M’s Lose, Carp on DL
I decided to sleep rather than try to make it through another day bleary eyed. From the box score, that seems to have been the right decision. I’ll watch this thing later, but yeah, obviously this isn’t what the M’s needed to start the season. More of the same is not how you get fans interested again.
Also, apparently my attempt to give Eric Wedge credit for putting Carp on the bench was missing some information – he hurt his shoulder in game one, and was placed on the 15 day disabled list. That means that Carlos Peguero is now on the roster. I’ll just leave this paragraph there and not saying anything further.
This should theoretically open up playing time for Casper Wells and Kyle Seager. The M’s could move Figgins between 3B and LF and use those two to replace Carp depending on the pitching match-ups, and this could actually give them a better team on the field, honestly. That probably won’t happen though. We all know we’re going to have to watch Peguero flail around now. Man, and I told myself I wasn’t going to say anything.
Because the M’s have a week off before resuming regular season games, Carp basically is really more on the 7 day DL, since half the stint is just going to involve travel and the remainder of the Cactus League schedule. If the shoulder heals quickly, he won’t actually miss all that many games. These are the kinds of injuries that can linger, though, and we probably can’t assume he’ll just be back immediately.
Sigh. Now I am actually glad there is a big gap between games; it will at least minimize my Peguero exposure. Offense is already teetering on unwatchable, and this move will tip it if he plays much at all.
Were they so concerened that they’d need an extra outfielder for this one game that they couldn’t just wait until they got back to Arizona to evaluate Carp?
Also, this is starting to play out a lot like Mike Morse.
Fast forwarded through this one on Tivo and it looked very much like they’re picking up right where they left off last September. Although if you want to search for silver linings on the misery at the plate, Colon seems to have pitched pretty well and the strike zone sometimes appeared to be extremely generous. If you want your silver linings tarnished, however, Vargas also pitched fairly well, just not as well as Colon and A’s hitters had to deal with the same strike zone the Ms did. Oh, and our bullpen kind of sucked when Vargas ran out of steam. Hello, 2011.
After the high of an opening day win polished off around 6 am, the extreme low of seeing Peguero’s sname on the 25 man roster, I’ve now experienced the ultimate emotional 180 in the past two days. Barf.
My Oh MY Decent hitting in the spring followed by utter failure once the bell rings. I’m REALLY worried about this offense.
Having gotten 8 hours of sleep total in the past 72 hours, in large part due to baseball, I think the healthiest way for me to look at it is: 2 games down, 159 to go. I’m tired of pessimism and picking-up-where-they-left-off and all that. I’m going to withhold judgement for a few weeks.
That said: The Mariners and A’s have an advantage over the other 28 teams, if they choose. When other teams start playing games that count, if they have to course-correct, they have to do it during other games that count. The M’s and A’s have a unique chance to use several more days of spring training to try to fix some issues right away. Jet lag and stubbornness will probably take most of that away, but still.
It would be nice if Wedge spent the next week, in games that don’t count, in getting the gang to relearn (or learn at all) how to draw a walk.
With today’s strike zone and Colon’s command drawing walks wasn’t going to happen no matter how much of a Wedgie was administered. Something like 7 strikeouts by the Ms and 5 of them were looking. Colon had them in extreme pitcher’s counts all night long.
They could have adapted and started fouling off more pitches.
I’m not ready to hit the panic button about the offense just yet; unusual circumstances to say the least, and not everybody beats jet lag, even after several days. I attended a conference in Greece several years ago and on that occasion I never got right the whole week. I noticed hand-eye coordination was the next thing to go, right after my sense of humor. Also, small sample size against (a) a very good pitcher and (b) a pustulent butterball who, when he is effective, is typically VERY effective. (And while I am well aware that this purely subjective given his 14-11, 4.19 career ERA against the Mariners going into today. it seems like every time I’ve ever watched him pitch against the M’s he’s been lights out).
All that aside, my none too happy prediction going forward: Peguero will hit two tape-measure HRs while holding down Carp’s spot, and then he’ll stay on the 25-man long after it was necessary or useful.
I wonder if his shoulder “popped” when his chest hit the ground for the liner he dove for. It is certainly possible and the less ‘give’ to the ground – the bigger the pop could have been. I dove back to first base once in a college game and landed hard on my chest with my arm fully extended and could not lift my arm the next day … and it was several weeks before I could throw. Couldn’t even get the bat into position while standing at the plate. It was near the end of the season, and I didn’t play much anyway, but it did linger for nearly a year and then the career was over. Fast forward an additional 25+ years and I still remember it and it does talk to me if I do something stupid – like attempt to do anything with my arm fully extended over my head. Shitty news for Carp.
