Blake Beavan made his 5th start for Tacoma after being demoted from the big league rotation. He took the mound after Tacoma dropped 5 runs on Salt Lake in the first inning, driving starter Trevor Bell from the game in the first inning.
Beavan’s first breaking ball nearly hit the batter after he got ahead with a couple of fastballs. He got a pretty weak ground-ball to 2nd, but Carlos Triunfel couldn’t get to it and it turned into a hit. The runner (Doug Deeds) would then move to 2nd on a wild pitch. After a pretty well hit ball to center turned into an out, he got ahead with his fastball but threw another wild pitch with his breaking ball. A liner up the middle by Hank Conger turned into the first run. Another rope off the wall was a double by Luis Jimenez (not Tacoma’s, Salt Lakes). He did get a whiff on a good curveball, his best pitch in the 1st inning. However, another wild pitch, his 3rd of the inning, turned into another run. He got a weak broken bat ground-ball to 2nd to end the inning. The 2nd started with a bunt single and then a steal on a curveball. He then got a fly-out and got ahead of the next hitter 0-2 with fastballs but had problems putting him away, even when he went to the curveball. He ended up getting a grounder to Vinnie Catricala who had problems with it and wasn’t even able to make a throw. An inside fastball was hit hard by Deeds for a liner for a single and a run (Alex Liddi made a bad play at 1st base but it didn’t matter as far as runners advancing). Beavan got a double play to end the inning. He started the 3rd by getting an infield fly-ball on a changeup. He then got ahead of Luis Jimenez with his curveball followed by a whiff on another breaking ball. The story of Beavan’s life followed, as he couldn’t put him away and then a couple pitches later, it was turned into a double. He got a whiff on a fastball and then another whiff on his curveball for a strikeout. He then walked a batter and threw his 4th wild pitch of the game. He then got another strikeout, in a very non-Beavan-like sequence. The next inning started with a quick fly-ball out on a breaking ball before a fastball hit right back at him bounced off his leg. He kept the ball in front of him and got the 2nd out. Doug Deeds then got another hit and Beavan quickly went into control problems mode. He worked around them and got a ground-out to end the inning. The next inning started with a long at-bat by Hank Conger that turned into an out on the warning track. He retired the next two hitters relatively quickly. He got a weak fly-ball with a breaking ball but Darren Ford dropped the ball. After a fielder’s choice, he gave up a double on a fastball down the middle. A weak ground-out got him out of the inning.
Overall, I don’t think Blake Beavan belongs back in the Mariners rotation. Is he better than Hector Noesi was? Maybe, but not by much, and that is a really low standard. Felix Hernandez, Kevin Millwood, Jason Vargas, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Erasmo Ramirez are all obviously better than him. So if Beavan is going to move back into the rotation, he will have to take Erasmo’s spot, as he is currently on the DL. I view Noesi purely as a reliever, and don’t really see the point of him making starts in AAA. Charlie Furbush may be an option, but he isn’t stretched out and the organization seems to have no intents on using him back in the rotation. Danny Hultzen is probably not ready, but maybe used as a necessity soon. So even though Beavan doesn’t really look like a big league starter, he may have to be used as one in the 2nd half (at least for a couple of starts) if Erasmo is not ready to come off the DL.
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Favorite general sports moment: The Texas versus USC college football national championship comes to mind, as does Gary Matthews Jr. catch on July 1st 2006.
Favorite Seattle Sports Moment: King Felix throwing a perfect game against the Rays
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