. The last time he faced Machado was in August of 2019 when he gave up a single and got him out twice. The Dodgers and Padres series this year should be a blast, and we can’t wait for these two guys to match up again. 

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