Back to the field of play after my one-time departure.
As is traditional (if it’s not I’m making it so) any SAL All-Stars from Delmarva not already so honored as SotW will get their due after the break. Thus, Jesse Beal is my pick this week.
Because this is the first full season for the 19 year old righthander (he turns 20 later this month) out of South County High School in Lorton, Virginia, Jesse has already set a number of career highs for himself. In 14 appearances and starts for the Shorebirds, Beal has set new career marks in pitching 85 1/3 innings, allowing 89 hits and a 3.69 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 18 walks.
Jesse was especially effective in May, going 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA in 6 starts covering 39 2/3 innings. Perhaps consistency is the one thing he needs to work on as his May numbers were quite a bit better than lackluster performances in April and June, where his earned run average was much higher.
However, the 11th round Oriole pick from 2008 has shown good control over his minor league career, walking only one batter per nine innings in his previous stints with the GCL Orioles in 2008 and Bluefield last season. Like some other Shorebird pitchers, Jesse doesn’t have the eyepopping strikeout numbers but pitches more to contact as he’s allowed more hits than innings pitched but gets a lot of ground ball outs too.
With each inning for Beal adding to the personal best totals, he may be one of those pitchers who we see less of as the season wears on. Since Jesse has a wide lead over fellow high school prospect Matt Hobgood and the promoted Nathan Moreau in terms of team leadership in innings pitched (Jesse is tied for 7th in the SAL as well) the Orioles may shorten his starts a little bit to maintain his arm for future seasons. Even though Beal looks like a durable sort of guy, too many pitchers have seen their careers end from throwing too much early on.
If he pitches to contact well, though, Beal may surprise us and rack up double-digit wins by season’s end. Staying on rotation would give him 12 or 13 chances to pick up 5 more wins, so it’s a doable goal. Here’s hoping he gets there.
