Blake Beavan to AA Frisco
by laxtonto on Jun 11, 2009 11:24 AM EDT
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Blake Beavan, the RHP the Rangers drafted out of Irving High in the 2007 first round, has been promoted to Double-A Frisco.
His first start is expected to be Monday in Midland. His first home start in Frisco is expected to be June 20.
Beavan was 5-4 with a 4.30 ERA in 12 starts (73 1/3 innings) for Class A Bakersfield. Beavan had 16 walks and 51 strikeouts and gave up 75 hits. Opponents hit .264 against him. In his last seven starts, Beavan has seven quality starts. He had a complete game, four-hit shutout on May 7 and has allowed 14 runs in his last 49 1/3 innings (2.55 ERA). Clearly, he's been improving.
Looks like he is finally out of the Hell of the California league...
I still can't get over the fact that Bakersfield is 354" to center.
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what?!?!
Bakersfield is really 354’ to the centerfield wall? Can someone confirm this? That is hard to believe…
by richieabernathy on Jun 11, 2009 11:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It's effect is overrated though
The wall is pretty high in center and the Kern river flows right behind the outfield fence. With all the moisture in the air, the ball doesn’t carry as well at Sam Lynn Ballpark as other California League ballparks.
by sdbaseballfan on Jun 11, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ha
that is contrary to everything I’ve ever read about that place. It’s a complete dump that skews all the pitchers stats.
"He will not coddle them. Nolan Ryan doesn’t coddle." - Jeff Passan
by Dirk Diggler on Jun 11, 2009 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I consistently read that...
It doesn’t play like 354’
by NoNameOnCard on Jun 11, 2009 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
That may be true
but does it play like a normal park – as in 390-400? I just don’t see how damp air can add 50 feet to a distance.
"He will not coddle them. Nolan Ryan doesn’t coddle." - Jeff Passan
by Dirk Diggler on Jun 11, 2009 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Even Still
He only allowed 4 homeruns in 47.2 innings at home this year, so it’s not like it was killing him that much. I’ll definitely be interested to see how this affects his already questionable K/BB/IP ratio.
by ajake57 on Jun 11, 2009 12:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It's the...
K/9 and H/9 that I will be watching more. Neither are very impressive this year. Unless this move was just to get him out of the Cal League, I don’t think this was a very smart move.
Adam Dunn: Proof that even sabermetrics doesn't have it right.
by Boxkutter on Jun 11, 2009 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
disagree because
He’s a Derek Lowe type. Look at Derek Lowe’s minor league numbers. His K/9 was 4.8, his BB/9 was 3.0, and H/9 was 9.4 in 783 career milb innings. Of course, Lowe’s career ERA in the Major Leagues is 3.74. He is an extreme groundball pitcher because of his sinker. Obviously, Beavan isn’t a top prospect, but to suggest he can’t succeed in Double-A is wrong. Obviously, H<IP<K is an excellent barometer to judge pitching prospects, but I believe Beavan can be successful as a strike-throwing innings eater. Also, Nolan Ryan has promised more durability and Beavan has already shown a penchant for logging lots of innings. His walk rate is very impressive, which is the key to his success of getting groundballs.
by richieabernathy on Jun 11, 2009 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
A tad optimistic, no?
I don’t think you’d have a hard time finding guys in the minors who can put up 50% ground ball rates with bad peripherals. That doesn’t somehow make Beavan special, and certainly doesn’t put him in the range of Lowe-esque groundballers.
by PissedMick on Jun 11, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
A little early to say either way
They completely rebuilt Beavan’s mechanics, didnt they? Recently?
by alskor on Jun 11, 2009 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Unless, of course, you consider that...
Beavan’s primary fastball is a sinker.
by NoNameOnCard on Jun 11, 2009 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
How is a 3-1 K/BB ratio
bad peripherals? And that HR rate, in the Cal League? A high K rate isn’t everything.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
by t ball on Jun 11, 2009 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe Lowe, maybe Halladay, maybe Tewksbury
Who knows? Right now Beavan has a lower walk rate and a higher K rate than Halladay did in the minors, very similar minor league numbers so far. Halladay’s hit rate in the minors was 8.8 and he never pitched in the Cal league. Beavan has a K/BB of 3 to 1, a very low HR rate and that hit rate might come down a bit in the less freaky Frisco ballpark and TX league. His velo is up to the 90-93 range this year.
