Game 88, Tigers at Mariners
DMZ · July 6, 2008 at 12:53 pm · Filed Under Game Threads
Robertson v Rowland-Smith. 1:10 our time.
Go team wooooo!
No pre-game chemistry report…. again. Sigh.
Lineups yayyyy
RF-L Ichiro
2B-R Lopez
LF-L Ibanez
3B-R Beltre
DH-R Sexson (okay, replacing Turbo with MegaTurbo, I get it)
1B-0 Cairo (wait, what?)
C-R Johjima
CF-R Bloomquist
SS-R Betancourt
Wow. I uh… if that’s who you’re going to play, that’s a reasonable lineup. And yet…
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Goooo M’s!! We can take 3/4 from Tigers! Considering how good they were expected to be that’s pretty awesome. I still think this team can get back to .500 for the season. I won’t bring up the McLaren/Riggleman splits, because it’s still too early.
I should add as a disclamer: I think we can get back to .500 if the team isn’t dismantled (ie Bedard, Ibanez being traded). I don’t think it should be done as it would imply we’re not looking at being competitive next season. And I think Bedard especially, but also Ibanez can be productive next year. Sure his average/HR’s are slightly down, but overall he’s a very useful DH. BTW, this site always used to whine about Ibanez’s vs. LHP/RHP splits, but that seems to be a thing of the past. Any comments?
Yes.
Is Bloomquist a disclamer?
Also, “whine” is not a good way to ask that question.
So Bedard is going to miss yet another scheduled start, this time due to shoulder tightness. This might go down as a trade that’s even worse than what we gave up for Heathcliff Slocumb…..
Willie Watch:
084 – Consecutive games without an XBH
159 – Consecutive at bats without an XBH
182 – Consecutive PAs without an XBH
090 – 2008 season ABs with no XBH
106 – 2008 season PAs with no XBH
Unofficial records:
100 – Consecutive games without an XBH – Greg Gross
223 – Consecutive at bats without an XBH – Jose Valdivielso
266 – Consecutive PAs without an XBH – Larry Lintz
124 – Full season ABs with no XBH – Dwain Anderson
144 – Full season PAs with no XBH – Dwain Anderson
DMZ- You are probably correct that “whine” will be taken offensively, and thereby used to not answer the question. However, I feel it is a fair assessment, considering in the past it’s been discussed whether he should be platooned for when a lefty is pitching.
how fast can rrs pitch?
many many pitches
3- Yep. So far it looks like we got skrewed on the Bedard trade.
Good thing we got Willie out there so he can keep on going for the record.
The more I see them, the more I dislike the star spangled caps.
So discussing whether a player should be platooned against lefties = whining.
Bedard was a bad trade, but the only thing that’ll make it worse is giving him up. If we traded him now we wouldn’t get anything comparable to what we gave up. We might as well hold on to him, which 1. gives us good pitcher (one that we might decide is worth signing long-term), and 2. gives him the opportunity to increase his trade value, if he is indeed to be traded.
RRS going today will be a perfect demonstration to our FO that even unproven guys can contribute, and that we don’t need to spend $8 or $12 mil on proven veterans (Batista, Washburn, Silva).
Sexon-Cairo-Johjima-Bloomquist. Yikes. When that part of the lineup rolls around, can we just forfeit the inning and stay in the field?
I understand the day-game-after-a-night-game thing, but too bad for Clement. Great game, kid, you’re figuring out this major-league thing. Now sit down!
Aargh — Sexson. sorry, sorry, sorry.
Considering the Tigers have a lefty on the hill, I don’t know what you should differently lineup-wise. Vidro instead of Cairo is probably a wash. Ibanez should probably not bat third.
Looking at the gameday photos, we seem to have the matchup of lefties wearing weird glasses while pitching.
#15: Oddly, that very “Look-alike Matchup” observation was made in a Red Sox game thread at Sons Of Sam Horn back on Friday.
Hincandenza, that’s funny. They should just trade their glasses between innings. BTW, what pitchcount is RRS on today. He’s at 45 after two innings already.
I’d imagine that he’s probably going to max out at 80 – 85, or until he falls apart, whichever comes first
Using the word “discussing” was my way of trying to be unoffensive. I’ve been reading this blog for quite a while, and it was a recurring theme last year. And actually it really wasn’t a discussion at that point, it was more a fact.
