The last time we saw Ryan Feierabend pitch for the Seattle Mariners it was September 23, 2008.  It seems like a lot longer than that.

After going down with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery last spring, Feierabend is getting his first chance at making an impression on GM Jack Zduriencik, manager Don Wakamatsu and staff this spring, with an eye on the #5 spot in the rotation or a bullpen gig.

Pre-injury, Feierabend was your typical soft tossing, junk throwing, pitch to contact lefty.  He threw a fastball in the mid-high 80s, but not particularly often.  Over 106 big league innings he has thrown his fastball just 54.3% of the time, relying heavily on his changeup, throwing that pitch 27.6% of the time and mixing in a few sliders and curves.  Basically, similar pitch frequencies as Jamie Moyer, who he had a chance to study under early in his Mariner career.

The Mariners will have an interesting competition in camp between Feierabend, Jason Vargas, Luke French and Garrett Olson.  They’ll all be competing with many others (Nick Hill, Doug Fister, Yusmeiro Petit et al) for spots in the rotation or bullpen, but these four lefties with big league experience could be competing not just for a position on the 2010 big club, but for a spot in the organization.  At no point would you want Seattle to have all four of those guys on the roster at the same time, so a couple of them will prove to be redundant at some point in the next year or two.  Feierabend will attempt to prove in 2010 that he is not that guy.

Until his changeup gets better, it’s hard to envision Feierabend as a big league starter.  He doesn’t do well against right handers, against whom he gives up more fly balls and home runs while striking out fewer.  He’s been effective against lefties throughout his minor and major league career, running a groundball percentage in the mid-40s against them.  This could help him find a bullpen role, though the lack of missed bats and strikeouts don’t allow him to profile as a late inning LOOGY.

With all those other similar lefties in camp, it’s hard to think that his chances of making the ballclub are good.  But he’s just 24 this season and recovering from TJ, so another year pitching for AAA Tacoma wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.  Feierabend could be useful in the future.  As he gains experience, tightens up his secondary offerings and improves his command a bit, he should be able to be a serviceable fifth starter in times of need as long as he can continue to keep lefties on the ground and get help from the ballpark against right handers.

It will be interesting to see how he recovers from the surgery.  There is no guarantee he’ll be the same guy right away.  What was it that helped him pitch well against lefties?  His slider?  That would likely be the pitch he’d have to lay off as he gets his arm strength back.  At the same time, you might see a slight uptick in velocity once he gets strong again, as you sometimes do with TJ patients.

I don’t expect much from Feierabend in 2010 and could be deemed expendable at some point, but he’s a nice piece of spaghetti that can use Safeco Field to make him more effective than his stuff would suggest.  Here’s to a full recovery!