Mariners Analysis: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not

Jun 24, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners pitcher Roenis Elias (29, right) walks back to the dugout after being relieved for during the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royalsat Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Stock Down: Roenis Elias

Well first off I would like to thank Roenis Elias for coming up and doing everything he can to keep this M’s ball club within a respectable striking distance. We often forget that Roenis is only up because of injuries, and we grade him rather unfairly because of it. He would make a great back of the end rotation at a lot of places, unfortunately for him Seattle isn’t one of those places.

Hisashi Iwakuma has been called up to start Monday nights game against the Tigers, and Elias has become the odd man out and is headed back to Triple AAA. The young Cuban southpaw had a strong start, but has cooled off considerably since then. In June the lefty lost his command of his off-speed, and lost his spot in the rotation because of it. He posted a 6.11 ERA in June, allowing 19 earned runs on just 26 hits. In his last start, he was a little bit better, but not quite impressive enough to keep a spot in the rotation. In his last start he went six innings, allowing three hits and three earned runs, while striking out seven.

Look I’m a big Roenis Elias fan, and when he is able to command his secondary pitches, he is incredibly tough to hit. I think it will be incredibly interesting to see what the M’s decide to do with him come the trade deadline, as the strength of this organization once again is their starting pitching depth. I hope the M’s hang on to him, because I think he will make a great MLB pitcher here shortly, but don’t be surprised if the M’s get desperate and trade him for a bat right around the trade deadline.

Next: Stock Up: Taijuan Walker