Game 72, Padres at Mariners
Mike Snow · June 25, 2009 at 1:43 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Betancourt to the DL, Lopez is back to take his spot on the roster. Washburn v. LeBlanc, 1:40.
RF-L Ichiro
1B-L Branyan
3B-R Beltre
DH-R Sweeney
2B-R Lopez
CF-R Gutierrez
C-R Johnson
SS-R Cedeno
LF-R Balentien
So, Balentien ninth? Maybe he hasn’t exactly been tearing the cover off the ball, but he’s at least hit better than Johnson (I’m looking forward to having Johjima back), to say nothing of Cedeno. I remember Betancourt was saying he couldn’t fix his approach because he had to bat in front of Ichiro, maybe Cedeno has a similar issue? It doesn’t make any sense to me, but that’s selfish Ichiro for you. If only things were that simple.
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Last game of the year against the Padres.
Ugh, I hate them so much!
Welcome back, Jose.
ICHIRO! ICHIRO! ICHIRO!
Man I love Ichiro.
Ichiro! exclamation point moment!
Yes! My managers are all at this game, engaging in team bonding or something. So they get to see Ichiro’s home run while I sit at work and watch Gamecast. Lame.
I like how you can hear the announcer in the broadcast booth read off a fact, “Second leadoff homerun for Ichiro” and then it’s immediately repeated by Niehaus.
I wonder who the FSN engineer is … when Dave gets over to radio, it would of course be Producer/Engineer Kevin Cremin
Yeah, it’s kind of a “be careful what you wish for” epiphany when you find yourself wishing for both Betancourt and Johjima.
I can see what Waka is thinking about this line up but honestly does not always work. Balentien RC stat wont be to high but gives some options their to produce some runs. I think Waka is counting on Ichiro not producing runs.
I can see what Waka is thinking about this line up but honestly does not always work. Balentien RC stat wont be to high but gives some options their to produce some runs.
forget it i dont know hahaha
My suspicion: Pepe LePew, er, Wade LeBlanc (and his 5.39 FIP) just isn’t very good.
If they’re both at the same level in the hierarchy then it’s “team building.” If they’re from different departments it’s “liaising.” And if one reports to the other it’s “morale building.” This is all very important when figuring out which
slush fundpot of funds to use when accounting for this activity.That was a nice double by Rob.
Nice double Robbie. This LeBlanc kid looks pretty bad.
Ok, Washburn: that’s already more than you usually get. You should have no problems protecting this lead.
Oooooh. Is that what you’re supposed to do with runners in scoring position? I had forgotten what that was like.
I’d be more likely to just put it down to Wakamatsu sticking to his promise of 120-130 different lineups, and deciding to throw this one out there for the heck of it. Lineup order isn’t that critical, after all. As long you keep Ichiro at the top (so he can selfishly hit leadoff home runs that none of his teammates will score on), there’s only so much you can do with the rest of it.
Ok, Washburn: that’s already more than you usually get. You should have no problems protecting this lead.
I wouldn’t push him if I were you. We all know how well he does when other people make him uncomfortable.
Nice inning, M’s! Woo.
That’s why I’m posting it here rather than standing at Safeco yelling it at him. I fear the angry chipmunk. And I want him to boost his trade value as much as possible.
What will Washburn do with a lead. His head must be spining. A W and I don’t have to throw a shut out? I don’t think this is good.
joser I don’t know…I’m already imagining the after-game press conference.
“I was sitting in the dugout, killing time surfing the internet because there was nothing better to do, and someone said something kinda mean about me on the internet. After that I didn’t really feel comfortable.”
Nice play from DFT again.. He reminds me a lot of Devon White back in the day in that he never seems to be doing anything particularly difficult and rarely has to dive.
Because of course he doesn’t know what to do with all the extra time between innings when his teammates are busy scoring runs for him.
You know, I would love to see a pitcher have the balls to say after a big loss “I sat too long, they kept scoring runs and I got cold. It’s not my fault, it was the offense.”
I’d hate the guy for life, but that would be the best bad excuse ever.
Every inning should start with Ichiro.
It should be a new rule.
He’s on fire! I love that little man.
I vote AYE!
Augh. Ichiro! makes me think he can get out of a run down… =(
Speaking of little, I just read that Ichiro is 5’11″. 5’11″? Really? That seems… tall.
