26 replies to this topic

[Royal Reader]

A promising start for this Seattle Ballclub in topping the A's in Tokyo. King Felix was, well, himself in holding the A's to one run over eight innings. In traditional M's style, Ichiro had four hits but didn't score a run, though the declining Japanese superstar at least had the satisfaction of driving in an insurance run that, unsurprisingly in a game mostly defined by shitty hitting, didn't prove necessary.

Dustin Ackley at least managed to perform a reasonable impersonation of a Major League hitter by going 2-5 with two RBI, including a solo homer.

Up next, the Mariners' Jason Vargas faces Bartolo Colon.

[Compass Rosy]

And we have our first lineup change...

Brendan Ryan showed up with a stiff neck this morning (something he dealt with late last season - ugh!)
So, in his place, and making his major league debut, the ST batting average leader (.455) Munenori Kawasaki!

oh and, Happy Felix Day!

[Compass Rosy]

Well, that was a little to close for comfort.
Apparently, Felix doesn't quite know how to handle actual run support.

There were twelve names on the M’s 2012 Opening Day roster that have never graced one previously, including seven rookies. Tonight, two of those players made their ML debut …
- Kawasaki collected his first hit, first rbi and first run scored
- Luetge struck out the only batter he faced (with two on, one out in the 7th)

Elsewhere, I saw a comment that it was too bad the M's can't play the A's for 162 and that they will, as usual, be irrelevant come July. Indeed true “relevance” may yet be a year or two or three away for the Mariners but, the plan is in place and the future looks bright (good thing patience is my strong suit )

[Bob's up sick]

Chone Figgins has already accumulated 0.9 fWAR more than he did all of last season. Holy crap.

Really though there may be some good signs for him so far: he's gone 8-for-21, with two SHs and a BB. This has been fueled by a ridiculous .471 BABIP, but the Fig Dog (or Choad Figgins if you prefer) is also sporting a 37.5% LD rate, way above his career rate, and a 31.3% GB rate, which is way below his career rate. Who knows, maybe this year will be a return to form for him.

[Royal Reader]

Strong showing from both the major pieces in the Pineda trade yesterday... Noesi going 8 and picking up the W, while Montero hit his first dinger in a Mariners uniform and added another two RBI to account for three of the M's four runs in a 4-0 win. Far too early to call, but with Pineda himself on the DL with shoulder issues, this trade looks like it might just be noticeably better than the common wisdom had held.

Edited by Royal Reader, 15 April 2012 - 11:04 AM.

[Royal Reader]

The current series with the ChiSox has not gone well for Seattle: first Adam Dunn hit two homers to power Chicago to a 7-3 victory, then White Sox starter Philip Humber threw a perfect game to take the W, 4-0 on Saturday. Today's finale is currently tied 2-2 as the Mariners aim to avoid the sweep.

[Compass Rosy]

Felix's change up is ... other-worldly.

He (amazingly!) got SEVEN runs of support to stop the losing streak at SEVEN.
And, lookie here ... M's with EIGHT walks!

Ackley is 2/6 with 2 walks since being anointed the lead-off hitter (Figgins has been relegated to the pine) but, 't is the "other Tar Heel" that's havin' a month so far in May... 7/19 with a double, 3 homers, 5 runs and 9 RBI

Nice to see Ichi starting to come through with the XBH - 2 doubles and a triple in his last 5 games.

Jesus caught Felix for the second time ... he's certainly not the disaster behind the dish that many predicted.

[derekson]

Montero isn't a disaster? He's got 3 wild pitches, 3 passed balls, and 6 SB with 1 CS in only 82 innings behind the plate. That seems pretty disastrous.

[dynomite]

Montero isn't a disaster? He's got 3 wild pitches, 3 passed balls, and 6 SB with 1 CS in only 82 innings behind the plate. That seems pretty disastrous.

I think you're being a bit hard on the guy.

First of all, unless Jesus threw those wild pitches, they are definitionally not his fault.

Second of all:

Catcher A: 0.55 passed balls/9 innings, 17% caught stealing
Catcher B: 0.40 passed balls/9 innings, 14% caught stealing

A is Salty, B is Montero.

Now Salty is by no means a good defensive catcher, but to call Montero a "disaster" because of those stats isn't accurate.

Edited by dynomite, 07 May 2012 - 01:21 AM.

[derekson]

Salty's defense has been a disaster this year too.

And of course a catcher has an influence on wild pitches. Wild pitch or passed ball is purely a subjective distinction on the part of the official scorer.

Edited by derekson, 07 May 2012 - 01:51 AM.

[Compass Rosy]

Montero isn't a disaster? He's got 3 wild pitches, 3 passed balls, and 6 SB with 1 CS in only 82 innings behind the plate. That seems pretty disastrous.

Not disastrous at all.
'specially for a rookie who's learning new pitchers and who's gotta catch Felix. I don't remember any of his "learnings" costing the M's any runs (unlike Avila's tonight) but his bat sure has given them some. Montero had a CERA of 3.29 going into tonight's game and did a good job having to adjust to Iwakuma after Beavan got hit in the elbow (in fact, he did a better job adjusting than the Tigers' hitters did )

Something tells me, all things considered, he's going to be just fine

Edited by Compass Rosy, 08 May 2012 - 01:19 AM.

[Freddy Linn]

Salty's defense has been a disaster this year too.

And of course a catcher has an influence on wild pitches. Wild pitch or passed ball is purely a subjective distinction on the part of the official scorer.

Russell Martin is considered a good defensive catcher. He has caught twice as many innings as Montero and "given up" 5x as many wild pitches.