Over his 12-year career Ibanez hits lefties significantly worse than he does righties.
20… that’s not saying a lot.
WFB singles!
and Yuni jacks it up on the base paths again…..
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
< ahref=”http://www.starmagic.com/catalog/2440849P.JPG”?clubhouse report.
so, do they lead the league in pickles?
lets just hope they can score some more
well, crap.
Ibanez’s OPS is .130 pts higher vs. righty over his career. That is significant.
Swungon–
And his real mistake there was completely stopping between 2nd and 3rd when the throw went home. He refused to make a split-second decision to either go back or head home. Pudge had an extra second to get him hung up. Meanwhile, Perlozzo drives me nuts. He should be directing Yuni once he rounds first. If the Mariners suck at baserunning, I blame a significant chunk of it on coaching.
Not to absolve Yuni. That was dumb.
msb–
Wouldn’t shock me. Does any site keep track of run-downs?
Now we’re whining about Ibanez’s platoon splits.
And actually it really wasn’t a discussion at that point, it was more a fact.
You mean Ibanez being much less effective against lefties? Yeah, that’s a fact.
Does the day-after-a-night-game thing make him inelligible to DH too? I’d think a young guy who’s been struggling, but hit two homers yesterday earned a start today. I certainly hope the pitcher being a lefty had nothing to do with this selection. Anybody who’s looked at Jeff’s numbers knows he hits lefties just fine.
Just for fun, Ibanez’s career platoon splits:
vs. RHP: .292/.354/.493 = .848 OPS
vs. LHP: .264/.317/.399 = .717 OPS
And I thought this was a fun stat:
IBB vs. RHP: 53
IBB vs. LHP: 0
Ichiro never hustles
This season so far Ibanez’s OPS is actually .038 pts worse vs. righty, primarily because of OBP. But less than 400 PA is a pretty small sample size, especially up against his career. I guess it could be because of some adjustment though too.
Kenji!
Nice throw. With his home/road splits it’s a wonder we don’t DH Clement or convert him to 1B over Sexson. Did we overpay for his three-year extension? Probably. But I don’t think we should dump him yet.
29: I agree completely, however Yuni seems to have a higher percentage of base running mistakes, ill advised bunt attempts, etc. At some point the player has to listen to the coaches, if the coaching were that bad I’d expect to see similar errors being made by other players at the rate that Yuni is making them. I think that part of Yuni’s issue is that he’s trying to hotdog it, and the M’s are getting run out of legit scoring opportunities in the process.
But less than 400 PA is a pretty small sample size, especially up against his career.
Totally, jzalman. And really, you’re talking about less than 100 PAs (his total against lefties). I assumed this discussion was settled here. There’s nothing shameful about being platooned. I’d like to have Raul’s bat out there at DH vs. righties.
Swungon (37)–
Do you really think Yuni bunted against coaching wishes a few weeks ago on that 3-2 count on (white) Adrian Beltre bobblehead night? I didn’t read any papers the next day; did Mac or Perlozzo say outright that they told Yuni to swing away. If so, I’d agree that Yuni’s a problem on the hotdogging front. I just think he makes bad decisions because of poor guidance.
If you go through his year by year, you’ll find other examples where he’s hit lefties well for a season. It’s not sustainable, though.
predictably, Rizzs had fits at Willie’s catch in the outfield– Sims pointed out that Reed had been pretty effective out there the last few games, and no sooner than Rizzs had annointed it the Defensive Play of The Game, Beltre made his play. Then the Junior Sportscaster came on.
Someone on here gave RRS the nickname of “The Feed” and I still think of that every time I see the guy pitch. Awesome nickname, even better results from the guy considering he isn’t paid a ton of money. THE FEED!!!
Anemic Mariners offense!
