The Indians pushed back Trevor Bauer's ALCS start after he cut himself fixing a drone

CLEVELAND -- Usually the weirdest baseball injuries come in the preseason, not the postseason. But then Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer is, for a variety of reasons, hardly a typical Major Leaguer. And the Indians' 25-year-old righty may have established a new standard for strange off-field October ailments when he cut his righty pinky finger repairing a drone. The Cleveland club announced Friday that Bauer will switch places with Josh Tomlin in the Indians' ALCS rotation, pitching Game 3 on Monday instead of Saturday's Game 2.

"I think we've all, probably everybody in here at some point or another has had a drone-related problem," manager Terry Francona joked before Game 1 of the series against the Blue Jays. "He was just doing, he said, 'routine maintenance.' And, again, I have no idea what that is.... This was not malicious. He could have been opening a box in the kitchen. Things happen."

The manager was indisposed when GM Chris Antonetti called him with the news.

"I was in the shower," Francona explained. "I got out of the shower and my phone was blowing up. Chris was like, 'Call me.' You could have given me a lot of guesses, and I wouldn't have got this one."

Francona said that the club's medical staff felt confident Bauer would be able to return in time for the Game 3 start. And he emphasized that the team supports Bauer's occasionally oddball personality, diverse hobbies, and unusual training and preparation methods.

"Trevor definitely has his own thoughts," Francona said. "Some of it's overblown -- some of the things he does pitching-wise.

"He has worked hard to understand how we think and feel about things. And I'm pretty confident that we've tried to do the same. That's the way it's supposed to work. And again, whether he flies a drone, I don't care. I'd rather him do that than getting himself in trouble. He's a kid that cares about winning. He's very competitive. And I think just because everybody's different, I think you have to respect that as opposed to thumbing your nose at it."

Bumped up in the Indians' rotation due to injuries to fellow starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, Bauer allowed three runs over 4 2/3 innings in the Indians' Game 1 win over the Red Sox in the ALDS.

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