Experiment Over for Beavan

Blake Beavan is a great guy. He works very hard and competes every time that he is on the mound. Never have we had to deal with any character issues or anything of the sort.

With that being said, Blake Beavan is no longer a major league starting pitcher. Actually, I am not even sure if he is a major league caliber pitcher at all anymore. Beavan was the surprise coming out of spring training, everyone had Iwakuma pegged for the number four spot in the rotation. But Beavan came to spring training ready to do what he always does and that’s compete. He came out throwing strikes and was having decent success while Iwakuma (his competition) was struggling mightily.

I am not sure if Beavan actually won the job from Iwakuma or if Iwakuma was just so bad that they did not have any other choices. Coming out of spring training Beavan was the best option for that spot. Well that time is officially over. Iwakuma’s stuff is back, pitching very well as of late. In Iwakuma’s last four outings he has pitched 6.1 innings giving up only 1 earned run. Iwakuma only signed a one year deal and we need to see what he can do if given a chance to start. He has the potential to be an above average starter and its time to give him a chance.

The Mariners also have another option to replace Beavan and that’s Erasmo Ramirez. Ramirez pitched well at the start of the year with the Mariners as their long reliever. He was sent down to Tacoma so he could get his pitch count up and eventually come back and start for the big club. Since his demotion Ramirez has been outstanding. He is 3-2 with a 3.11 ERA while dominating triple A hitters at times. Ramirez is going to be apart of our rotation for years to come because he is only 21 years old. Even though he is young, he is still a better pitcher than Beavan is right now and he is another guy who would be an improvement over Beavan.

Beavan does not have very good stuff. He relies on deception and location to get through a game. Well there is

one problem with that right now, he is not locating his pitches and is getting absolutely rocked. In his last 3 starts he has only lasted 13 innings, giving up  a total of 17 earned runs. The only reason he is not 0-3 in those starts is because he was the beneficiary of the 21 runs the offense put up in Texas. Beavan could potentially be a decent long reliever if he can get his command back; but as of right now, he is the worst pitcher on the roster. He needs to go down to Tacoma and either be converted into a reliever or work on fixing his command issues.

I hope I end up being wrong about Beavan, he is a great guy with an amazing work ethic. But, I just don’t see him ever being apart of a successful major league starting rotation. Sending him to the bullpen is going to be the best situation for both Blake and the Seattle Mariners as a whole.