Series Wrap-up, Futures Game, etc.
Well, at least this series cleared up a lot of nagging questions. These past four games have had a decidedly “2010 Mariners” feel to them, and I suppose I should be happy that it’s taken as long as it has for this no-hit M’s team to ape the look and feel of last year’s no-hit M’s team. As Jeff pointed out at LL, this sweep has taken the M’s postseason odds from 17% to 3% at Cool Standings. Baseball Prospectus’ odds were never as bullish, so the M’s odds have dropped fractionally to 0.7%. The race is not technically over, but hey, the problem of how to limit Michael Pineda’s innings in a tight divisional race has sort of solved itself.
Even down 2-0, I thought the Angels had a better than 50/50 shot to win today. Yes, Felix was pitching, but so was Dan Haren, and with the M’s bullpen sliding… I’m just not surprised it ended the way it did. In fact, I keep trying to recall how it was that the M’s beat Jered Weaver and Dan Haren in a quick two-game set back in May. I mean, I know they did it, and I watched the games. But even having seen it, I can’t imagine how it would look for this team to beat that team behind those starters.
For the second consecutive series, M’s pitchers allowed a three-ball walk. I can’t believe that no one on the bench watches the game with more focus than those of us grabbing beers, distracting kids or doing yardwork, but the evidence would suggest they don’t. In the minors, you’ve got a starting pitcher or two charting the game, and you have to figure they’d notice. I’ve always wondered about how this baseball ritual works in the majors; recent events make me wonder if some of the charts are doodles of cars and caricatures of the opponent’s manager. What do pitchers get out of this, anyway? How does it help Jason Vargas to know that batter X struggles against 97 MPH fastballs up in the zone and 92 MPH sinkers away?
I’m trying to remember what it was like to be confident when Jamey Wright – THAT Jamey Wright – came into a tight game. Looking back, it’s a classic example of why statheads drone on about small sample sizes. Most everyone here knows that BABIP fluctuation or strand rate will play havoc with a reliever’s ERA (another reason ERA isn’t useful). But Wright’s instructive because, for a brief, confusing moment, his peripherals changed too. He was striking more people out and walking fewer back in April/May. Then, just as suddenly, he reverted to being the same Jamey Wright we’ve known for years. Anything can happen in a small sample. The FIP categories of walks, strikeouts and home runs are important because they’re much more stable than things like hits or runs allowed, but pretty much nothing’s “stable” over a week or a month except perhaps Yuniesky Betancourt’s walk rate.
One of the keys to the sweep was Angels’ 1B Mark Trumbo, the same guy I trashed in the AL West prospect preview. According to Fangraphs, he’s now the most valuable rookie position player in the AL. How does a guy whose slash line looks like it’s ripped from a Mike Jacobs baseball card put up 1.6 WAR at the break? First, offense is down so substantially that a .300 on-base percentage *from a first baseman* is no longer an automatic mark of failure. Second, Trumbo’s been solid defensively. There’s still some disagreement amongst the defensive metrics, but he certainly looked like a good defender this weekend (and considerably better than Justin Smoak). Partial season UZRs aren’t all that meaningful, but if you assume Trumbo adds a few runs defensively, his WAR doesn’t seem that crazy: a few runs at the plate, a few runs in the field, and you’ve got the makings of an average-to-decent player. That’s not saying a whole lot, but I’m still stunned – both by the fact that Trumbo’s holding his own and by the fact that he’s performed so much better than Justin Smoak.
In brighter news, the Futures Game featured a ray of hope for M’s fans in the person of James Paxton, who threw a seven pitch 1-2-3 inning for the World team today in Arizona. The Canadian lefty hit the mid-90s on the gun, and got a comebacker from Jason Kipnis and induced a weak grounder from hyped prospect Bryce Harper. Larry Stone spoke with him afterward, and Paxton mentions that he’s picked up a new change-up this year, and his performance against righties will be interesting to watch down the stretch for AA Jackson. Alex Liddi also played – again – and made an excellent defensive play to retire Giants speedy CF Gary Brown. Liddi’s arm is a weapon, but the bat’s still a work in progress. He went 0-3 with a strikeout against the Rays Matt Moore. Mind you, Matt Moore was jaw-dropping today, hitting 100 mph (he’s a LEFTY) on the TV gun and 98 on pitch fx, then breaking in a good high-80s slider. Liddi saw both the 98mph heat and an 86mph slider and that was that. On the bright side, no one Liddi will face for the rest of the year has that kind of arsenal.
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13 Responses to “Series Wrap-up, Futures Game, etc.”
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we just need to sweep the rangers coming out of the break!
Re: the three-pitch walk. Greg Johns tweeted (and may have reported) that Wedge claimed he knew it had happened but didn’t say anything as they were planning to put Abreu on in any case.
Either way, it’s pretty embarrassing as the umpires are now failing at their #1 job (calling ball and strike counts). This is a lot more fundamental than calling balls vs. strikes or outs and should be looked at seriously by the umpires group.
Hey, at least the fans have some skills.
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/style-points/201107/thriller-kid-steals-show-mariners-game
re: 3 pitch walk. is wedge just covering for himself? no one ever does a full-out intentional walk with a guy on 1B at that stage of the game.
On a 3 pitch walk if Wedge knew about it he should have had the pitcher throw the ball to 1B and the guy who advanced to 2B should be out.
Now that I’d almost pay to see. The chaos afterwards would be good for some cheap entertainment.
The way I heard it, it wasn’t fully intentional, but once Abreu worked the count 3-1 Wedge decided it would be best if he just walked instead of risking pitching to him.
Take a look at that pitcher of Harper headlining Stone’s article. That’s an 18 year old? Look at the lines in his face! Compare that to Craig Counsell — which one is 40?
I would like to see Bedard/Fister traded for some young position talent and a blockbuster free agent signing. If the Mariners felt like spending some cash I would like to see em pick up Reyes and Fielder but that is just a dream.
Marc also left out that the other player Paxton got out is Manny Machado who is the Orioles’ top prospect and a legitimate future star at shortstop. Getting those three players out is truly an amazing feat.
I understand the lovefest for Fielder, but not sure why you would want 20% of your money tied up in a DH? He can hit a ton out of the ball and would be a fun toy, but not for the money. He would help he O, but be a liability on the D because we could not get a higher ranked D player.
One legitimate killer bat would make an astounding difference in this lineup, but I don’t think just Fielder would be enough to make this a real playoff team. We need another bat to support him…sadly, we have plenty of guys who are suitable to bat anywhere BUT in the heart of the order.