He’s already on 2nd… doesn’t make much sense to try and take third, especially with Branyan up.
52 pitches for LeBlanc, woo.
I went to my first game of the year at Safeco on Tuesday (purely by accident, honestly — I was getting groceries at Uwajimaya and came out, saw all the people, realized I already had free parking and it was a nice night so… what the hell. One ticket in the left field bleachers, please). And one thing I noticed about Gutierrez I hadn’t seen watching games on TV — he breaks instantly on the crack of the bat. Even when the ball ended up going straight to Ichiro or Balentien, he always had taken a step or two in the right direction as soon as the ball came off the bat. He’s deceptively fast, with those long legs, but I think it’s that quick break that enables him to make it look so easy.
The M’s must have voodoo magicks for measuring devices. If he’s 5’11″, then I’m a solid 6′. Sweet!
He knows what to do, but they don’t allow huntin’ and fishin’ in the dugout.
You know, Ichiro could hit .400.
If he repeats his July-October from 2004, added to his stats from this year, he would be at .398.
He might actually be 5’10, but a little exaggeration is standard practice. (I think the Padres claim Eckstein is over 5’0″, for example). The amazing thing about Ichiro is that they say he’s about 170 pounds which, given how compact he is, means he must have about 1% body fat.
joser I think they weighed him with the 20 pound shoes he wears to keep from completely betraying the fact that he’s actually an alien.
I think Ichiro was running due to KJR’s segment on how few bases he steals. Still, that move doesnt make sense when you are on second with no outs. Do you think that he was going on his own, or was that actually called by Wak?
Baseball-reference has Ichiro at 5’9″, and I thought that was his official listing, but I see the roster has 5’11″, wonder if they changed it recently.
Beltre, I love you!
Also, I love watching Beltre play defense at thrid. Probably going to miss that next season.
That was not a strike.
If I played for the Padres, I’d want to get back to the clubhouse as fast as possible, as well.
I think a good pitcher gets credit for that as a strike at least 50% of the time, probably more.
Dirty little secret is that the Padres have been cutting budgets due to the sale of the team, so Hairston had to leave early to warm up the bus.
And Buddy Black is the navigator.
Ok, the monster wants to play in the yard, so no more TV. At least I can have the radio broadcast on my laptop.
The greatest gift I was ever given is Slingbox. I’m watching on one screen, while working on another. That is a morale event.
It was close, and it could’ve been called either way, but that last pitch (#8) was a strike.
Gameday says it was. On the very high corner of the very outside corner, but definitely strike zone. PitchFX has it plotted less than an inch off the corner but within the vertical zone.
Nothing is quite as cute, or as terrifying, as an 18 month-old with an aluminum bat.
She absolutely refuses to touch the nice safe plastic one.
Are the announcers talking about the fact that Michael Jackson is supposedly dead yet?
Oh how the M’s could use an only-somewhat-below-average SS….
Well, at least we’re unlikely to take out any more left fielder’s with this defense…
Why would they talk about Michael Jackson during a baseball game?
Sidi, you need to dress her in purple and gold, take a picture, and send it to Heather Tarr. It’s never too soon to be working on that softball scholarship for 2025…
Mike: Seems to me that Niehaus (and maybe some of the others) frequently mentions celebrities that pass away. For instance, it wouldn’t surprise me if they mentioned Farrah Fawcett. But they also sometimes mention breaking news. *shrug*
Ichiro! Just a triple away!
so the Dodgers and White Sox are in the 12th?
is it wrong of me to hope they go for another 3-4 innings and burn up their entire bulllpen?
Well if Princess Diana and Mother Theresa can steal each other’s exit limelight, I suppose Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett can co-de-exist too. Though I don’t see any credible news outlets reporting him as actually dead, just rushed to hospital. But maybe they’re waiting on the arrival of the doctors that did the Area 51 alien autopsies.
Not at all; I’m sure the Padres are wishing the same thing. It’s not like you’re actually wishing for an injury or anything.
I’m just wondering how many college radio stations have been playing The Vandals “The Day Farrah Fawcett Died” a bunch today. I know it keeps getting stick in my head.
Stuck, even.
joser: Unless he meant literally burn up. Joan of Arc style!
