Game 32, Mariners at Yankees
RHP Meche v LHP Randy Freaking Johnson. 4:05 our time, FSN.
The Mariners have been bad against lefties. Randy Johnson is left-handed. He’s also really, really good.
Also, Ichiro’s been in a bit of a funk lately.
So question of the day: since it looks like only injury will ever get Beltre/Boone/Ibanez/Ichiro/Winn out of the lineup, who do you think gets injured out of those five? It’s an interesting exposure v. fragility thing — I’d pick Ibanez if he was playing left all the time, but as a DH? I’m going to go with Boone. I think he’ll get caught napping at second and take ground ball off his leg and miss a couple games with a nasty thigh bruise.
Updated Future Forty
A few days later than I had hoped, but the Future Forty has been updated for the month of May. I’ve made a few minor template adjustments to help the overall look of the page.
Not too many drastic changes on the player evaluation side. In general, one month of competition isn’t going to change many opinions, especially when a player has several years of established track record. Some of the notable changes include the removal of Rett Johnson (released), Jesus Guzman (steroids), and Hunter Brown (exposed against Triple-A pitching), plus the addition of TJ Bohn to the list. I’ve dropped two more players than I’ve added, getting the list back down to 40 players instead of the 42 I had during the last update.
I’ve adjusted several of the risk/reward ratings as well, but none drastically. Asdrubal Cabrera and Matt Tuiasasopo each got their risk rating lowered by a point as they’re both pounding Midwest League pitching, while Yuniesky Betancourt went the wrong way in the reward category as he’s been completely overmatched at the plate in the Texas League.
And, as always, this is a great thread for random minor league questions, and I’ll try to answer as many as humanly possible.
#504
It’s been nearly 16 years in the making. And I can’t help feeling just a little inadequate in making this confession as a contributor to this little corner of the interweb-thingy. But here goes anyway.
I witnessed tonight my first live and in-person Junior Griffey home run.
There I said it.
I was there. He led off the 4th. Blast to right-center. No doubt about it. He tied Eddie Murray for 19th on the all-time list.
He also robbed Milton Bradley in the top of that same inning. Back against the “404” sign in dead center, glove just over the wall. He seemed most surprised to find the ball in his glove.
Ex-Mariners on the night:
Junior Griffey – 1-for-3, solo homer, Weaver beaned him his next time up
Rich Aurilia – 0-for-3, two strikeouts, flung his helmet and bat nearly as far as Griffey’s moonshot when he struckout with the bases loaded to end the 6th and the Reds down 5-2
Giovanni Carrera – 1 IP, 2 K (including Griffey) and 1 run on back-to-back hits to Dunn and Randa
Games 30, 31, Mariners at Red Sox
Early start for the first game of this split double-header.
Game 1: RHP Pineiro v RHP Jeremi Gonzalez. 9am, FSN
Game 2: RHP Franklin v RHP Wade Miller. 2pm, KSTW-11
Continuing stories: Boone still is shy of 1,000 RBI. 5 Mariners have played in every game.
From the MLB.com preview:
“That tells me that we have guys trying too hard. That’s the thing we have been telling them, to relax and be who you are. The key is to be patient and have it happen, sooner rather than later.” — Mariners manager Mike Hargrove on his hitters having two walks over a 24-inning stretch
Ichiro has two more intentional walks than Beltre has walks.
Ichiro also has two more unintentional walks than Beltre has walks.
Reese, Wilson news
Reese went in for his second opinion with Dr. James Andrews and ended up having surgery. 4-8 weeks is the word.
Wilson’s scheduled to go under the knife on the 20th for his ACL. And then… I guess we’ll see. If he’s back this season it’d be good.
Game 29, Mariners at Red Sox
LHP Moyer v RHP Clement , 4:05 on FSN.
This is going to be a reaaaaal interesting couple of weeks for this team. Can Don Baylor get Beltre to lay off that pitch? Will the Mariners be the tonic the Yankees need, or will the boys in blue take advantage of New York’s woes to rebound? Or, for even more interesting flavor, will the both offenses feast? Will Jeff Nelson get in trouble in Fenway again, and will he come home from NY or be traded to the Yankees while we’re there?
Also, if you have the chance, again I highly recommend heading down to Tacoma to go see King Felix pitch at 6:05 (as detailed in this fine post). See him and Doyle and a host of others (but not Leone, who I hear is injured again).
Week #5 in Review
Happy Seis de Mayo!
Vital Signs
As of today the Mariners are 12-16, sitting in last place of the AL West and five games back of the first-place Angels. They’ve scored 114 runs (3rd in the division and 11th in the league). Stop me if you’ve heard this before. They’ve hit 17 home runs (last in both division and league, 2 fewer than the A’s and more than half less than the Orioles’ 40). They have drawn 86 walks (3rd in division; 7th in league, and just as close to last as to 4th in league). Their EqA is .243 (11th in league, and just .002 better than last place Kansas City). But as Dave brought up earlier this week, the Mariners have faced the stiffest pitching of any team in the league over the first four weeks.
Defensivley, the Mariners have allowed 119 runs (2nd in division; 5th in AL). The gloves are gobbling 72.5% of balls in play into outs (2nd in AL). That’s just outstanding.
And again, their record accurately reflects their offensive and defensive contributions.
Not a good week in Marinerland. Not at all. The M’s have hit (no pun intended) a five-game losing skid versus division-mates Oakland and Anaheim. The culprit? How about the offense that slapped .237/.296/.333, had just 12 extra-base hits in 208 at bats and scored 15 runs over 6 games. They haven’t scored any more than 5 runs in a game since Tuesday April 26. And while the case has been made for quality of pitching the Mariners have faced, the five pitchers notching “wins” against the M’s this week include Keiichi Yabu, the pitcher formerly known as Barry Zito, Jarrod Washburn, John Lackey and Paul Byrd.
