Gillick’s got a gem in the Seattle Times today: “”We’ve been as thorough as ever in scouting and reporting on the kids available. Our thought is to get a position player, but if we can’t get one we like, then we’ll take a pitcher.”
As opposed to, what…. “Since we don’t have a pick until #37, we decided to just goof off and play quarters here in the office, and maybe we’ll read through Baseball America the day before. We want to draft a position player, but if there aren’t any on the board, I thought maybe we’d draft a mime, or a dog that can field foul balls.”
Another turn through the rotation, it’s time for
Derek’s Rate Stats of Doom
Pitcher Batters h% hr% bb% k%
Moyer 285 21.4% 2.8% 9.1% 18.2%
Garcia 284 22.2% 4.2% 9.2% 13.4%
Pineiro 283 22.6% 2.1% 10.2% 13.8%
Franklin 271 22.9% 4.1% 7.4% 10.0%
Meche 266 21.8% 3.4% 6.4% 19.2%
Carrara 128 28.9% 3.9% 9.4% 7.8%
Hasegawa 113 18.6% 0.9% 5.3% 13.3%
Mateo 111 22.5% 6.3% 7.2% 18.9%
Rhodes 94 17.0% 0.0% 7.4% 20.2%
Nelson 81 21.0% 2.5% 12.3% 24.7%
Sasaki 72 23.6% 1.4% 6.9% 23.6%
Apx AL Rates 23.3% 2.8% 8.2% 15.9%
Leaders, good sense: H Rhodes, HR Rhodes, BB Hasegawa, K Nelson
Leaders, bad sense: H Carrara (but that’s luck, right?), HR Mateo, BB Nelson, K Carrara
So Carrara’s been putting a ton of guys on, not striking any out, and to pile it on, batters have been hitting them where they ain’t far more than you’d expect. In what way is Garcia like Franklin? Hit rates about the same, HR rates about the same, Garica walks more guys, strikes out more guys, but not by huge margins. Meche’s 3-HR start makes him look particularly bad, but check the dude out: low walks, high Ks… sweet.
Today’s Prospectus Triple Play (free!) over at Baseball Prospectus features Truly Terrible Freddy, Pineiro’s struggles, some harsh words about Bloomquist’s suckiness, and the continuing hose-work of Carrara. Ah, the joy of wearing multiple hats.
I’m wearing my Chris Snelling jersey today (which I believe is the only one in Seattle)(please do not email us to dispel this hope), so it’s time to check in on our (my) favorite Mariner prospect. He’s hitting .280/.333/.373 with only 4 doubles and 1 HR. 3 walks, 13 K. He’s been hit by pitches (4 times) more than he’s walked. And if you’re hoping he’s been terrorizing the basepaths… nope. 0 SB, 1 CS (and if I remember, that was first thing when he came back, too). I’m concerned, but considering he’s coming back (and pretty fast) from ACL replacement, I’m going to wait and hope to see some continued improvement as the season goes on.
Minor League Highlights for Thursday, May 29
Tacoma 5, Fresno 3. The Rainiers took an early 3-0 lead after one, then held on for the victory behind RHP Brian Sweeney (7 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K), who moved to 5-4 with the win. Three Tacoma hitters — DH Chad Meyers, LF Jalal Leach and 1B Craig Kuzmic — had three hits each, including homers for both Leach and Kuzmic. Meyers added his 15th steal of the season, and RHP Aaron Taylor (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) picked up his 11th save. LHP Troy Cate, up from the Inland Empire 66ers, is scheduled to make an unexplained spot start tonight.
El Paso 4, San Antonio 3. LHP Matt Thornton (6 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) pitched well once again since his return from surgery and left the game with a 3-1 lead, but RHP Chris Wright — the man Thornton replaced in the starting rotation — was unable to hold the lead (2 1/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). From a purely developmental standpoint, however, the M’s have to be quite pleased with Thornton’s progress so far. Offensively, SS Jose Lopez and C Jim Horner each had a pair of hits, and 3B Justin Leone hit his 9th homer of the year. Leone also drew a walk, and his now hitting a robust .333/.446/.624 on the year. Looking over your shoulder yet, Mr. Cirillo?
Inland Empire 6, Lake Elsinore 2. Is it just me, or do these two teams face off more than “Tastes Great” vs. “Less Filling”? In any event, the 66ers corner outfielders led the way in this one, as LF Greg Jacobs and RF Shin-soo Choo each had three hits. Jacobs had two doubles and scored twice, while Choo homered, scored two runs and drove in two more. 3B Hunter Brown also added a solo homer in support of RHP Enmanual Ulloa (6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), who picked up his first win as a member of the 66ers. Inland Empire pitching held Lake Elsinore’s hitters to just four hits and one walk in the game to go along with 10 Ks.
Wisconsin 9, Fort Wayne 4. The Timber Rattlers jumped on Fort Wayne early, taking a 7-2 lead after three innings and adding two more runs in the 5th. RF T.J. Bohn got things started with a two-run double in the first, his 15th of the year, and Wisconsin never looked back. Of the club’s nine hits, five went for extra bases (four doubles and a triple) The nine runs were more than enough for RHP Juan Sandoval (7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), who has run his record to 3-4 after starting the year 0-4.
Rob Neyer decided to write a column about the Mariners yesterday. With all due respect to Rob, its pretty clear he hasn’t paid a whole heck of a lot of attention to the M’s through the first two months of the year.
His commentary on the pitching staff is something of a joke. His line about Garcia being almost as good as Franklin is only true if you believe strikeout rate is the only way to evaluate a pitcher.
Among my other favorites, he cites that Edgar Martinez is no Barry Bonds. Bonds is hitting .299/.497/.642 overall. Martinez is hitting .353/.451/.729 on the road, where Safeco can do him no harm. Bonds hits far better at Pac Bell (in that, he’s rare), and isn’t seeing his numbers deflated by his home park. So actually Rob, it is like he’s Barry Bonds.
He also continues to rip on Jeff Cirillo, suggesting the M’s treat him as a sunk cost (and presumably, that would mean release him).
Jeff Cirillo:
Home: .197/.240/.254
Road: .286/.392/.381
April: .171/.275/.253
May: .313/.362/.391
Like nearly every other right-handed hitter in the game, Cirillo is no match for the powers of Safeco Field. On the road, he’s actually pretty good. You know how many American League third baseman sport a higher OPS than Cirillo’s .773 road mark? 5. That includes Eric Chavez (.775), Shea Hillenbrand (.778), and Corey Koskie (.787), where the difference is so small that its not even worth mentioning.
Forget being a sunk cost. If his rebound with the bat in May is any indication (and his splits suggest it is), Cirillo’s a league average 3rd baseman again. Add in his ridiculously good defense at the hot corner, and he’s an asset to the club and one of the reasons they’re winning ballgames.