51s eager to give new closer Beck save opportunity

Converting Chad Beck from a starting pitcher to a closer made sense.

He's got a fastball that averages in the mid-90s and tops out at about 97 mph, and Beck himself acknowledged he was good for five or six innings as a starter and no more.

Now if only the 51s could get the 27-year-old some work as a closer.

Las Vegas, which lost 6-4 to the Tacoma Rainiers on Thursday at Cashman Field, still doesn't know what it has in the 6-foot-4-inch, 250-pound right-hander.

He has pitched in one save situation this season - the 51s tend to be either way ahead or behind, usually the latter - and Beck blew that opportunity.

So the 51s have tried to mentally create those kind of tense spots by making it seem that every appearance is a save situation.

"He's got to look at it as a challenge that every game is a one-run game," 51s manager Marty Brown said. "He can chalk up how many saves he gets in his own mind. It's not necessarily just about the number of saves; it's about how he goes about his job."

That approach seems to have worked. Beck is 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA in seven appearances covering 8 1/3 innings.

Beck was promoted to Triple A last season after going 7-4 with a 3.69 ERA at Double-A New Hampshire. He struggled in Las Vegas, going 2-4 with a 6.70 ERA, but he received a September call-up to the parent Toronto Blue Jays.

The Jays put him in the bullpen, and Beck mostly watched. He pitched 2 1/3 innings over three games, giving up one hit and no runs and striking out three.

Toronto liked the idea of keeping Beck in the pen and training him to be a closer, so he went to the Arizona Fall League to get experience as a reliever. Beck allowed only three baserunners and didn't give up a run over eight innings.

"That was really good to see how everybody handles themselves pitching against the top prospects," Beck said. "I had a lot of success, and that helped my confidence a whole lot."

After showing he could handle relief work in Arizona, Beck then needed to prove he could be a quality Triple-A closer. If only he could get the work with the game on the line.

His one chance came Saturday against Colorado Springs. Beck blew the save, giving up a two-run homer in the ninth inning to Jordan Pacheco, but still got the victory as the 51s won 9-8 in 10.

Beck, however, didn't give up a run in his other six outings.

"When I go out there, the score doesn't really affect how I'm going to pitch a guy unless he's a big home run threat or something like that," Beck said.

Brown said Beck has the ability to eventually become a major league closer or set-up man. "Everything right now is a learning experience for him," Brown said. "We try to give him a lot of different scenarios. It's picking out the positives and trying to build on them."

■ NOTES - Travis Snider's 18-game hitting streak ended when he was forced to leave the game in the top of the third inning after landing hard trying to make a catch. He went 0-for-1 with a walk before what appeared to be an injury to his right wrist. ... Brown was ejected in the fifth inning during a pitching change. He then twice kicked dirt on home-plate umpire Mike Lusky.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.