Game 26, Mariners at Rays
Dave · May 2, 2012 at 2:50 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Beavan vs Shields, 7:10 pm.
For the first time this season, Jesus Montero is catching back to back games. Eric Wedge said in his pregame talk that John Jaso will be behind the plate tomorrow. Also, Alex Liddi is getting the line-up spot vacated by Olivo tonight, and Mike Carp is getting another day on the bench. Like Jaso, he’ll probably be in the line-up tomorrow. Also notable is Justin Smoak moving down to seventh in the order. Not sure that’s going to teach him how to hit an off-speed pitch, but he’s earned a demotion, so might as well try it.
Figgins, LF
Ackley, 2B
Ichiro, RF
Montero, C
Seager, 3B
Liddi, 1B
Smoak, DH
Saunders, CF
Ryan, SS
This just in, Wedge doesn’t like the strikeouts. Actually seemed pretty pissed about them. So, you guys can stop complaining that Wedge is ok with the hacking away.
Being aggressive doesn’t mean to swing at everything, it just means to don’t be afraid to swing the stick if the pitcher throws a meatball…no matter the count. I know some of you think his actions speak otherwise, and maybe they do, but I think his “problem” is that he has too much patience. Maybe being aggressive isn’t your style, but I’d rather see guys swing the bat. Looking for a walk is boring baseball. It’s marginal, but a hit is worth more than a walk
Yes, we need some woody ball “visualization.” That will fix it. Look up the walk to strikeout rates organization wide and see what other conclusions may exist.
I agree, the strikeouts are ridiculous. I’m just saying you all like to point to Wedge’s “aggressive” statements for the organization’s problems. And are constantly thumping the walk drum. When technically a hit is worth more than a walk.
And for the record, I don’t think Wedge is that good either. I’m just not going to drop all my frustration on him.
Yeah, Wells is still deserving of a harder look, but I’d really like to see another solid, MLB proven, outfielder on this roster.
Fair enough. Keep in mind though, nobody has EVER stated that players should not swing at good, hittable pitches. Problem is, too many guys take hacks at bad pitches to hit because of lack of recognition and/or overall approach. The BB/strikeout rate is an organization wide epidemic and a statistical fact.
While I haven’t been shy in regards to expressing my opinion regarding Wedge and his perceived shortcomings, I think right now the strikeout issue is being exacerbated in our thoughts by the recent losses, combined with the fact that a couple of our favorite players have been very guilty of that problem while hitting .200 or lower. And that’s not to mention Ryan, who’s somehow leading the team in walks while “hitting” worse than the 2011 edition of Michael Saunders.
Wedge (yeah, I admit that whole “Wedgie” thing quickly lost it’s charm for me) has more or less already said Figgins’ starting days are numbered; once he’s benched I expect the strikeouts to go down. Especially since I really don’t think Montero and Ackley will continue struggling.
Along the lines of the patience thing… I hope Alex Liddi’s game doesn’t get lost because of his late pop out. He had to have seen the most pitches today, in fact I believe (might be mistaken) every one of his at bats went to a full count.
This kid is becoming way more patient, swinging and missing a whole lot less, and is becoming one of the guys I’m more optimistic about. That is not something that I expected from a guy who was practically the infielder Carlos Peguero last year.
I would think that the best GM’s or leaders of any kind would be able to make decisions in a contemplative way, not over-react, not be impulsive, be willing to sleep on things for a day or two before making a tough decision,, not have a knee jerk reaction after a bad stretch of play, etc etc
With that said, I hope Jack springs out of bed tomorrow morning with his ‘scalp’ on fire and DFA’s Figgins ass into oblivion … Which I believe may currently be fielding a team somewhere in the Texas league.
Going home on a six game losing streak after leaving home on a losing streak wrapped around a perfecto is going to be reason enough for overreaction. No better way to stimulate the fan base than to get rid of Figgins, or for Guti to return … And that ain’t happening for a while.
You want to sell some tickets, Jack – to a fan base that is crap ass tired of the same bullshit song and dance? The music has stopped and there is only one chair left. Pull the trigger.
While I love your extensive use of metaphors and agree with your premise, don’t expect anything tomorrow. The very best case scenario would be Friday given that we’ll be returning home and that wouldn’t put us down a man for any games. Even that seems like a super long shot but I really hope it does happen.
Also, congratulations to Jered Weaver, he just finished off a no-hitter making us one of two teams to be no-hit now (I know, ours was a perfect game but this softens the blow a tiny bit doesn’t it?)
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Figgins on the bench tomorrow, though. Wedge has already said Jaso will catch, and I’d guess he’ll want to keep Jesus in there as DH.
Actually part of me would like to see something minor go wrong – I would really like to see Kawasaki catching! It would be painful and fun at the same time. Maybe he’d do pushups in between batters…
Haha, spoke too soon. Wedge says he’s going to play Figgins tomorrow because Figgy’s 7 for 14 against the pitcher career-wise.
So if Figgins gets a hit or two, I guess that buys him another month – because that, of course, will be his true talent level; not the 90% of other games when he’s terrible.
I guess this would mean that my hair has to be on fire, now.
However, I shall wait until after his second K today, before I reach that emotional pitch.