I was wondering where my boys had gone over the last two weeks. Feels good being home…
Re: Yuni/coaching baserunning- My wife’s biggest pet peeve is when players look behind themselves when deciding whether to advance or not. That’s what the third base coach is there for. Yes, I think there’s some coaching involved, but mostly I think players take the initiative to advance maybe more than they should. Sure, Ichiro is good. But most players should be watching their coach.
galaxieboi–
I’ll submit to that. But if the coach isn’t gonna chew out said player for their baserunning arrogance (and corresponding mistakes), isn’t the coaching staff being irresponsible? They’re job isn’t just to guide the running on the field; they should be correcting mistakes off the field, too.
Meanwhile, Yuni and similar players making mistakes are still making mistakes. I don’t absolve Yuni of stupid offensive plays or the more frequent irritating defense. There’s plenty of blame to go around. And like most things, they go all the way to the FO who hire these clowns, players and coaches alike.
OMG SIMS JUST TALKED ABOUT SAMPLE SIZE
46… what did he say? “Sample size doesn’t matter”?
Molitor (47)–
“But the sample size is negligible.”
I was busy trying to get Gameday 3-D to work, so I’m not sure what sample size he was referring to. I was just as shocked as DMZ, just busy monopolizing the discussion on baserunning.
And like most things, they go all the way to the FO who hire these clowns, players and coaches alike.
Word. There’s certainly multiple faults in the Mariner’s player development program. ‘Establish the fastball’, rushing players up threw the organization, not promoting plate discipline (and I’m not talking about Silva saying no to seconds), ect., ect.
I hadn’t seen his year by year results, so appreciate that link. However, I will say this:
If players can be nagged on as much as they are for “below the mean” performance, I think they should also be recognized for above the mean performance.
OMG SIMS JUST TALKED ABOUT SAMPLE SIZE
***k. That’s the last sign of the apocalypse.
RRS is done. Not a stellar outing, but good show. Let’s go Lowe.
Question to the crowd stronger in analysis than me:
Why don’t we see more of Lowe? Is there any justification for it? I’ve always thought Lowe was pretty good…
My guess is that with that elbow of his, they’re just being a bit more cautious….
hark:
I don’t think anyone should be expecting a stellar outing from RRS. He’s filling in quite nicely and is leaving the team with a chance to win. That’s a lot more than most of the “starters” have done this season. I’ve been happy watching Dickey and RRS pitch, not expecting anything great, but receiving decent results while giving the offense a chance to do something.
“Future Hall of Famer Ichiro?” Isn’t that being a bit presumptious on Sim’s part at this point?
Why don’t we see more of Lowe? Is there any justification for it? I’ve always thought Lowe was pretty good…
Well, he’s already at 39+ innings. So, he’s seeing time. He’s also still coming back from a pretty serious injury. I think the M’s are still trying to figure out if he’s the STUD he looked like back before he got hurt.
Apparently Bedard’s shoulder is acting up. Bad news bears. Having his start pushed back, may go on the DL.
If he goes on the DL, the fire sale may have to be stalled until the offseason.
Go Felix-
I agree. Just saying. As Blowers observed the other day, RRS has to work into a starting job. (Wow, Blowers said something mildly informative to the viewing public.) He went 5 today, and that’s good. But he went 5 87 pitches. If he turns out to be a long-term interim starter for Batista (which it seems is the case, though when Felix is back, the job might go to Dickey), we’ll stretch him out a bit more. I can see the day when he goes 7 innings.
Not saying “not stellar” is bad. He did what we need him to do. “Good show,” as I said.
No.
hark:
I just hope they don’t start to stretch the guy out and he has a few more good outings then the M’s promptly trade him for an arthritic turtle that is an MVP in the Galapagos Island development league.
promptly trade him for an arthritic turtle that is an MVP in the Galapagos Island development league.
Talk about ‘old player’s skills’.
#51
I thought Willie homering was the last sign.
In regards to Ibanez and splits…
For me, it was never that Ibanez was totally useless against lefties… it was that his hitting against lefties was not nearly good enough to offset his horrible defense. So you platoon him.
I think that if he was DH, it probably wouldn’t have been as big a deal.
I thought Willie homering was the last sign.
I stand corrected.
What’s the record for most pitches in a scoreless inning? That was ridiculous.
we don’t DH Clement
Good grief, talk about unlucky. Check out his LD% and his BABIP.
Wow, did Bloomquist and Yuni swing at the first pitches? That was a fast update on fangraphs.
galaxieboi-
Check out the small sample size. Besides, couldn’t be much worse than Vidro.
