Mound Talk

BACKGROUND
Texas Rangers prospect Blake Beaven was drafted in the first round of the 2007 MLB Draft with their first, the 17th overall, pick. The 6-foot-7 210 pound 18 year old was selected for his size and stuff. A right-handed pitcher out of Irving High School in Texas, Beaven signed too late to play this season but is pitching in the Rangers Instructional League.

Beaven had a high profile coming out of high school after pitching for Team USA in 2005. He threw a shutout for Team USA and defeated Team Cuba 4-0. His reputation for being a hot-shot is well known but has began to curtail that.

ON THE MOUND
Beaven is tall and has a great frame to work from. He throws a bit sidearmed and very hard. He uses a fastball, slider and changeup combination that is very effective.

He boasts a plus-plus fastball and it is his best pitch sitting in the 93-96 range consistently. It has sharp action on it and is especially deceptive given the arm angle from which he delivers.

His slider is his second best pitch working in the 81-84 range. It has plus potential but needs some work yet. The break is not very sharp but moves a lot. If he can add some velocity and work on a sharper break, his slider will be a deadly pitch.

His third pitch, which is rarely used is a changeup that works comfortably and consistently at 82-83. His change has some sink and some lateral movement in on lefties. It is primarily used against lefties.

Beaven has plus control on his fastball and works well to any sector of the plate. He needs to improve his control with his slider and change to be a truely effective professional pitcher.

THE FUTURE
Beaven is young and very projectable. He has a great frame and is very athletic. His pitches grade out very well, but there are concerns. Primarily, he’ll need to work on consistency. His arm slot changes a bit from pitch to pitch and he tends to tip his pitches with the slot. A consistent arm slot will help him tremendously both in preventing injuries and in preventing batters from making contact. He’ll also need to develop more control of his secondary pitches. Once he does that he’ll be primed for rapid movement through the Rangers system.

With his first professional season beginning in 2008, Beaven’s future is wide open. He has all the traditional scouting tools and should develop into a quality strikeout pitcher. He has all the makings of being a classic power pitcher.