“Rob Johnson is a 1 for 2 hitter today…”
He should retire now, end it on a high note.
heh, no Lauren. but thanks for letting me clarify:
I’d not wish “burn at the stake in extra innings” on anyone.
Two chances for a triple. Maybe three if the M’s continue to cruise through the lineup. At least the cycle doesn’t carry with it the stigma of the ‘Don’t mention it otherwise it won’t come true’ bull honkey.
Hmmm, the bullpen pyre.
You know, there are a few players where the term “productive out” is perhaps useful. It gives some slight contrast to the rest of their trips to the plate.
I am so happy that this team has Franklin Gutierrez.
oh how I love the suicide squeeze!
wish I was watching instead of radio.
Ah, my favorite play in baseball. Cedeno just earned a week of any kind of sucky performance in my eyes.
Safety or Suicide?
turning out to be a pretty good game.
)
Who said Wlad was injured?
What a moon shot!
That sounded like quite a blast. Nice game!
Safety homer!
He killed that thing…
The Padres: the only pitching staff that can make the M’s outfield look like Murder’s Row. You know, for all the bitching about playing them so much, I think we’re going to miss them when the M’s start playing real major league teams again.
Not sure how many 86mph up-in-the-zone fastballs you’re going to blow by batters…
In Banks’ defense, he was pitching against Balentien though….
One more -er, Jose. [wink]
Speaking of the Dodgers — you want to talk about crazy lineups, Joe Torre just mystifies me. Yesterday, catcher Russell Martin (.249 avg, .312 wOBA) batted 8th while Matt Kemp (.313 avg, .384 wOBA) was 9th. Today, Kemp got moved up to 5th and Martin is batting… 2nd.
Update: the White Sox have the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the 13th. Scratch that, one out. Scratch that, two outs. Another high-wire bullpen act.
And Matt Kemp has gone 0 for 6. Baseball is weird.
Michael Jackson just passed away…
You mean the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox are going to be better than the Padres, Diamondbacks, and Rockies?
I think Balentien’s shot landed about where I was sitting on Tuesday, actually.
Speaking of sitting in the bleachers: you know how there’s always those two guys behind you having a baseball argument that makes you want to tear your hair out? I had the opposite experience, for once. The two guys behind me were having a discussion about trading Washburn… and it was actually sane and based on a reasonable grasp of actual facts (to the extent that either guy had them at hand, since neither one was Dave or could vaguely simulate him by looking stats up on the internet). I know this was just an anecdote, but I don’t think even this one time would’ve happened in the days prior to sites like USSM injecting sanity and informed analysis into the fan-press house of crazy mirrors.
link
wow, farrah, michael, and I’m just glad I don’t believe these things always happen in threes.
Probably the last inning for Washy. Pretty good performance. I thought he wouldn’t know how to pitch with a lead, but he managed to do it.
Go bullpen!
I don’t either. Although Ed Mcmahon just died yesterday…
Strike that – he died on Tuesday. I’ve been out sick and have my days all messed up.
Well, if you go by wikipedia, deaths happen in dozens. You look at recent deaths, and there are so many famous and semi-famous people dying every day.
Intentionally walking Sweeney?!?
I’m not sure about having Joh back. I know that he is a better bat (with the caveat that he’s still right handed, and still impatient), but his defense seems poorer.
However, I lack the proper tools to evaluate two aspects of his game. First, what to make of the comparative catcher’s ERA between Joh and Rob? My assumption would be that catcher’s ERA suffers from the same problems that pitcher’s ERA does, only one level removed and less reliable. Do we have any good metrics for judging how well a pitcher manages the pitching staff?
Second, FWIW, the pitchers seem to love pitching to him. I would think this matters more than some vague sense of “chemistry,” but I’m not sure how much more. Obviously, the language barrier is one factor, but maybe Rob has created a better game plan w/r/t the pitcher’s strengths vs. batters’ weaknesses. After all, we all know about Felix’s tendencies to overuse his fastball and fail to mix his pitches. What if some of that is the way Joh calls the game?
Can someone provide some links if there are already answers to these questions?
Wait, was Sweeney really intentionally walked?
One pitch and Wash could lose this win…
followed by:
For some reason I read those posts as being related.