Check out the small sample size. Besides, couldn’t be much worse than Vidro.
Yeah, I’m pretty aware of the sample size. I’m also aware that Vidro has been on a sliding slope of washed up-ness and that Clement is a young player with a tremendous amount of talent.
Your point stands, however. Still kinda funny, though.
They’re intentionally walking our 3B to get to our DH. Wow.
Given the M’s roster and the available players in the farm system, barring any fortunate trades or acquisitions, my line-up for the second half or next year looks like this:
RF-L Ichiro!
2B-R Lopez
DH-L Ibanez
1B-L Clement
3B-R Beltre
CF-L Reed
LF-R Valentien
C-R Johjima
SS-R Betancourt
I’m willing to mix up the 6-8 spots if Kenji can regress to his proven mean. Other than the obvious risk in converting Clement to first…he couldn’t be that much worse defensively than Sexson.
Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Interesting. Looking at his baseball-reference page, he might already have a pretty good case. His ‘HOF Monitor’ shows him as a virtual lock. His counting stats might end up a little low (for obvious reasons), but he’ll have a hell of a case. Better than Edgar’s probably.
Oh Richie, how I do not like thee.
Wow. The fangraph after Ibanez’s double is depressing. There was a pretty steep climb in the M’s favor, then it plummeted back to common ground.
Way to capitalize, guys.
And by “guys”, I mean you, Richie.
Bah, Richie. Why must you do that?
Richie Vidro! Thanks for the crap hitting. As if Nate Robertson wasn’t already skating along, give him an easy double play. Nice work.
Wow. The fangraph after Ibanez’s double is depressing. There was a pretty steep climb in the M’s favor, then it plummeted back to common ground.
Nice, that’s how I’m ‘watching’ the game.
…Meanwhile, Perlozzo drives me nuts. He should be directing Yuni once he rounds first. If the Mariners suck at baserunning, I blame a significant chunk of it on coaching.
I was at the game last night and lopez hit a gapper to left center with one out in the 7th, trrailing 2-1. I specifically watched Sam P., and he never twitched.
…Lopez stopped at second, BTW.
Corcoran for prez!
G-Man
I was at the game, too. And yes, Perlozzo never twitched (way to earn your paycheck, third base coach!), but Lopez’s stop at 2nd was the right call by him. I think he would’ve been out at third.
I agree that he has a good case, but I also think that unless he has 3-4 more good years and gets past the 2500 hit plateau, the fact that he’s only played in the majors (discounting what he did in Japan) for seven seasons is going to hurt his overall chances. If his career ended today, 7 years and 1700 hits isn’t necessarily going to make him a lock. (giving consideration to ROY, MVP and other awards).
Professional grit.
Swungon-
Two ways to get into the HOF: a sustained, good career or a period of time during which you are the benchmark for your performance, because you are that dominant. Ichiro! has the latter, and including his career in Japan, the former.
Ichiro! redefined what a team looks for in an outfielder. I remember a few years ago I read an opinion piece on Fox Sports that said Ichiro! was no good as a true center fielder because he didn’t have power numbers. 7 Gold Gloves, Rookie of the Year, MVP, Silver Sluggers…he’s an HOF-er.
Batista in for Corcoran.
Um…shit?
hark (82), thanks, I was wondering, because I couldn’t really judge from my angle watching Sam.
Hark is probably right. Ichiro! really has redefined our perception and our expectations for an outfielder. A columnist (Troy E. Renck) here in Denver today (writing of his probably All-Star selection) wrote that ‘he’s not a man, he’s “the Matrix”‘. By the end of this contract Ichiro! is in for sure.
Nice pitch.
So where would you have Jeff C. Pinch hit?
81 pitches for Robertson through 8 – way to worj the count, M’s.
Ichiro on!
Ichiro!
Is there any other player that makes you excited over a single?
90… here?
IBB Raul?
Lopez got away with a bad bunt.
Oops, lefty pitching – my bad.
I was thinking way ahead to the spectre of the fearsome Sexson stepping to the plate.
94 – Ibanez against lefties is pretty bad.
Extra Innings, here we come…
And my laptop is going on the charger, which isn’t in the TV room.
