Game 134, Angels at Mariners
Vasquez vs. Williams
In an about-face from last night, I don’t think I’ve been as excited about a pitching match-up all season. Well, at least not since the M’s were completely out of the race. If I can’t get hall-of-fame quality, I’ll settle for hall-of-fame weirdness.
Anthony Vasquez makes his home debut, giving the local fans an opportunity to say, “No, seriously, I could do that.” I’m excited to see some more data on his change-up, which may be the slowest in all of baseball. There’s just something compelling about watching Vasquez start Mark Trumbo off with a 79mph two-seamer, then go with a 70mph change-up, then try to put him a way with a 66mph curve.
Jerome Williams makes his second start for the Angels, after being essentially out of affiliated baseball for years. After getting released by the Twins, he played indie league ball in 2008, then played in Puerto Rico to try to win a contract, and finally got one in Taiwan. This all makes him sound a bit like ex-Mariner Jeff Harris, but Williams was an uber-prospect with the Giants back in 2002. Baseball America ranked him the #19 prospect in baseball that year, right between Josh Hamilton and Brandon Phillips (and a few slots below the M’s Ryan Anderson). I’ll talk more about Williams later tonight, but for now, check out Mike Fast’s pitch fx overview here.
The line-up:
1: Ichiro
2: Gutierrez
3: Ackley
4: Carp
5: Olivo
6: Seager
7: Wells
8: Pena
9: Ryan
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20 Responses to “Game 134, Angels at Mariners”
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Marc-
I’m with you, I literally almost said a couple times last time Vasquez started “Geesh, I threw that hard in high school” but it would have sounded too cocky, and I wasn’t even thinking of trying to sound cool, or anything, it was way more SHOCK than awe at the possibilities… *laugh*
But seriously, he makes Jamie Moyer look like a hard thrower! And for some disturbed reason, I kinda like watching it.
Go get ’em, kid!
(Also looking forward to some Wily Mo Peguero swinging in the 8 spot)
Jerome Williams!? Wow, there’s a blast from the past when I was able to follow the Giants.
Glad to see him back. He was such a nice kid. (Guess not anymore)
Boy, do the Angels scrape the junk heaps or what, though?
You can´t put 65MPH curveballs in the strike zone Anthony…
The ONLY way that that “Anthony Vasquez” and “MLB pitcher” should be combined in a sentence is if the words “is not a” are put between them.
This is pretty gruesome.
If there M’s are going to play like this, I demand to see Willy Mo Pena pitch.
I just read “The Wave” has already made an appearance during this pitching collapse. That frustrates me more than the lack of competitiveness of this team.
As Ichiro valiantly battles battles off a walk to unselfishly ground into a double play.
id like to see chone figgins given a rotation spot
At least then he could only ruin every fifth game
The problem with using position players as pitchers is that the M’s Promotions department will want to give each one a bobblehead night.
In the “Misery Loves Company” department, I’ve been watching the SF Giants via my MLB subscription. Just like watching the pre-streak Mariners.
In a 12-2 game, I’d rather see him swing to try to get a hit and get to 200 then walk so that we might have the chance to lose 12-4 instead of 12-2.
Hell, if Ichiro wants to go up there without a bat and try to kick the ball for a hit, I don’t give a damn. It’s 12-2, and we have the offense comparable to a drunk Little League team. I don’t think it matters if he walks.
Can we get a Rick Rizz bobblehead where everything moves except the hair?
Wow-
Back just in time to… um… be depressed… What the hell happened? Was it all Vasquez?
Henry-
How ’bout a Dave Sims’ “Bobblehat”… It’s just a swank hat that wiggles like a bobblehead.
Fred Bims’ bobblehead. For Dave’s twin brother who has a different last name, and actually dresses in a good suit and has a elegant yet stylish wardrobe and haircut.
Vasquez’s ERA is 11.57. If he’s the best we have in Tacoma, I shudder to think what the rest of this season will look like. Pineda only has 3 more starts. It would be nice to limit Felix’s pitch count, too. Who’s going to be the 5th starter if Vasquez is sent down? In addition to the 5th starter, we’ll need another starter once Pineda is shut down. Given their lack of experince, we should expect Beavan and Furbush to have a couple rough outings. I dunno, maybe putting the offense down in the hole every other night is character-building?
Oh, man, just put Hultzen in the rotation NOW…
The only thing Anthony Vasquez should throw from the mound in an M’s uniform is pre-game BP. His ‘stuff’ is just perfect for that sort of thing.
I’m not sure the morale beating this kid is taking is worth the extra day of rest for the other starters, especially considering Pineda is getting shut down anyway. It’s one thing having maybes like Beavan and Furbush in the rotation, but this kid is basically going to give up at least 5 runs a game. He is like the pitching version of Figgins.
Although he gets a pass due to inexperience, something Figgy definitely doesn’t deserve.