Trevor Bauer is announced by his new team in Japan after he was cut by the Dodgers following ban

Trevor Bauer’s return to high-level professional baseball began on Friday in Yokohama, Japan, where the scandalized former Cy Young winner was introduced as the newest member of the DeNA BayStars.

The Los Angeles Dodgers cut ties with Bauer after he was suspended for 324 games following accusations of sexual assault in 2021, although the suspension was ultimately reduced by Commissioner Rob Manfred to 194 games. Bauer still had $32 million remaining on his contract – $22.5 million of which will be paid by the Dodgers.

Bauer has denied the accusations and was never charged with a crime. He has since filed a defamation lawsuit against his accuser, Lindsey Hill, who has since countersued the 32-year-old pitcher, claiming that he is trying to silence her. Hill was 27 when she says Bauer sexually assaulted her in April and May of 2021.

Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the circumstances surrounding it.

The only question about it came from The Associated Press. Bauer disputed the fact the question suggested he was suspended from the major leagues.

Trevor Bauer’s return to high-level professional baseball began on Friday in Yokohama, Japan

Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension or the sexual assault claims

‘I don’t believe that’s accurate,’ he said of the suspension. ‘But I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to pitch again. I’ve always wanted to play in Japan.’

Afterward, Bauer said the suspension dealt technically with issues of pay, adding that he was eligible to play this season, but did not receive any offers.

Hill, a San Diego native, was granted a temporary restraining order against Bauer on June 28, 2021 after being treated for her injuries at hospital near her home and giving a statement to police. Her attempts to obtain a permanent restraining order against him here denied and prosecutors in Los Angeles said in February of 2022 that they would not pursue criminal charges because there was insufficient evidence to prove her claims beyond a reasonable doubt.

Bauer has admitted the two had intercourse, but says both encounters were ‘wholly consensual.’

Hill is among three women who have accused Bauer of sexual assault.

As the Washington Post uncovered in August of 2021, an Ohio woman had also tried to get a temporary restraining order against Bauer in June of 2020, and police reports showed that she accused him of physical assault in 2017 after receiving death threats from the pitcher.

Then in April, the Post reported another Ohio woman’s claim that Bauer had also choked her unconscious and sodomized her without consent during his time with Cleveland’s minor league affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. She also shared screenshots of text messages with the Post, purportedly showing Bauer telling her: ‘I want to f*** you while you’re completely unconscious.’

Bauer has also denied these allegations.

The Dodgers cut ties with Bauer after he was suspended for 324 games following accusations of sexual assault in 2021 made by Lindsey Hill (pictured right)  

Hill has accused Bauer of leaving her with with bruises on her face and body after intercourse

He’ll wear No. 96, chosen he said to match the goal for his average fastball speed.

The one-year deal could let him prove himself and return to the MLB, where major league teams have apparently shunned signing him.

Bauer got off to a good start, where the focus was only baseball.

Bauer said his goal with the BayStars was to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph. He said he is also working on a better change-up pitch he called a ‘split change-up.’

He said he hoped to play by mid-April — about two weeks after the Japanese season begins — and said he has been training for the last 1 1/2 years.

‘I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and throwing,’ he said. ‘I didn’t really take any time off. So I’ve had a year and a half of development time. I’m stronger than ever. More powerful than ever.’

Yokohama has not won a title in 25 years, and Bauer said that was his goal in the one-year deal.

‘First and foremost, I want to help the Stars win a championship,’ he said. ‘That involves pitching well. That involves helping teammates and learning from them. If they have questions — you know — share my knowledge with them.’

He also repeated several times about his desire to play in Japan, dating from a collegiate tournament in 2009 at the Tokyo Dome. He said playing in Japan was on his mind even before winning the Cy Young — and also immediately after.

‘The Tokyo Dome was sold out,’ he said. ‘I’d never played in front of that many people — probably combined in my life. In the United States, college games aren’t very big, so seeing that amount of passion. How many people came to a college game in Japan. It really struck me.’

He’s been practicing with the Japanese ball, which he said was slightly softer with higher seams.

‘But overall it just feels like a baseball and the pitches move the same. The velocity is similar. I don’t notice much of a difference.’

He was asked about his level of Japanese, which is about zero.

‘I don’t know very much at all. I’m looking forward to learning,’ he said. ‘The first things I need to learn are the baseball terms.’

Other teams in Japan have made similar contentious signings before.

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna — who received a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy — signed last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Japan denied Steve Howe do to his drug use

In 1987, Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, who had a career plagued with drug problems, tried to sign with the Seibu Lions. But he did not play in the country after the Japanese baseball commissioner disqualified Howe because of his history of drug abuse.

Bauer was an All-Star in 2018 and went 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 seasons for Arizona (2012), Cleveland, (2013-19), Cincinnati (2019-20) and the Dodgers. He won the NL Cy Young Award with Cincinnati during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Last year, Bauer’s attorneys filed text messages between Hill and Bauer as well as others between Hill and her cousin in which she describes sex with their client as ‘consensual’ but said he ‘took it too far’ by leaving her with black eyes.

