Quietly, Roenis Elias has been very good

[seahawksfan234]

In his career 35 MLB starts, he has a 3.60 ERA in 202.1 IP.

I'm not sure people realize this, but dating back to last July, Elias has allowed three runs or fewer in 16 straight starts, the third-longest stretch of such games by a Mariners pitcher.

With how bad Walker has been pitching, and Iwakuma's injury, Elias has been quite a nice addition to the rotation this year.

Let's just hope that Iwakuma recovers from his injury and goes back to pitching in the stellar form we are used to from him.

 

[gowazzu02]

In his career 35 MLB starts, he has a 3.60 ERA in 202.1 IP.

I'm not sure people realize this, but dating back to last July, Elias has allowed three runs or fewer in 16 straight starts, the third-longest stretch of such games by a Mariners pitcher.

With how bad Walker has been pitching, and Iwakuma's injury, Elias has been quite a nice addition to the rotation this year.

Let's just hope that Iwakuma recovers from his injury and goes back to pitching in the stellar form we are used to from him.

I wouldn't hold your breath on kuma......

but yes Elias has been sorely needed this year, and stepped up nicely. Which is kinda funny, he stunk up the joint in spring and then in AAA.... I guess some guys just need the bright lights to be turned on.

 

[cezero]

I've been talking about him since last year.

And M's starting pitching has been the best in the league for the past month, despite the atrocity that is Walker. Just read it on twitter somewhere, but didn't think to copy and paste it.

 

[NWinAZ]

I wasn't as big on him a most on here. I think the biggest difference I see in him is control and less use of his curveball. He has a good one, but it seemed like he fell in love with it last year.

 

[gowazzu02]

He's got some junkyard dog in him, not afraid to pitch inside. Not afraid to show a little emotion out there.

 

[NWinAZ]

He's got some junkyard dog in him, not afraid to pitch inside. Not afraid to show a little emotion out there.

I wish we had more of that.

 

[DHoey]

I think most just kept waiting for him to fall off last year. So rarely do you see the jump from AA to the bigs and see extended consistency and sucess. What is he gonna have to do to open peoples eyes?

 

[NWinAZ]

Longevity.

 

[seahawksfan234]

I wouldn't hold your breath on kuma......

but yes Elias has been sorely needed this year, and stepped up nicely. Which is kinda funny, he stunk up the joint in spring and then in AAA.... I guess some guys just need the bright lights to be turned on.

I have faith that Iwakuma can return back to the pitcher he was before. He wasn't the type of guy who relied on velocity or anything like that, so I don't see why he couldn't return to form. I guess we will find out.

 

[seahawksfan234]

I wish we had more of that.

I always loved how fired up J.J. Putz would get out there when he'd go for the save.

 

[dude82]

I think most just kept waiting for him to fall off last year. So rarely do you see the jump from AA to the bigs and see extended consistency and sucess. What is he gonna have to do to open peoples eyes?

I think you're spot on. Mentally, I think he could handle it (the pressure of pitching in the big leagues should be nothing compared to attempting to flee Cuba), but it's a big step-up in workload from AA to the Majors, so he had to battle things like dead arm and just plain old exhaustion as the year went on. The fact that they didn't (or couldn't) really ease him into it like they would a top prospect probably didn't help. Most guys that make a jump like that aren't tasked with being the #2 starter right out of the gate like he was. They're either slotted 5th in the rotation and occasionally skipped/kept to a hard pitch count or put out in the bullpen where the team can better control their workload. The M's didn't really have that luxury last year and just threw Elias into the deep end from the beginning.

All things considered, I think he pitched very well for most of the season last year and it's good to see him get off to a great start this year after his promotion back to the Majors.