Boxcutter, I think you’re underrating him. He may not be as good as Lowe or Halladay, but that 6.3 K rate and 9.2 hit rate this year are not necessarily evidence he can’t be.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
by t ball on Jun 11, 2009 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Halladay is a poor and very difficult comparison to make. Halladay came up very much as a “fireballer”, your typical power pitcher. All of his initial minor league numbers came under this style. It wasn’t until he flamed out in the majors and posted a 10+ ERA in 2000 that he became the pitcher you see today. The Blue Jays sent him all the way down to single A and literally re-worked everything from his mechanics to his pitch-grips…when he came back up he came as the groundball pitcher you see today, as his H/9 numbers dropped significantly to 6.6 in AA and 7.7 in AAA (whereas his first passes through AA and AAA had H/9 numbers of 11.2, 9.5, 8.3, and 10.4).
Halladay is a difficult comparison to make for any pitcher because his situation is so rare.
by metafour on Jun 11, 2009 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
yeah, right...
and Porcello was striking the crap out of the minors before he was called up…
"Dear dumb ass folowers of FSMism,
There have been a lot of weird things that i have seen in my life before, but this tops them all. Do you really believe that there is/was such a thing as a flying spaghetti monster? Seriously, how fucking old are you? I know there’s such a thing as freedom of speech and expression, but this kinda shit should be banned. Theres is only one God and one Holy Word. Why dont you people get that? How much sense does it make to say that decreasing numbers of pirates lead to an increase in average global temperature? Is that science or some fifth grader trying to sound smart?"
–Sincerly,
ANONYMOUS
The Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster (http://www.venganza.org/)
by 8legs2fangs on Jun 11, 2009 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He wasn't throwing all of his pitches though.
Just because there are 3 exceptions to the rule doesn’t mean that it doesn’t apply in the vast vast vast majority of cases.
In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor on FK
by designatedforassignment on Jun 12, 2009 6:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
A personal favorite out of the Rangers system
Fills the strike zone with good stuff. He’ll need time to refine his command and I hope the Rangers give him plenty of time to develop in the minors . . .but I really like Beavan. Maybe he’s that late-inning guy that BA has suggested he might be, maybe he’s a solid innings-eater, maybe he’s more than that, but I really like his chances of being a quality piece in some way for the Rangers.
And hey . . .at least he’s not Michael Main. (commence Rangers fans groaning)
by mrkupe on Jun 11, 2009 3:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
"You guys watch, guys! Main is gonna be a top 50 prospect by the end of the year!"
I can’t blame you guys for overrating your own prospects (we all do it, to some extent), but I enjoyed that.
by RedSoxFaithful on Jun 11, 2009 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
go ahead and sleep on Main
like we all did with Kalish last year.
What is this, Horseville? Because I'm surrounded by naysayers.
by clark on Jun 11, 2009 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I've never liked Kalish
My homer sleeper is Hunter Cervenka. He’s going to kick the shit out of everyone he faces, AND PITCH A LITTLE, TOO.
yeah, he’s sort of a badass
by RedSoxFaithful on Jun 11, 2009 10:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I said Main would be a top 50.
He’s still young, still has great stuff and is still striking lots of guys out. He just lost his command and his mechanics arent right. He’s also a great athlete… and once again, he has great stuff. Im sure he’ll still be in the top 100 next year and Im confident he will be a very good MLB pitcher. He’s 20 years old and has 140 professional innings. He’s struck out 45 in 54 innings this year. Might be a little early to close the book on him.
by alskor on Jun 11, 2009 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
First time I read that...
I saw “He’s 140 years old and has 20 professional innings.” Now there’s a pitcher we should pay attention to!
And I should have been clearer- I don’t hate the guy. I just didn’t get the hype on him (I think I had him as a fringe top 125 guy), and he’s clearly not even on Texas Top ~15 now.
by RedSoxFaithful on Jun 11, 2009 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Kind of.