Alas!
Carry on, USSM faithful.
Good thing we have Richie’s bat in the lineup!
The M’s continue to not understand when it is valuable to bunt. In fact, they continue to bunt in what is probably one of the worst bunting situations possible with this lineup.
Richie Swingandamissxon
Boooo!!!!!
A late thought on the lineup situation today:
You wouldn’t notice it by his platoon splits this year (the same way you wouldn’t notice with Ibanez), but Robertson has had pretty extreme platoon splits over his career:
.284/.347/.472 — vs. RHB
.260/.307/.364 — vs. LHB
This may or may not have been Riggleman’s thinking, but Robertson could legitimately be considered to be “tough on lefties,” at least in relation to his performance against righties, and if you were going to sit Reed and Clement in favor of Bloomquist and Johjima, then today would be a reasonable day to do that, especially with it being a day game after a night game.
Whether that was what Riggleman thought or not, it’s a justifiable decision and probably one of those thousands of decisions each year where 90% of managers would do the same thing and it just doesn’t matter that much.
Richey-rally-killer strikes again
Getting Richie to GIDP does not make one an outstanding pitcher, Mr. Sims.
On the other hand Richie did cover the ball on that swing. Had he only squared it, it would have gone a long way.
whoa – he looked safe.
Perhaps Cairo, Burke, and WFB should just close their eyes and see if they can turn around Zumaya’s heat.
Calling it now, walk off homer WFB
I will not make another sarcastic comment for the rest of the season if he ends the streak right here.
I will not make another sarcastic comment for the rest of the season if he ends the streak right here.
Saved!
Somebody can do better than 110.
Ignition via BB.
Nice walk!!! Here comes the BLOOM!!!!
3 steals and he has a homer……sorta….. =)
Has Burke ever played 1st Base?
Looks like Zumaya is healthy, yikes.
Jimenez is getting some nice calls. I love it.
I think others have chimed in well, but it’s worth noting that a) you can’t get into the HoF unless you have 10 years experience, so Ichiro wouldn’t be eligible if he stopped playing today and b) by the time Ichiro does have 10 years of service, he should have something like 2200 hits barring injury or catastrophic dropoff in ability (and he’s right now only a few hits from a total of 3,000 between Japan and the US- the voters won’t dismiss that he didn’t reach the majors until he was 27). He’s probably going to reach 200 hits this year, making 8 straight years to tie the record by Wee Willie Keeler. In his almost 8 years, he’s been a Wade Boggs/Tony Gwynn hitter with far, far better defense; an MVP/ROY his first year and an All-Star/GG every single season he’s played so far. Provided you have the required 10 years of service, an 8-year peak like he’s had is a “lock”.
I think at this point Ichiro is as presumptive a HoF entry as any active player; there’s (sadly) going to be more debate about Barry Bonds going into the Hall than there will be about Ichiro. And his career is hardly over: given his excellent training regimen, he like Rickey Henderson will probably play for about as long as he wants to play- 3,000 hits is hardly out of the question, and if he reaches it his career totals between Japan and the US (4,278) would surpass Rose & Cobb on the all-time list.
In other words, unless he gets hit by a bus, Ichiro could retire after the 2010 season with the batting average, awards and accolades, and counting numbers to ensure a HoF election.
whats the word on riggleball staying in to next season?
I think at this point Ichiro is as presumptive a HoF entry as any active player; there’s (sadly) going to be more debate about Barry Bonds going into the Hall than there will be about Ichiro.
Even just amongst former Mariner position players, I would say that A-Rod is more of a lock (141.3 WARP3 to date compared to Ichiro’s 73.3, plus 2 more MVP awards) and Griffey is also more of a lock than Ichiro. Getting into pitchers, you have Greg Maddux (one of the very best pitchers in the history of the game) and Randy Johnson, just to start the discussion.
I think Ichiro will have a good HOF case when all is said and done, but saying that he’s “as presumtive a HoF entry as any active player” is clearly a wild overstatement.
that was Turboesque thre Richie
Did they demote Clement to Tacoma? Why haven’t they brought him in to pinch hit yet? It’s worth a try.
