ABERDEEN, Md. - High Single-A Aberdeen pitcher Carlos Tavera was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month for May, a period where he allowed just one run over four starts. But when I interviewed him recently, it was the outing after that month was over that was gnawing at him and bothering him big time. He was a ticked off pitcher and one that was not dealing well with giving up seven runs in 2 1/3 innings on June 1 versus Hudson Valley.
And when he was back on the mound last Wednesday at Brooklyn, he took it out on that night’s opponent. Tavera got back on the horse in a big way, throwing six scoreless on one hit with two walks and eight strikeouts.
That lingering bad taste was washed away in his latest night of strong pitching.
During our interview I asked Tavera why he was so dominant in May, allowing the one run on just six hits over 18 1/3 innings? He fanned 26 and walked just five with an 0.60 WHIP. But his thoughts then were more on that start that would follow those others.
“It was good, unfortunately that roll ended my last outing,” he said at Ripken Stadium. “I felt like I was in a good spot and how my pitches were. Had everything working and was really getting ahead and going after guys. It was a nice month. But I had a bad taste after this last outing and plan on getting rolling again here. When something like that happens, I’m not happy for quite a few days.”
