Q. So. Did Blake Beavan take a plateau leap, or did he not?
A. He did, yes.
Or, he did if he plans to pitch like that, anyhow. His game on the 27th went wayyy beyond a simple decrease in fastball percentage. Beavan's "slider" was (1) a lot better, and (2) woven into the fabric of his game like he'd been using it for years.
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Q. Wove the slider into his game, like what?
A. Just to take a f'r instance ... well, three f'r instances, back-to-back-to-back in the fifth...
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Against the LH Eric Hosmer, Beavan whipped the arm forward for a fastball strike one ... whoop, the ball popped a parachute and floated by tantalizingly on the outside corner. Called strike one.
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Hosmer having had the 83 puffball impressed on his eyes, Beavan's next (actual) fastball looked 96 rather than 93, as you could tell from Hosmer's bat launch. But! The key was that Beavan threw it up at the letters, slowing down Hosmer's bat and creating a kind of velo-delta amplification effect. Or, as a ballplayer might say, there was some velo separation there.
All right, 0-2 count. Here comes another ladder fastball .... this one I'll be ready for! WHOOOOOOOPPPPSSS it's 6 inches too high. Too late, too bad, so sad, buhbye.
That there is an old-timey John Lackey vs. Mariner rookie Three Pitch Special.
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Next man up, LH Chris Getz, Beavan again starts him off with an 81 parachute slider, real good arm action. Having set the "length" of the pitch in Getz' mind, here's another "challenge" fastball - hump up, max at 93 MPH, nice and high up over the hands.
away pitch arrives as the last chapter of a much different novel.
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Q. Ranks right up there with Carl Hubbell 1934, blowing away Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons and Cronin. Wow, so are Francoeur, Hosmer, and Getz pretty scary for you there?
A. Shaddap, Egbert, and stay on topic. The question is how Blake Beavan is approaching the game of baseball.
But since you asked, Alex Gordon (33 doubles already) was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Billy Butler had a couple singles but also a way garbage strikeout. On a slider. I don't notice that the Rays did any better. The New Beavan has two games, two wipeout victories and an 11-1-0 three true outcomes. He's not going to be able to win three out of two games.
He ain't going to throw a 4-hit, 1-run game with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts every time out. The July 27 Blake Beavan was better than the other Blake Beavan, get it? got it! good.
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For the next Beavan post, hit the next post button. Drive home safely.
Mariners trade Brandon League for two low-minors guys that look pretty "meh" to me...and then trade Steve Delagar to the Jays for Eric Thames...a prospect with a ton of name recognition, 550 big league ABs at MLB average-solid production with a terrible K/BB and some decent power and speed in the OF...
We need scouting reports on Landry, Bawcom and Thames! Go Jeff...GO!