Along with everyone else who thought Erik Bedard was this supernatural lefty who would become the rock steady ace of this "on-paper" soild rotation the Mariners have thrown out this season.
Boy was I wrong.
Yes, I wanted Bedard from the get-go. As soon as those rumors floated about him possibly coming to Seattle in exchange for George Sherrill, Adam Jones and a couple minor leaguers, I was all for it.
How could you not be?
With Seattle, Sherrill was nothing more than a lefty set up man. He wasn't going to get the 27 saves he currently has with the Orioles and Adam Jones wasn't going to crack the outfield even if he deserved it. So yeah, ship 'em off.
Whoops.
Erik Bedard hasn't been an ace, he's been a cry baby with no guts, no spine, and he doesn't even care. With his win today over the Detroit Tigers, he improved to 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA while pitching just 81 innings in 15 starts. That's an average of less than 6 innings every day he's scheduled to start.
- B/R Ticket Guide
How can someone be praised as an ace when they don't even qualify for a quality start for seven of their 15 starts?
For his career, Bedard has never exceeded 200 innings pitched and after last year's low 3.16 era, he's floated back to reality this year hovering around his career average era of 3.83. An ERA near four isn't the worst statistic around but an ace is more than just numbers.
He's supposed to be a stopper. When Bedard pitches the game after the Mariners lose, he's 4-4 with three no decisions and in two of those no decisions, the Mariners lost.
Another thing Erik Bedard has failed to do is save the bullpen. Last year the Mariners were staying up with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim until the late summer months when the bullpen began to break down from being overworked.
Please Erik! Be our savior! The word savior in Canada must mean do the bare minimum because the Canadian out of Ontario is doing just that. His pitch count is low when he repeatedly takes himself out of ball games.
July 4, 2008 - 5.0 IP, 1 ER 99 pitches thrown
June 29, 2008 - 5.2 IP, 1 ER 94 pitches thrown
June 20, 2008 - 3.0 IP, 0 ER 36 pitches thrown (reportedly left with back spasms)
June 14, 2008 - 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 100 pitches thrown
June 8, 2008 - 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 99 pitches thrown
June 3, 2008 - 3.1 IP 4 ER, 75 pitches thrown
Notice the trend? Erik Bedard has a year left on his contract with the Mariners. Whether or not the Mariners resign him remains to be seen, but until then, you can expect from him a solid five to six innings keeping you in the ballgame and hope your bullpen saves the day.
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6 months ago
I'm kind of confused how you can say he's not an ace. Sure, he's been bad this year, but over his career, he's definitely an ace!
6 months ago
Great article. Bedard certainly is overrated, in my opinion. Nice work!
6 months ago
In Baltimore, he was an ace. In Seattle, King Felix looks more like the ace.
6 months ago
King Felix has looked nasty ever since he threw that 1-hitter in Fenway Park. He was hitting 98 with his fastball consistently, and could snap off a 91 mph curve!
6 months ago
Bedard is immensely talented, but also is a head case. I don't understand him much of the time, and would not really mind to let him go.
6 months ago
Erik Bedard even said it himself that he is not the ace of this staff and that Felix is. He is right there. Felix Hernanadez will carry this rotation for many years and just will get better as the years roll on. He is everything every club wants out of their ace.
You just can't make Bedard something he is not and hoped he would turn out to be. He is a winning pitcher though and makes sure that he does his job through the 5 or 6 innings he pitches and since he is a strikeout pitcher he throws so many pitches in so few innings that allows him to tire fast. He loves the city of Seattle and just doesn't enjoy talking to the media which I think is OK as long as you keep winning. And he really doesn't care what you think of him quite frankly.
I'll settle for him as the number 2 or 3 starter in this rotation for many years though.
5 months ago
Bedard will return to form when he joins the Blue Jays staff. He is a bit of a head case and emotionally immature but he'll grow up once he gets back home to mama.
He does have "ace' stuff is he stays healthy but outside Canada he's clubhouse cancer.
5 months ago
you probably wont believe me, but i never wanted this trade from the start. Adam Jones WAS going to crack the major league team, and he was going to be the starting RF. He was drawing comparisons to Ken Griffey Jr. He had speed, he had power, he was athletic, he could play shortstop, center field, and right field. Everyone was saying that his offense combined with a resurgent Richie Sexon would replace the lost bat of Jose Guillen. Instead we trade him and bring in Brad Wilkerson, who is basically a home run or a strikeout. He sounds eerily similar to a guy we just released. We ended up releasing Wilkerson too. I think we could have handled Bedards lack of inning's if we hadnt traded away the pitcher who led the team in appearances in Sherril.
Now that we traded away our pitching future as well, the mariners are stuck with 3 overpriced aging innings eaters in their starting rotation.
I think alot of mariner fans should have done their homework on this guy before they dubbed him the savior of the rotation next to king felix
about 1 month ago
he had one fluke year. he can still VERY EASILY bounce back and win the Cy Young. In 2004 Andy Pettite went 6-4, 3.90 ERA in his first year in a new town. the next season he went 17-9 with a 2.16 era! eric bedard was 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA. he could very easily do that.
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