Trevor Bauer is only worried about control this spring.
Trevor Bauer is only worried about control this spring. (USATSI)

I've been trying for years to get people to stop paying so much attention to spring stats and records. Just the other day, I discussed why the standings don't matter. It appears I now have an ally in Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, indirectly through our Eye on Baseball Twitter account.

First, a fan expressed concern to our account about Bauer's extra-base hits allowed this spring:

Then, to my surprise, Bauer himself responded:

One of the main reasons to not pay full attention to spring stats is sometimes the veterans are working on certain things that they wouldn't do in games that actually matter. Apparently Bauer is working on his control, which makes sense.

Remember, Bauer walked 29 hitters against 28 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings through his first two seasons in the bigs. In Triple-A in 2013, he issued 73 free passes in 121 1/3 innings. He did cut his rate down some last year, walking 60 in 153 innings (3.5 BB/9), but it's still something that could improve for the 24 year old. So that's his focus this spring.

As Bauer said, he hasn't walked anyone in 15 1/3 innings. He obviously isn't worried about getting knocked around because he's trying to see how effectively he can work within the strike zone. Once the regular season rolls around, he'll have a better idea at what works and what doesn't.

So, once again, there are many reasons to not pay attention to spring stats and/or records. Most of the time we don't even hear about what the players are working on. Just keep this Bauer example in mind while taking spring stats with a grain of salt.

Finally, let's give the Twitter fan some credit for his screen name: .344/.482/.634 is Ted Williams' career slash line. Well done, Mr. DunDunDunnn.