They’re all walking the afterlife like Caine in “Dead Kung Fu”
that rush of wind you just felt was Washburn saying “Whew!”
I think the consensus answer is no, in part because nobody is keeping track of what the catcher is calling and whether the pitcher is waving him off (and then whether the pitcher actually throws what was called, and the result). And of course that’s just the start, because pitch sequence analysis is only just beginning (and the more pitches you look at as an atomic unit, the smaller your overall dataset).
I-CHI-RO! I-CHI-RO! I-CHI-RO!
C’mon triple…
Woolner did some work into this a while back (actually this article follows up an older piece I can’t seem to find which showed CERA amongst pitcher-catcher pairs to be non-predictive (and too hard to get a decent sample size out of.
Well heck, I’ll take four hits.
Well, I guess AA gets the day off after all.
So based on the first inning in Washington — I don’t know what question Boston was asking, but Smotlz does not appear to be the answer.
I’m guessing the question was “How can we make the Nationals look like a Major League squad?”
Wow! What a major league short stop play by Cedeno! Who’s that guy that got hurt yesterday again?
Wow, 9 runs. Shoulda saved a few of those for the Dodgers…
Wow, great play Cedeno. I am suprised nobody has crashed in to him yet.
Someone in the Tigers front office is thinking, “we knew he’d pitch like that in the AL, which is why we made that deal in 1987.”
Wlad is playing with a hyperextended elbow that causes him visible, excruciating pain on check swings.
In his last six games (17 AB’s), however, he has posted a .918 OPS, with a .529 SLG. (ESPN)
Hey the Mariners are starting to score more runs, hopefully Lopey can get hot again and the M’s can have a good road trip.
FWIW, at the start of the year, Johnson had a week in between starts to sit down, do all that networking/chatting, while Joh was actually catching
Small sample size.
Has anyone else noticed the sudden influx of people spouting catcher ERA on baker’s blog as a way to say Johnson should remain the starter even after Johjima is activated?
“I wonder who the FSN engineer is … when Dave gets over to radio, it would of course be Producer/Engineer Kevin Cremin”
Or as Rick Rizzs would say: “Hey, Wires!”
I don’t know about Baker’s blog (I never read the comments over there) but when I was at Safeco the other day I noticed whenever Johnson was at the plate his “player’s card” (on the big video screen) showed his catcher ERA rather than any of his actual hitting stats. Has that particular horse been riden by one of the radio blow-hards?
FWIW, at the start of the year, Johnson had a week in between starts to sit down, do all that networking/chatting, while Joh was actually catching
Small sample size.
FWIW, how large does this sample have to be in order not to be called “small sample size”? (We’re talking about two months.)
I don’t get people’s fascination with Johnson. Why people are resorting to something as esoteric as CERA when its essentially meaningless is beyond me. Unless there’s some resentment towards Johjima (which I could understand, given his new contract and his lack of results), but to pull CERA out like its definitive proof is hilarious.
I’d have a lot more respect for the guy who comes out and says that over some random usage of CERA.
That’s because is offensive stats are so horrible and he makes Kenji look like an offensive juggernaut. Speaking of Kenji, he’s back tomorrow, maybe he can help bolster the bottom of the lineup which has been a bit of a black hole.
Based on his comments when he was hitting ninth, Yuni should have credited Rob Johnson for his offensive surge before his injury, since Johnson bats as well as most NL pitchers.
KJR’s midday show started the ball rolling and it was picked up by the morning show, and not long after even Pitman on the official postgame show was shining the CERA trophy.
When it was brought up to Baker on his weekly KJR visit, he did point out that CERA (like ERA) wasn’t the greatest stat, and that Joh had Silva weighing down his numbers … but then went on to say that Johnson must be doing something right, the way the pitchers have been pitching …
Stats are like clothing or music, IMHO. I remember CERA coming up years ago and it seemed kinda cool at the time (like parachute pants or Flock of Seagulls), but then was mostly dismissed by the analytical community as worthless (at least those that I read and/or talked to).
Mainstream sports media is like those third world countries where those things get popular 10 years after they’re ditched here.
That’s true. If batting in front of Ichiro makes hitting hard, as Yuni claimed, then batting in front of Johnson (or Cedeno, recently) had to make it very, very easy.