Trevor Bauer giving away #FreeNick cleats worn in support of suspended Reds outfielder

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, who became the Cincinnati Reds' first-ever National League Cy Young Award winner last season, is giving away the custom-made cleats he wore in support of Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos to oppose Major League Baseball's decision to uphold Castellanos' recent two-game suspension.

"Trevor Bauer no doubt a very polarizing figure in the baseball and sports world. But make no mistake about it — his teammates love him," Bally Sports Ohio analyst Jim Day said during Tuesday night's Reds-Dodgers broadcast. "He is all for the player — and certainly expressing themselves — and he has done that in numerous ways, including wanting to #FreeCastellanos from afar — which was highly unusual that you have a player that's now a former Red sticking up for Nick Castellanos from afar.

"The spikes were a tribute to Castellanos — 'flexin' on 'em.' And also went to Twitter that he was giving them away. And he does that a lot with his spikes. In fact, when he was in a Reds uniform, he would give away his spikes from every outing."

"I love the love that he showed for Castellanos. That flex imagery — that looked pretty sweet," Bally Sports Ohio play-by-play broadcaster John Sadak said. "Castellanos and Bauer some extended time to chat (before the game). I'm sure the cleats were part of the conversation there."

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Bobby Nightengale reported earlier that the Dodgers waited until the Reds were in town to present Bauer with his Cy Young Award at Dodger Stadium.

Last week, Bauer's agent, Rachel Luba, responded via Twitter to the decision to uphold Castellanos' two-game suspension, calling it "the biggest joke of all time" and asking Major League Baseball, "Are you kidding me?"

Bauer, Castellanos' teammate in 2020, criticized the suspension earlier this month when MLB announced it, and retweeted Luba's tweet with an additional "#freecastellanos."

Castellanos served the suspension last week for his role in a benches-clearing skirmish with the Cardinals on April 3 at Great American Ball Park. Castellanos also was the only player ejected from the game.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trevor Bauer giving away cleats worn in support of Nick Castellanos