Mariners Seeing Great Things From LHP Dillon Overton

Yesterday, the Mariners got their first real taste of what it would be like if left-handed pitcher, Dillon Overton, was a starter in the organization. By all accounts, no one was disappointed with what they saw and they haven’t been all spring training.

Dillon Overton has had a long journey back from his Tommy John surgery back in 2013.

After his operation four years ago, Overton fought valiantly to prove that he was worth being taken in the 2nd round of the 2013 draft by the Oakland Athletics.

Since he recovered from being under the knife, he has taken the mound for a bunch of the A’s minor league squads at the Advanced-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels, all before he took to the mound in a major league uniform last year at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum.

He did not fair well in his first test at the big league level. Over seven games (five started) for a total of 24.1 innings pitched, Overton allowed 48 hits, 31 earned runs, and 12 home runs. His ERA was 11.47 and his walks/hits per inning was 2.260.

This lackluster stretch earned him a spot on another team’s roster as the A’s would trade him to the Mariners in January of this year -two months ago to the day.

In only two months of being with the M’s, Overton has continued to make the point that he should earn a roster spot despite his poor numbers in 2016.

With many mainstay Mariners gone for the World Baseball Classic, Overton has received many reps during this year’s spring training. And he’s taken full advantage of these opportunities.

If you take away the three home runs he’s given up in the 17 innings he’s been on the mound, he’s only allowed three earned runs in that span  -all of them coming in an off game against the Chicago Whitesox.

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Even when you account for the home runs, his ERA is decent at 2.65. Half of his frames have come in relief outings, but his last two chances have been starts and he’s done quite well.

Yesterday, he went six innings, allowing just four hits and one run. He also struck out three and walked none.

This control of the strikezone has been incredible all spring, walking no men while striking out a baker’s dozen. In relief, he throws a strike 72% of the time and when he’s on the mound for an extended period he throws one in the zone 64% of the time. Seeing that he’s mostly likely going to play a relief role all year, those numbers will come in handy during the long season.

In yesterday’s game, we also saw Overton have great command over his sinking changeup and his high-80’s fastball. The hope is that he can get the velocity of his fastball back up to pre-Tommy John form in the mid-90’s, but he’s not there yet.

If Overton can continue his impressive spring numbers throughout the year, expect to see a lot of him from the bullpen. As a lefty in the pen’ with Marc Rzepczynski, the two will be able to create matchup problems for the opposition all year long.

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Overton has had great success in the minors the last three years posting a sub-3.60 ERA in each season, so it’ll be up for him to show the Mariners faithful that he can produce on the big stage as well.