He’s striking out a decent (although by no means exceptional) number of guys, but he walks tons of guys as well, too many to justify his strikeout rate. The command has just been awful, no matter how “live” his arm is. Even worse is the number of hits he’s given up.
I do not expect him to rate among the top 100 prospects for anybody, including BA. Guys with 1.96 WHIPs (no I did not type that incorrectly) are not worthy of such distinction. He’s still got the power arm, but last year was a small sample size fluke and he remains an interesting young pitcher who has a very long way to go to fulfill his promise.
My own forecast for him hasn’t changed, actually. I thought he was a future reliever coming out of HS and I still think he’s a reliever down the line. He’s not a big guy and his stuff profiles better out of the pen. No doubt he has the MLB-caliber upside, though.
by mrkupe on Jun 12, 2009 12:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He's a young kid with great stuff
Clearly something is wrong with his mechanics. Its not like he’s not going to improve on a 6/9 BB rate. That’s not a control problem – that’s bad mechanics. Same goes for the hittability.
Ive never heard anyone say his stuff profiles as a reliever’s. He’s not a small guy either and he’s very athletic. Disagree with that. I dont know how you can look at his performance this year and say “oh, this is the real Michael Main. Clearly his ceiling was overrated.” Its not like he reached AA and his stuff turned out to be more hittable or anything. He’s all messed up right now. What he’s doing now has zero reflection on his potential as a starting pitcher.
His results really don’t concern me right now. Nick Adenhart had similar problems (though not to this extent obviously). Lots of guys have had these kind of problems. He’s still a top 100 talent, IMHO. If guys like Brackman make top 100 lists on upside alone, certainly Main should always be above guys like that.
by alskor on Jun 12, 2009 2:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Main/Brackman
I know you used Yankees bonus baby Andrew Brackman because you have never, ever had anything remotely good to say about Brackman. And actually, I think Brackman has done a fair job lately, with a solid stint in Hawaii baseball and pitching well enough in the Sally League coming off of TJ. He is doing loads better than Main is at this point certainly and should be considered in prospect rankings accordingly. I might differ from most in that I don’t care much if at all about ARL for pitchers (I believe the body of statistical evidence stands with me on this one, though), but on this comparison it’s relatively simple IMO. One of these two players has a higher upside than the other, and that same player is pitching much better than the other.
Yes, something is seriously wrong with Main’s mechanics, and it’s bad enough to make me wonder if there might also be some injury that hasn’t been uncovered yet. And I will agree that while what he’s doing right now doesn’t necessarily mean that his potential has diminished, it certainly should give pause to anybody evaluating the likelihood of him making good on that potential.
I think you minimize just how bad it’s been for Main. He has a 1.96 WHIP. His ERA is over 7. Despite having a electric arm, he’s nowhere close to striking out a batter an inning in A ball. And he’s walking 1 guy for every 2 outs he records. How in the world can you not be concerned by these numbers? Jeremy Jeffress last year was the same age as 2009 Main, with at least an equal arm and perhaps better, shoddy command that still wasn’t nearly as bad as what Main is presently showing, better results, and he was a fringe top 100 prospect for many. While obviously the phrase “top 100 prospect” itself is arbitrary and subjective, my point is this: Main is talented but what’s happening with him is ugly and majorly regressive, and there’s no getting around that. Furthermore, he’s now pitched 45 good innings in full season ball, and 54 absolutely wretched innings in full season ball.
Hell, even Andrew Brackman has done better than that.
by mrkupe on Jun 12, 2009 9:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Something is obviously not right with Main now
but it wasn’t just fans. His coaches talked about him with great respect and enthusiasm. It’s still early.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
by t ball on Jun 11, 2009 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
beavan was one of my favorites from the 07 draft
he’s a project, and still a ways away, but if he makes good, he does have that derrek lowe type upside. that type of production is way off in the future, but that is why we’re here.
human beings, who are almost unique in their ability to learn from the experiences of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
by variablesdont on Jun 11, 2009 3:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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