AquaSox are well-armed this season
Published 8:35 am Tuesday, June 23, 2015
EVERETT — A year ago, the Everett AquaSox were scraping the bottom of the pitching barrel.
A shortage of available arms caused the Sox fits all season long, forcing then-manager Dave Valle to get creative with his pitching choices. Position players Jordan Cowan and Luke Guarnaccia combined for seven relief appearances, and those weren’t of the mop-up variety as they were both forced into action with games still in the balance.
Don’t expect the Sox to be calling upon position players with any regularity this season.
With 18 pitchers currently on the roster, Everett has the kind of pitching depth it never enjoyed last season.
“He’s not going to pitch this year,” Blanton said with a grin when informed of Cowan’s pitching volume last season.
“I don’t think it’s an issue,” Blanton added about the depth of the pitching staff. “We have a quality rotation, they all go out and pound the strike zone, so I can pretty much count on them to eat up at least half the game for us. Personally, I think my problem should be finding enough innings for everybody. If we go out and do our jobs, we should have no issue.”
Blanton already had familiarity with the pitchers who came to Everett from the Seattle Mariners’ extended spring training in Peoria, Arizona. That group includes 18-year-old Brazilian lefty Luiz Gohara, the highly regarded phenom who was listed by Baseball America as the Mariners’ No. 8 prospect coming into 2015, and who shined in the Sox’s season opener last Thursday.
The pitchers who joined the Sox from this year’s amateur draft — there are 10 of those — are a different story. Blanton had no knowledge of those pitchers before they arrived in Everett, but now that he’s had a chance to see them in action, he likes what he’s seen.
Put it all together and Blanton feels good about what he has to work with this season.
“We have a good mix,” Blanton said. “We have some older college guys here, we have some guys with power arms, we have some guys with big breaking balls. I think we’re going to be able to have a different look each time out. It should be interesting, it should be fun.”
One thing Blanton particularly likes is the preponderance of left-handers on the staff. Ten of the 18 pitchers are lefties, giving Everett a unique look this season.
“I’m loving it,” Blanton said. “We have four lefties in the rotation and six down in the bullpen, which is nice to have. Usually you have one or two, but we have quality guys down there who have a three-pitch mix and they can get lefties or righties out, which is big to me.”
