Tampa Bay Rays eye Jeremy Hellickson in 2011 pitching rotation
For those who don’t know about Jeremy Hellickson, they should review the match between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Minnesota Twins on 2 August, 2010. The 23-year-old pitcher made his debut appearance on the mound for the Rays that day and pitched a classic
game. The rookie made an impression on baseball analysts by throwing seven innings, and allowing two runs off three hits in the game.
Jeremy Hellickson made the start and won his first game for his team with a 4–2 score line. Now with the new season starting in April, management is going ahead by including him in the team’s pitching rotation. The young pitcher will be coming in to a side
that has lost Matt Garza and Shaun Marcum on the pitching front.
Hellickson, who has an experience of just 10 games, will have to take up a lot of the responsibility to fill their boots. However, his figures suggest he might be able prove an able replacement.
In four game starts, he’s punched in four wins. That speaks volumes for a young ball thrower. In addition to those statistics, Hellickson has racked up 33 strikeouts and an earning runs average of 3.47. He’s been involved in the bullpen as well, and while
that means he has the potential to do more, it is clear that he will have to step up for his team in the 2011 campaign.
"This kid knows how to pitch," veteran, Johnny Damon said. "This is only his second big league start. That goes to show you how good their starting pitching is. It seemed like the kid had no fear. He'd throw five straight changeups, or five straight changeups
then mix in the fastball. The kid is pretty good. He's going to be in the big leagues to stay for a long time, if not now. The kid knows what he's doing."
The Rays have the option to look to the Minor League pitchers who made their move from the Matt Garza trade deal with the Chicago Cubs. However, that won’t be necessary until the time Jeremy keeps on impressing his peers.
"We have to sacrifice depth to maintain the talent level in our system," Rays president Matt Silverman said. "Depth is a luxury that teams like us don't often get to have. But we feel that our team is in great shape this year and even better shape over the
next several years."
Time will only tell how Hellickson will fair in a long-run spell in the Major Leagues. A true pitcher shows his quality when he’s called in to pitch in more than 30 appearances during the season. Will Hellickson succeed or will he fail in his pursuit for
a cemented position in the rotation? We’ll just have to wait until next season to find out.
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