Frisco RoughRiders Broadcaster Scott Garner On Blake Beavan’s First Start: “It Was Above Average”

Spent just a few minutes this morning emailing with Frisco radio voice Scott Garner to get his impressions of Blake Beavan’s first Double-A start last night in Midland during which Beavan was charged with six runs (five earned) in 5.1 innings. He struck out six and didn’t walk anybody. The results weren’t fantastic, but Beavan certainly left an impression on Garner. His thoughts:

Me: So, Scott, what was your overall first impression of Blake Beavan and his jump from Class A to Double-A.

Scott Garner: I was really impressed with the mound presence. Of all the positives he showed, the mound presence is what is most memorable. Most of the time, A ball pitchers coming up to Double-A are rushed in everything they do, from their motion to the time they take between pitches. Beavan was not. He was pumping in strikes at a comfortable pace from the word “go.”

I think the most impressive number he put up was the 0 in the walks column. I’m not the least bit concerned about the 6 runs he allowed in total (I believe 5 were earned) in 5.1 innings.

With saying all that, his secondary stuff took about two innings to command (and he never really completely commanded them). He located well with his fastball early on. Most were late on the fastball early, and I mean some really awkward looking swings. There were a couple of hitters that were tied up on the fastball. You don’t see that often, especially at Double-A or higher, and certainly not multiple times during the game.

He never had complete command of his curveball/slider so his fastball wasn’t as effective as it could have been.

He struck out the side in the 2nd inning, even while he allowed a run that was unearned.

Left fielder Matt Spencer stole second base. Beavan didn’t hold him on well. And he eventually scored on a throwing error for an unearned run. The two K’s to end the inning were swinging at the FB up in the zone. It was the first time the hitters has seen him.

Me: What about velocity? Everybody loves velocity talk.

Garner: Without looking at the official reports. The FB velo was 88-90.Yep. That’s because I believe the stadium gun is lagging by 3-4 MPH. Anyway, the velo was in the lower 90′s consistently which was good and his ball had a certain explosiveness that you would expect from him.

Above average I would say with late run/sink. He’ll only get better. I would rate his first AA start as above average bordering on well above average. Results at this level don’t tell you the whole story. That’s why numbers are VERY often skewed to what’s actually happening on the field, or what is really taking place.