Kelly Shoppach, considered a good defensive catcher, has extraordinarily similar stats to Montero - passed balls, wild pitches - in about the same number of innings. Has anyone thought his defense has been disastrous thus far?

[Compass Rosy]

M's score a total of NINE runs in a 4-game series with the Halos and get SWEPT, at home

Then, they score THIRTY-ONE runs in 2 games in Arlington (to even the season series with the Rangers at 5-5)

if only the M's could play all their games in Arlington, Colorado and Detroit ...

[Royal Reader]

So, so far, so predictable for the Mariners in '12. Despite the fourth-best pitching numbers in the AL, and surprisingly a not-entirely horrible number of offensive runs (scored 310, allowed 335, putting them three games below their pythagorean expectation) Seattle is 14.5 GB and completely out of contention by the end of June. Justin Smoak, so bright a prospect when he was the linchpin of the Cliff Lee trade, looks like he is doomed to be a total bust. Felix is good but not FELIX! The best OBP on the team is .326. Six of nine starters are OPSing below .700, and a 7th barely scrapes above it. Safeco may be death to hitters but that might require said hitter to have an offensive pulse to start with.

Basically, the run totals suggest they should be moderately better, but the raw offensive numbers suggest they've been pretty lucky to score the number of runs they have given the underlying offensive talent level. 3B Kyle Seager and CF Michael Saunders seem like solid or better players, but beyond that, there's little to even give optimism for the future.

[Compass Rosy]

Road Warriors and Home Hags...

M’s team OPS
HOME .581
AWAY .730

On the road, the M's are actually above average...
Posting at least a top 5 ranking in most offensive categories (with the exception of OBP). Granted, their rank in some of the counting stats is due, in part, to the fact that they've played more road games than anyone, but, the improvement is vast. For example, they have hit 51 home runs on the road so far this season (third in the AL) and they hit 52 road homers the entire 2011 season.

Here are a couple of the individual extremes...

Saunders OPS
HOME .529
AWAY .885

Seager OPS
HOME .570
AWAY .914

So, where am I going to be tonight?
Watching Felix from King's Court at Safeco Field?
Nope.
I'll be 30 miles south at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma watching a once in a blue moon pitching matchup: the M's 2011 first round draft pick, Danny Hultzen (making his home AAA debut) vs none other than exAncient Mariner.... Jamie Moyer

[Compass Rosy]

Clearly, I made a poor decision tonight.
The “once in a blue moon” match up was a bit ho-hum…
The game at Safeco Field, anything but.

[Royal Reader]

It was sure nice of Felix to resume being FELIX! when the Sox were in town.

[Compass Rosy]

Wow - Cook is probably thinking, "Let's play two!"

Talk about efficient.

[Compass Rosy]

Seems Felix is getting more efficient as the season wears on...
It only took him 107 pitches to dispatch the Rangers (as compared to the 128 vs. the RS)
and, he recorded 12 strikeouts - all swinging.

Not too shabby.
(oh, and miracle of miracles, he got run support ... at home!)

[Royal Reader]

So, the tenure of the best Seattle position player since Griffey ends with a whimper. Hard to begrudge the guy getting his shot at the postseason, although, y'know, MFY.

[jon abbey]

Justin Smoak sent down to AAA.

[Royal Reader]

Justin Smoak sent down to AAA.

About time. One of the most disappointing MLB hitting prospects since Andy Marte.

[Compass Rosy]

Iwakuma struck out 13 Blue Jays which sets the Mariners record for strikeouts by a rookie pitcher (surpassing the likes of Randy Johnson, Mark Langston and Freddy Garcia - who each struck out 12 at least once in their respective rookie seasons)

Not bad, especially considering the Jays have scored the most runs in the majors.
AND, Iwakuma had flown to Japan and back between this and his last start to be with his ailing father.

Way to go, KKKKKKKKKKKKKuma!

Meanwhile...
Snider was pulled from the outfield during the game, having been traded to the Pirates.

After the game...
M's announce they acquired another Jays OF'er (currently in AAA), Eric Thames for reliever Steve Delabar.
And, Brandon League is headed to LA for Dodgers prospects RHP Logan Bawcom & IF Leon Landry.

More to come??

[terrisus]

I had been at Felix Hernandez' game at the beginning of the 2007 season at Boston, when he took a no-hitter into the 9th before having it broken up.
While on one hand I was glad when it was broken up since I love the Red Sox and didn't want to see them get no-hit, at the same time Hernandez was great that game, and I knew he was going to be something special to watch going forward.

Was very exciting for him to get his perfect game today.

[Compass Rosy]

I was T H I S close to going to the game last Wednesday (although I may have suffered a heart attack had I actually been there - I was afraid to breathe just following AtBat from work!)

Anyhow, wouldn't have missed this for the world...
http://tinyurl.com/d55x4we

[QuinielaBox]

Mariners as of this writing are 1.5 games ahead of the R-- --x, going 9-1 in their last 10 games. All four AL West teams could finish above .500 this year. I knew it would be a matter of time before this team matures.

I expect the Mariners to thoroughly embarrass the R-- --x the first week in September.

Lets see what they can do in Chicago this weekend. It ought to be better than KC @ BOS this weekend. My guess is that 15000 will show up at Fenway vs 50000 in Chicago.

[Compass Rosy]

I guess the bullpen was due to give up a couple. During the 8-game win streak, the pen had only given up two runs (and that was last Friday). For the most part, Tom has been great since taking over as closer but, even experienced closers (which he is not) blow one now and then.

So, my disappointment in the late loss is actually over-shadowed by my encouragement in the late comeback. Even in a loss, this young team is learning how to win.

It’s a process.