Heroes
Hmmm… uh… eeny, meeny, miney… Randy Winn? He went 11-for-20 (.550/.640/.700) with 3 doubles and 5 walks. He was the only regular to reach base more than a third of the time. He also contributed a stolen base.
Then there’s the bullpen corps of Jeff Nelson, Shigs Hasegawa, Julio Mateo and Matt Thornton. They combined for 11.1 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits, walking 4 and striking out 5.
Not-so-much Heroes
While Winn made only 9 outs for the week, Adrian Beltre made 23, swinging 4-for-27 (.148/.148/.185). Then there’s Miguel Olivo who went hitless in 14 plate appearances, striking in almost half of those.
Following his strongest start of the season, Jamie Moyer was beaten and bruised an Oakland offense that’s struggled to score runs this season. He couldn’t finished the fourth inning and surrendered 10 hits leading to 5 runs. His ERA jumped a full run. The law of averages catches everyone.
Coming to a Stadium Near You
Next up are visits to Fenway and the Bronx. It’s less menacing than it sounds. Pedro Martinez no longer wears red socks. Boston sends Matt Clement, Jeremi Gonzalez and Wade Miller in his 2005 debut. Boston’s offense is third in the league in runs scored, just 3 behind league-leading Texas. Meanwhile, their pitching is middle of the pack.
It just might be that the cure for this anemic offense is a trip to the Big Apple. Only the Devil Rays have surrendered more runs than the Yankees’ pitchers. However, the matchup to watch will be Monday, as Randy Johnson takes the mound. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m thinking this is the Big Unit’s first start against the Mariners. Then again, the Yankees’ offense is every bit as potent as Boston’s.
Unfortuantely, due to time constraints and the fact I’m week away from finals, that’s all I got today.
Go see Felix Friday
Friday the Tacoma Rainiers host the Salt Lake Somethings at 6:05. The Mariners are out of town, why not go see the future of the team?
Two reasons to go to that particular game:
- King Felix starts
- Fireworks night
If I didn’t have to hang around here until it’ll be impossible to get through traffic and make it to Cheney, I’d go.
As always, if you can’t go, I encourage you to listen to Mike Curto do another fine broadcasting job via the Internet or on Fox Sports Radio 850 AM.
Kids’ Baseball Books For Mom’s Day
A college fiction professor of mine was fond of saying that there are really only two stories: someone takes a journey, or a stranger comes to town.
This may explain why I love children’s books. Writing for a younger audience forces authors to strip down narratives to the few essential themes that resonate with all people: be kind to others. Don’t judge on appearances. Always try to learn, try to never hold grudges. Adding to the emotional poignance of these teachings is the fact that we adults seemingly can’t keep them straight ourselves.
When I was working at a local public library, I’d hide and read the kids’ books I was supposed to be shelving. That’s how much a mark I am for the genre. Books aiming at the diaper demographic won’t replace Mody Dick, but quality is quality in my eyes.
Earlier this week, the Wisconsin State Journal listed favorite baseball books for kids. Since Mother’s Day is this weekend, maybe the list will give you an idea for the mom in your life who loves the national pastime, wide-eyed poppets, reading to said youngsters or all of the above.
Two books that I recommend — and just bought for my nieces — have the advantage of regional ties. “Baseball Saved Us” is by Ken Mochizuki, who was raised in Seattle, and you can probably guess what makes “Dear Ichiro” by Jean Davies Okimoto of local interest.
At the same reading level, 4-8 years, are the Journal’s picks: “Luke Goes to Bat” by Rachel Isadora and “Mudball” by Matt Tavares. For a bit older kids, there’s “Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” by Jonah Winter (5-10) and “Out Standing in My Field” by Patrick Jennings (8-12). Haven’t read any of these, but wanted to link to them: descriptions are available at the first link.
In Babe Ruth’s farewell to baseball speech, he said this: “You know this baseball game of ours comes up from the youth … [y]ou’ve gotta start from way down [at] the bottom, when you’re six or seven years of age. You can’t wait until you’re fifteen or sixteen. You gotta let it grow up with you.”
It’s the same with reading. Considering how much time I spend devouring things that begin with “http,” I figure anything we can do to bring up the next generation as readers is solid. Buy a baseball book for a mom and kid pair that you care about.
Wilson down, Wiki up
Dan Wilson tore the ACL in his right knee and will be placed on the 60-day DL. Wiki Gonzalez, so-called “Laziest Man in Baseball” will be called up to take his roster spot. No estimates on how long Wilson might be out (months? the season?) yet, we’ll know more as he goes out and sees doctors, etc.
Wiki’s MLB line: .238/.312/.361
In Tacoma, 2004: .308/.333/.692 (in a few games before he went down with injury for the year)
This year: .271/.328/.441 (btw, Leone — .270/.410/.492, Doyle .446/.515/.732)(!!)
His PECOTA weighted mean forecast was .234/.310/.378
Wiki also becomes the answer to my ongoing “which Mariner on the current 25-man roster last pitched in a game that counted in the standings” as he pitched a scoreless inning for San Diego in 2003.
So what’s this mean for the team?
Not a lot. Having a backup catcher who can’t hit and doesn’t play a lot of defense isn’t much different than what we have now, as painful as that is to type, it’s only a matter of degree. I’d much rather have Wilson than Wiki as a backup, but Hargrove’s been running a 2:1 Olivo:Wilson ratio. So figure over two months, Wiki gets into twenty games (and probably less) — the drop off between the two is not going to make much of an impact.