Revs welcome back Feierabend
Lefty Ryan Feierabend (above) went 3-2 with a 3.24 ERA in 7 starts for York earlier this season. Randy Flaum file photo.
Walking off the mound after the top of the second inning Thursday night, Ryan Feierabend toweled off in the York Revolution dugout and looked out over the field as rain came down.
The veteran left-hander wanted to keep pitching. But given what he’s been through the last six days, he felt it was only fitting that the umpires decided to call the game.
The Revs announced the signing of Feierabend just hours before the game against Lancaster. After being released by the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Feierabend made the drive from his home in Ohio on Wednesday night with plans to start Thursday.
“They asked me to leave at Cincinnati and then I come here. This (the rainout) sort of puts the cherry on top,” Feierabend said afterwards.
Despite his frustration with not getting a full start in, the lefty is glad to be back in a familiar place.
Feierabend went 3-2 with a 3.24 ERA in seven starts earlier this season for York before the Cincinati Reds picked him up and assigned him to Class AAA Louisville. He struggled with Louisville, though, going 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA in seven starts before Cincinnati cut ties with him on Saturday.
Roster moves: The Revs made two other roster moves on Thursday, releasing left-hander Victor Garate and sending shortstop Danny Gonzalez to Lancaster to complete an earlier trade in the off-season.
Gonzalez batted just .249 in 75 games for the Revs. In his only appearance for York, Garate surrendered two runs (one earned) on four hits in 1 2/3 innings Monday at Bridgeport.
The Revs have now made 11 roster moves since July 16, when Revs’ skipper Andy Etchebarren expressed concern with his starting rotation. With the most recent addition in Feierabend, however, Etchebarren said Thursday “this is probably the best the rotation has been one through five since the year started.”
Feierabend went 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA over a five-start stretch with York earlier this season, capping it with a complete game 4-2 win over Southern Maryland.
Feierabend: Feierabend said he felt fine in the two innings he worked Thursday. He gave up a double and an infield RBI single in the first inning and worked out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning.
Lancaster’s Adam Godwin lined out to the warning track in right field for the final out in the top of the second inning when the rain started coming down hard.
Nearly 30 York Revolution officials had trouble covering the entire field with the tarp and after ten minutes in pouring rain they gave up and decided to leave the area around the third base bag and the entire third base line exposed. All stats from the game will be wiped out and the contest will be made up on Saturday as part of a double-header with two seven-inning games beginning at 5 p.m.
Louisville: Often times, the game of baseball can be more of a mental battle than physical. And for some reason, Feierabend said he had troubles with the former at Louisville.
“I got over there and I thought I had to do more when really I needed to do less,” he said. “Here (the Atlantic League) it’s the same competition as it is there. I think I just put them (opponents at Class AAA) higher up than the guys here. In my opinion, it’s the same caliber hitters as double-a and triple-a players. There are some more big league hitters here, and there are some triple-a big league hitters there. For me, it was that and I never really got comfortable with the team.”
This tattoo represents Feierabend’s passion for baseball. It’s one of many tattoos the lefty has. Bil Bowden file photo.
A good sign for the Ohio native is that he’s felt completely healthy throughout this season. The former big leaguer made eight starts for the Seattle Mariners in the second half of the 2008 season but missed all of the 2009 season because of Tommy John surgery.
“I’ve been healthy ever since I came back in 2010. I’ve never been on the DL (disabled list) ever since. It’s just a matter of finding my groove and getting back. I had 20-some years on my arm before surgery and now it’s three years old basically so I’m trying to re-work my mechanics,” Feierabend said.
In his comeback from surgery in 2010, Feierabend went 4-7 with a 5.30 ERA in 17 starts for the Mariners’ Class AAA Tacoma team. In 2011, Feierabend went 10-8 with a 5.39 ERA for the Phillies’ Class AAA Lehigh Valley team.
A former third-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2003, Feierabend understands it may take some time for him to work his way back to the majors. And he looks to former teammate Brett Tomko as a good example. Tomko is a right-hander who has more than 200 games of big league experience, but has gone through numerous sugeries throughout his now 18-year pro career.
“He had it (Tommy John surgery) twice in 14 years in the big leagues. He’s gone through shoulder surgeries and everything. He had been released four different times until he finally stuck with a team. Hopefully one of these times I can get picked up and I’ll stick next time.”
Now back with York, Feierabend is just looking to do what he did earlier this season.
Now back with York, Feierabend is just looking to do what he did earlier this season.
“Maybe there’s a team on their way to the playoffs in the minor leagues and will see something they like and I can help them out,” he said. “Or even help this team (York) out going back to the playoffs.”
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