Well, you’re right that was overstatement. Guys at basically the end of their careers like Griffey, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas are unquestionable first-balloters by every measure.
What I meant more is that while his HoF resume isn’t complete, I would imagine most BBWAA voters already think of Ichiro as a future Hall-of-Famer almost as much as they do players like A-Rod or even Albert Pujols. If A-Rod and Ichiro both lost their arms in freak gardening accident after the 2010 season, I say they both get into the HoF on the first ballot (but A-Rod would probably be as close to 100% as any player has ever been besides Mathewson).
Will the M’s run out of pitchers soon?
Paul B:
WFB is warming up, don’t worry.
Aaaaaaaaaaand the streak’s intact…..
When will Jimenez get a chance to start?
Is it me, or is Joe’s Tracer off-kilter by a few inches? Those strikeout pitches look on-the-black from the CF camera, but are showing as several inches off from JT.
I’m an Ichiro fan, as well, but this just isn’t true:
“In his almost 8 years, he’s been a Wade Boggs/Tony Gwynn hitter with far, far better defense; an MVP/ROY his first year and an All-Star/GG every single season he’s played so far.”
Career:
Tony Gwynn .338 .388 .459 132 OPS+ 5 Gold Gloves in RF
Wade Boggs .328 .415 .443 130 OPS+ 2 Gold Gloves at 3B
Ichiro .331 .378 .432 117 OPS+ 7 Gold Gloves primarily in RF
Gwynn and Boggs were both better hitters over the course of their major league careers. Gwynn made a little more contact, with a little more power and played a comparable right field. Gwynn was always regarded well for his defense until the last few years and the metrics generally agreed. Ichiro has been well regards, but the metrics have not always agreed.
Meanwhile, Boggs was a different type of hitter from both Gwynn and Ichiro, showing far greater selectivity, but was less useful on the basepaths. Boggs was not well regarded on defense when he first came up, but drew a lot of praise for the improvement that ultimately led to 2 Gold Gloves and the metrics generally agreed. Moreover, in light of the position he played, there is an argument to be made that Boggs had greater positional value even with average defense than either Boggs or Gwynn.
That having been said, Ichiro is one of the unique players in baseball history. As a cultural addition to the game, his contribution is substantial and magnifies his accomplishments on the field. I suspect he will be given substantial credit for his Japanese career and, if he can retire with about 2200 hits or more and a career BA over 325, I suspect he will get in, but he does not compare all that favorably to Boggs and Gwynn unless he gets full credit for his Japanese career as if it were here in the states.
128 – I can’t remember the last time Joe’s Tracer was “on” kilter.
He got ‘im, Riggles. You lose. Good day, sir.
Great steal call, there.
This series has definitely shown how to not spend $100 on payroll for major league teams.
Wow. We wasted Jeremy Reed as a pinch runner and Clement hasn’t been used yet while Richie is 0 for 5. What the frack.
There are 3 extra inning games going on right now.
Have no fear, Vidro is still on the bench!
So the Mariners have scored 1 run without Clement in the last, what, more than 23 innings?
Boooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Sexson!!
Good thing the bullpen isn’t taxed……
I would LOVE to see Jamie win it.
Obviously the scorekeeper isn’t fond of USSM’s continuing to point out Cairo’s and Bloomquist’s lack of extra base hits
They scored that a double!
Even if you drop the ball in Safeco, it isn’t an error.
Good thing we still have Clement on the bench. You know, so we can use him in a clutch pinch-hit situation.
Aaaaand… to the 15th.
Sabathia to Milwaukee
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3475667
As soon as I wrote that, they changed it to an E7.
I wanted to see Vidro hit for Cairo.
Now I have to punch myself in the face for saying that.
The extra inning game in really cutting into my errands time. Obviously, the second I walk out the door something interesting will happen. I’ll leave after WFB bata next inning. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for ending his “streaks.”
Jamie is pitching? HUH?
Mystery pitcher alert!
What’s he throwing? Seems to have some movement.
This is way beyond goofy. This is just dumb.
(I think WFB should have pitched).
Riggleman, hitting self in forehead: “Rhodes! I forgot he was still on the team!”
WHY?