Assuming Carp is gone longer than the 15 day window, how about using Peguero as a DH only on the days Montero is a catcher and Olivo is out of the lineup?? That way there isnt a whole lot of drop off in plate discipline!! Make it only when a righty is pitching too to really maximize the issue!
Or, they could just relegate Peguero to the bench and never play him. That’d be better.
Any PAs you think could go to Peguero could instead go to Seager or Wells, both of whom are demonstrably better players.
“The offense” is an abstraction, what the Mariners have is a bunch of baseball players that are going to get plate appearances. What they do with them will determine the level of offense. The notion that anything about 2 games should change our projections going forward for any of these players is ludicrous. If your assessment of the Mariners offense has changed at all in the last 48 hours, you’re going about it all wrong.
My assessment was that they would be a below-average offense, deployed sub-optimally. My assessment hasn’t changed in the last 48 hours. Sigh….
“My assessment was that they would be a below-average offense, deployed sub-optimally”
… and with fierce conviction
Wedge seems to “stick with a plan” – no matter what. His in-game strategy (1st game this season – as highlighted by Dave) was a perfect example – to go along with a couple dozen examples from last year.
Nobody is going to win with 3 damn hits, so this loss is not on Wedge, nor is it time for me to jump on his back, but some of his decisions make no strategic sense. I consider this as being a year for him to “step up,” too – as he has mentioned many times that his young players need to do the same.
Given how tired I was while watching the two games, I’ve decided NOT to trust my judgement of what I saw offensively the past two days.
And I’d REALLY appreciate it if NO ONE confirmed for me how meh we looked.
(Have any teams ever played regular season games before and THEN… returned to playing throw away spring games again– it’s a weird week… I think it’s safe to assume a bit of “going through the motions” the next week for the regulars.)
MsFanMike-
I agree with your assessment, but then sort of side with Wedge in this instance… With such a young team, I think I might implement a plan and stick with it too, so as not to lead the vast quantities of young guys from thinking that what they show up with when they get to the majors is enough, and the manager will make use of it the best he can.
I think he’s trying to instill an attitude of “We all need to do more” in EVERY player with a constant momentum to the idea… So as to insure that 100% is the minimum the young guys are giving.
Saunders making the 1st out trying to advance to 3rd on a hit (and it would have been a hit) to the SS in the first game was inexcusable. I want the team to have a plan that tells the players that same message.
In that sense I like Wedge’s “there’s a right way to play the game” approach, with set laws that don’t fluctuate.
I think with a truly contending team, you would take a different approach, because your talent level is higher, and you actually know what each guy has to offer and how well they tend to perform in different scenarios.
Wedge doesn’t have that luxury. So it’s hard for him to make the best use of his players yet, because there really isn’t a best way to use these players yet.
Really, what are your options when half of your lineup’s goal is to simply not swing at bad pitches (“for real, this time”), and maybe try to put the ball in play with authority?
Not a lot to work with when your most dependable guys are a 37 year old ex-All-Star outfielder in decline, and an emerging 2nd basemen with less than 1 season’s experience.
MrZ, I more or less agree with your overall point. However I think the jury is still out regarding whether Wedge’s “right way to play the game” actually is the right way to play the game.
If we finish the 2012 season having once again set the historical pace for team strikeouts, then I believe that’s proof either Wedge’s approach is fundamentally wrong or he is an ineffective leader.
Mr Z: I have no qualms with your line of reasoning within the context of your point. My main point (and I probably could have articulated it with more precision) was in regard to Wedge sticking with a “plan” on a day to day or game to game basis whereby he sometimes exhibits limited flexibility to make strategic decisions/changes during the game. Saunders base running mistake was simply that. Saunders knows better … He just got a bad read and made a bad decision in real time. It had nothing to do with a “plan”. It was simply a mental error. Fewer mental errors or ommissions – all around – is everyone’s responsibility. Players were probably wondering why a pinch hitter wasn’t used in game 1, too.
MsFan-
Ahh… I was just rationalizing as hard as I could that everything’s fine. Trying to convince myself, moreso than you– so I probably took way more out of your comment than you actually said.
Y’know, since I’m already having doubts before the rest of the league’s season has even begun yet. *laugh*