Comments on: Game 120, Mariners at Tigers

By: joser

joser — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:34:57 +0000

What possible reason could the Rays have for giving up Zobrist? You’d have to pay them a lot to pry him loose. You’d have better luck asking for Iwamura, now that Zobrist has Wally Pipped him. (And yes, I know that’s a myth).

By: DaveValleDrinkNight

DaveValleDrinkNight — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:03:12 +0000

Probably asking too much but what would it take to get Zobrist from the Rays?

His OBP and power numbers are there, plus he’s an above average fielder at 2nd. He also has played every INF position outside of catching, well.

Just saying.

By: Kazinski

Kazinski — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:03:21 +0000

Granted that swinging early may be a valid approach against a given pitcher, but Iâ€™m not sure Verlander was the difference. It just seems like he saw a lot more pitches earlier in the season.

I got confused because the criticism was in the game thread. But point taken, he is at 3.51 p/pa the second lowest of his career. But as an example of the advantages of changing an approach, check out Griffey's line in this game. He went 2 for 4 with 2 2b and 3 rbi's against Roy Halladay. On 7 pitches in 4ab. We won 3-2.

By: Kazinski

Kazinski — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:49:12 +0000

OBP/ISO:
Ichiro .395/.104
Gutierrez .345/.153
Saunders .297/.050

I think Ichiro at 1 and Saunders at 9 are good where they are. Franklin at 2 is fine, but I’m not real upset at 5.

By: mw3

mw3 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:48:01 +0000

Those damn rolling rr’s.

By: AssumedName

AssumedName — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:42:10 +0000

I donâ€™t know why some of youse is criticizing Lopez for not taking (m)any pitches

Wese just noticing a pattern. Granted that swinging early may be a valid approach against a given pitcher, but I'm not sure Verlander was the difference. It just seems like he saw a lot more pitches earlier in the season. It's especially frustrating to see him walk up after a four-pitch-walk and hack at the first pitch. (That's an example, not an instance from tonight.)

By: DMZ

DMZ — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:37:59 +0000

That would be experimental! Who is this Gutierez fellow?

By: mw3

mw3 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:34:56 +0000

I think it might be time to go with an experimental lineup;

Saunders
Gutierez
Ichiro

…at the top.

By: Kazinski

Kazinski — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:23:21 +0000

I don’t know why some of youse is criticizing Lopez for not taking (m)any pitches, its not like he was facing a rookie/journeyman that has trouble finding the strike zone. He was batting against Jason fucking Verlander, he may not have hit anything but it’s hard to argue he is going to have a better chance working the count to 0-2, than swinging away at 0-0.

You might note that Branyan and Gutierez were a lot more patient than Lopez, taking 3x as many pitches, and they were also 0-4 with 4 and 3 strikeouts respectively. At least Lopez put the ball in play. You might also note that Ichiro’s HR was on the first pitch. So much for patience, when you can expect a first pitch fastball over the plate.

Taking pitches is great, but it is not a strategy that works against every pitcher. And a pitcher like Verlander with plus stuff that has no problem finding the strikezone is a perfect example of that.

By: scott19

scott19 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:39:24 +0000

Yeah, except Verlander doesnâ€™t get away with cutting the ball.

Speaking of the Tigers, I remember a few years back when Brian Moehler got suspended a couple of starts for scuffing the ball — during a season when he lost 16 games.

Even a friend of mine who’s a Tiger fan remarked about how if you’re gonna cheat, you should at least cheat to win — not cheat to lose.