That’s too bad they couldn’t get Burke the win
1. Can’t help it, I love Burke. (Though I feel like I’m in one of his daydreams.)
2. He shakes off the catcher??!!
3. How pissed is WFB at not pitching?
Riggleman pretty much threw in the towel for that game.
Uh-oh – did DMZ have to get under the hood and fix USSM again?
Felix’s reaction was pretty funny.
Gameday shows Burke throwing 5 straight changeups to Cabrera. I guess Gameday won’t call a pitch between 80 and 84 a ‘fastball’.
Wow I wonder what Rhodes was thinking out in the pen?
I wonder what Betancourt was thinking swinging at the first pitch after the batter in front of him just got hit.
Weren’t those mostly curves he was throwing?
Sexson + Cairo + Kenji + Willie = 20 plate appearances.
Clement = DNP Manager’s Decision
hmm so it wasn’t an error?? i got the game summary via text message from MLB, it said LP (Burke 0-1), i was like that can’t be right, must’ve been an error or something, ie: he let a passed ball get by and that cost the M’s the game and whoever does the text reports was confused for a minute. Wow, Burke pitching..i need to one watch the mlb.tv archives and see that.
Wow I wonder what Rhodes was thinking out in the pen?
“What the f***, man?”. That’s what.
162… it was interesting. Burke threw a wild pitch that ended up costing him the, er, win.
Was Riggles planning on saving Rhodes until the next game or something?
I know he pitched 6 last night, but isn’t Dickey a rubber arm knuckle baller, or is that just a myth they can throw all day long?
Riggleman said that Rhodes “slept on his arm funny”, and wanted to get into the game if he got up and started throwing. Charlton said that Rhodes didn’t feel right when he started throwing after he got up in the bullpen.
So let’s see. Riggleman is thinking “I need to keep Clement on the bench because Jamie is my emergency pitcher and I need to have Clement ready to catch.” So, please tell me, why not have him pinch hit for Richie in the 14th, where you might win the game? If you put the DH in the field, you have to have your pitcher bat, but is there some rule that would say the position player can’t become the pitcher?
Bread-
i don’t think there is any rule against that. good point.
Why didn’t Riggleman seriously consider Ichiro? It’s many years removed, but when he was playing for Aikodai Meiden HS in Japan he was an OF/P, and not bad.
He’s stated he’s wanted to pitch. Losing the DH doesn’t matter anymore – your pitcher IS a position player at this point if you were putting Burke in. Then your lineup would be:
P Ichiro
2B Lopez
LF Ibanez
3B Beltre
1B Clement/Vidro/Clement (You choose)
RF Cairo
C Burke
CF Bloomquist
SS Betancourt
Who cares now if your P hits?
I would rather have had a pitcher hit than Cairo, for sure.
There were so many things about this game, it’s hard to point to just one mistake. The Mariner pitching was good, and there were a lot of great fielding plays. But, man, the roster is brutal.
Looks like the Indians get Taylor Green, Zach Jackson and Rob Bryson to go along with Matt LaPorta. (According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Green’s a left-handed hitting 3B at high-A. Decent glove but still a long way off with the bat.
Jackson’s a junk-throwing lefty who doesn’t really amount to much.
Bryson is a long way off. Only 20 and in his first full season, he’s one of Jack Zduriencik’s late round stabs in the dark. He might turn out great but odds are he’ll never be more than a middle innings bullpen guy (and not for a few years).
Milwaukee seem to have done a nice job in not giving up much of value for Sabathia (beyond LaPorta who they had nowhere to put).
Having attended the game, I really can’t believe what I saw. After 14 innings and a 1-1 games, didn’t Riggleman essentially forfeit the game? What purpose does Rhodes have on this team anyway? He’s pitched 15.2 innings in a half a season, and yet a backup catcher pitches the 15th inning. So what if Morrow has pitched 3 days in a row? He’s pitches 27.2 innings. Dickey…Silva…even Washburn. They couldn’t have pitched an inning?
What a joke the Mariners are. If Riggleman had considered that the game would go into extra innings, he could have kept Batista for later in the game instead of replacing him after one inning.
We stayed for the entire game, and my favorite moment was Pudge flailing through a Burke pitch…very satisfying. And wow the animosity towards Richie is the loudest the crowd got. By far.