Abe Alvarez was a nice story. The Red Sox' second-round pick in 2003 was just 21 years old when called up to the major leagues just more than a year after leaving college. He was supposed to be the team's next really good pitching prospect, with an inspirational side story just for good measure. (Alvarez was legally blind in one eye.)
So when the wily lefty was called upon for the first game of a doubleheader against the Orioles, the result wasn't deemed a big deal. This was about getting Alvarez some experience. Nobody thought twice when Alvarez gave up five runs in five innings in a Red Sox loss.
That, however, would be the only game Alvarez ever started in the major leagues. He would go on to appear in a total of four big league games, the last one coming two years after his debut.
The moral of the story is this: You just never know what these sort of starts represent.
Jalen Beeks' big league debut Thursday night was Alvarez-esque, allowing six runs over four innings in what would end up as a 7-2 Red Sox loss to the Tigers. Unless something disastrous happens to the starting rotation, this could very well be the only major league start of the season for the player who has been the organization's most effective minor-league pitcher this season. In the short-term, it represents a horrific trend for Red Sox spot starters. (For a complete recap, click here.)
Since 2007, pitchers who have started in one or two games in a single season -- while not appearing in more than three games for the entire campaign -- have combined for an 11.69 ERA (58 runs, 44 1/3 innings) with the Red Sox going 1-10 in those games.
Who can forget those outings by Devern Hansack (2007), Charlie Zink (2007), Michael Bowden (2008), Zach Stewart (2012), Steven Wright (2014), Brian Johnson (2015), Roenis Elias (2016) and Kyle Kendrick's two starts last season?
And while Beeks just built upon the spot starters' struggles, thanks to the lack of panic with the 43-win Red Sox these days the real issue is making sure he doesn't follow the same path as another soft-throwing lefty from nearly 15 years before.
"I told you guys what my brother feels about MLB. It’s Double-, Triple-A, MLB. It’s not 4A. But he’ll be fine," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "He’s a good pitcher and he has a bright future. We really liked the way he competed after that. He didn’t let it bother him of course. He kept competing. He gave us four and B.J. (Brian Johnson) did what he did and Hector (Velazquez). But he’ll be fine."
Beeks has certainly shown enough this season with Triple-A Pawtucket to suggest this might have been an aberration. This is a guy who struck out 80 in just 56 1/3 innings with the PawSox, totaling a 2.56 ERA in 10 starts. While he typically won't blow anyone away with velocity, Beeks did max out at 95 mph with an average of 91 mph on his fastball. The problem this time around may have been in large part to pitch selection, with the lefty throwing his fastball on all but 28 of his 88 pitches.
"I think spin-rate and his fastball will play at this level, but you have to mix it up, you have to slow them down a little bit so the fastball plays up in the zone," Cora said.
Beeks will now go back down to Pawtucket and try and learn from his lesson.
Cora pulled J.D. Martinez in the eighth inning due to back tightness. He was replaced in right field by Brock Holt. After the game, Martinez and Cora said the issue wasn't as bad as when he experienced the discomfort Sunday night in Houston, and simply wanted to err on the side of caution.