In response to the release of the Hill’s text messages, her attorneys provided DailyMail.com with an unredacted photo of their client showing the injuries she allegedly suffered as a result a sexual encounter with Bauer.

‘Look at this picture,’ attorney Bryan Freedman told DailyMail.com in a statement. ‘No one – absolutely no one – can consent to this, logically or legally. Trevor Bauer’s team continues to try to abuse an assault victim. They need to stop. Now.’

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna signed in Japan after domestic violence claims

Bauer steps out of the courthouse after prosecutors denied Hill’s request for a protective order

Attorneys for Bauer and for the woman said during a court session last month they intend to call several witnesses, including Bauer, and argue over the order in a hearing that’s expected to last three days.

That hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court has been pushed back to August 16.

Hill’s original filing includes pictures of herself with scratches and bruising on her face and lips. She also said she had bruising on her gums and near her vagina, where she claims Bauer had punched her repeatedly, leaving her ‘crying and violently shaking.’

She said she had sexual encounters with Bauer in April and May of 2021, but that both episodes turned violent. She specifically alleged that Bauer punched her in the face, vagina, and buttocks, and strangled her with her own hair until she lost consciousness. Hill was later hospitalized, she said, due to injuries sustained from her sexual encounters with Bauer. 

During one encounter, Hill claims she passed out and found Bauer sodomizing her when she regained consciousness.

‘I agreed to have consensual sex; however, I did not agree or consent to what he did next,’ Hill said in her filing. ‘I did not agree to be sexually assaulted.’

Hill said she was bleeding and struggling to walk after non-consensual anal sex, but added: ‘In my state at that time, I did not think Trevor was a threat to do anything against my will for the remainder of the night.’

Hill shared pictures of her injuries with her cousin over text messages 

The following day, Hill said, Bauer asked Hill jokingly if she was ‘feeling a little sore this morning?’

Hill said she told him that she didn’t enjoy it and said he seemed to understand.

Bauer continued to communicate with Hill over text messages and social media for the next three weeks, discussing baseball and her new job. Some of the conversations were of ‘a sexual nature.’

When the pair met again, Hill said they agreed on a safe word which she says Bauer ignored, choking her until she lost consciousness. When she awoke, he was punching her in the face, she claimed.

‘This was the first punch I felt but it is very possible that Trevor had already been punching and scratching the right side of my face while I was unconscious,’ she said.

‘Trevor then punched me hard with a closed fist to the left side of my jaw, the left side of my head, and both cheekbones. I remember this vividly and it was extremely startling and painful.

‘I was absolutely frozen and terrified. I could not speak or move. After punching me several times, he then flipped me back onto my stomach and began choking me with hair. I lost consciousness again.’

Hill described their encounters as ‘consensual,’ but said he ‘took it too far’

Hill said that she was crying and shaking after regaining consciousness and that Bauer reportedly began to console her, allegedly saying: ‘You’re safe. I’m here. You’re safe… I would never do those things to you if it wasn’t sexually.’

When she returned from Pasadena to San Diego the following day, Hill experienced severe headaches and began vomiting. After speaking with friends, she checked herself into a local emergency room where she told medical staff what happened to her.

In a subsequent text message exchange included in the petition and reviewed by DailyMail.com, Hill told Bauer that doctors thought the ‘bruises/swelling’ on her face would last another week, but that she wasn’t sure when her ‘head symptoms’ would subside.

‘I just want it all to go away,’ she wrote Bauer.

‘I feel so bad that this happened,’ he responded. ‘Wish I could be there with you through it.’

‘Just grateful that you are showing that you care,’ she wrote.

‘I do. I absolutely do,’ he texted her. ‘Never want to see you hurting.’

After going to the hospital, Hill spoke to multiple San Diego Police Department detectives but said she downplayed the alleged incident as ‘rough sex’ and did not reveal Bauer’s name.

‘I was afraid what Trevor would do if he found out,’ Hill said in the restraining order request. ‘I remain afraid that Trevor will find me and hurt me for going to the hospital.’

Some text messages between Hill and Bauer were intended by police to elicit a confession 

In the document, Hill explained that she spoke with Bauer by phone at the instruction of police, who were recording the call.

During that conversation, Hill said she asked Bauer: ‘What did you do to me when I was unconscious?’

In response, he allegedly admitted that he had repeatedly punched her in the buttocks. She said that he changed the topic when she said she did not consent to being punched.

Hill claimed that the call ended with Bauer acknowledging that he punched her and asking how they could move forward and if he could contact her.

‘I told him that he could because I did not know if the police still needed to collect more messages from him as evidence,’ she said. ‘It is my understanding that there is an open criminal investigation. I have not been informed whether the proper authorities intend to arrest and press charges against Trevor.

‘I intend to comply with whatever is requested of me in connection with criminal proceedings,’ she continued. ‘As the shock has worn off, I recognize the seriousness of the sexual assault I endured. I do not want Trevor to put anyone else through what I suffered.’

In one of her last messages to Bauer, Hill claims she told him the best way for him to help her would be to ‘never do this to anyone else ever again.’

‘I would never do anything to hurt anyone,’ he responded. ‘That includes you.’