Comments on: Friday Mariner fun

By: Typical Idiot Fan

Typical Idiot Fan — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 13:53:58 +0000

Unrelated to Friday news, but since we don’t have a Saturday news thingy yet, I just wanted to share an observation and figure out if there’s any way we can quantify this stuff.

Matt Thornton sucked in his first inning against the D’backs on Saturday, but did very well in his next two innings. According to Thornton:

“I’ve always been a four-seam fastball guy,” he said. “After that first inning, [pitching coach Rafael Chaves] told me to go with two-seamers [sinkers] and my changeup. It helped me keep the ball down. Every one of the pitches they hit for [RBI] singles in the first was up.”

Source: Seattle Times

What I want to know is if there is a way we can keep track of when pitchers are throwing more 2-seamers and seeing if they’re actually having an effect. I know the sample sizes are small, but we don’t have a lot else to work with. I’d like to know how many groundballs that each Mariner pitcher is getting that has changed to the primarily 2-seam fastball.

By: msb

msb — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:28:02 +0000

#23–Man, Hargrove just sounds like a complete and total idiot whenever he is quoted in the paper. We need to throw strikes? Really, Captain Fantastic? ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s like heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s just a magic eight-ball with baseball cliches instead of answers to yes/no questions.

you are expecting to get deathless prose from a baseball man during spring training?

howsabout something more like this?

“Now we’ve got to continue to throw strikes, keep the ball around the strike zone,” Piniella said. “We’re not a big strikeout pitching staff so we’ve got to get the other team to hit the ball. Defense is going to be one of our strengths. Sometimes guys try to get too perfect, the main thing is to just stay out of power zone and let our guys go and get it.”

or my favorite, the classic (and here I quote Joe Torre, from among many hundreds) “We just need to score more runs”

By: davepaisley

davepaisley — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 07:02:57 +0000

So nobody’s mentioning Beltre’s 2.0+ OPS? (SST, of course, but hey, it’s better than some whole months he had last year.)

Maybe we should rename the team the Dominican Republic Mariners.

By: terry

terry — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 03:50:02 +0000

Alternatively, the Mariners could simply hold their opponents to at least one fewer run than the M’s score…

By: Dave in Palo Alto

Dave in Palo Alto — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 03:27:18 +0000

And don’t forget to score four runs.

By: Steve Nelson

Steve Nelson — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 02:42:24 +0000

#24: I think what the MÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s really need to do is score at least one more run than their opponent day in and day out.

Sounds like a Fairlyism. “What the Mariners need to do is to start scoring more runs than the other team. Most of the time a team wins if it scores more runs.”

By: juustabitoutside

juustabitoutside — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 01:57:13 +0000

What about the night games?

By: terry

terry — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 01:37:26 +0000

I think what the M’s really need to do is score at least one more run than their opponent day in and day out.

By: Smegmalicious

Smegmalicious — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:07:31 +0000

Man, Hargrove just sounds like a complete and total idiot whenever he is quoted in the paper. We need to throw strikes? Really, Captain Fantastic? It’s like he’s just a magic eight-ball with baseball cliches instead of answers to yes/no questions.

What a total buffoon. I don’t think this guy could manage his personal bathroom schedule let alone a baseball team. I wanted to give him a chance, let him show me that he’s not a complete bag of douche, but he really seems determined to be a crappy manager.

Why can’t we get someone competent here? It’s not like we don’t have the money?

By: Joe C. in Buffalo

Joe C. in Buffalo — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 23:34:25 +0000

Oh, nevermind Evan. I get it now — runs scored and against the teams that are all tied. Forget I said anything.