Game 71, Mariners at Diamondbacks
Vargas vs Cahill, 12:40 pm.
Its getaway day in Arizona, so the M’s run out a somewhat unorthodox line-up, especially given that a right-handed pitcher is on the mound for the D’Backs.
Ichiro, RF
Jaso, C
Wells, LF
Seager, 3B
Saunders, CF
Ackley, 1B
Ryan, SS
Kawasaki, 2B
Vargas, P
Casper Wells is the new Alex Liddi, I guess – string together a few good games and all of the sudden you’re hitting in the middle of the order against a right-hander. I like Casper, but this won’t last. Also, Figgins is officially behind Kawasaki on the depth chart, as even with Smoak getting a day off and no real backup first baseman on the roster, he’s still sitting on the bench. So huzzah for that at least.
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Kawasaki is at second – he’s in close proximity to his hero. I expect to see smiles from him all day.
If I could watch it anyway. Unfortunately I’ll just be listening.
Hopefully he won’t get distracted by Ichiro’s nearness…
This is a weird lineup, but JASO!
Wells hitting 3rd against a RHP that he owns. I’m glad he’s getting some serious consideration as a front line type player. I still expect him to be semi-platooned, but given te AB’s, I think he’ll be fine.
BTW coach – you called it on Smoak.
An eclectic lineup for sure.
With the middle of the order “pop” of yesterday removed from todays lineup (Smoak with a bruise and Montero with a bruised ego/need for rest) – in conjunction with the Pitcher batting – this team might only score a dozen runs today. Or, one run.
My money is on something between the two extremes. You heard it here first.
Radio only for me too, Westy. Freaking lack of being indepently wealthy, sucks!
I’m curious if there’s been a lineup all season in the majors with a worse hitting 7-9 lol
I don’t expect it to last, either – but more due to the organization’s inclination to platoon anyone right-handed. Still think Wells will be under valued in the long run, (unless, of course, he continues to go 6 for 10.) True test will be when he settles back to .270. He looks like a regular to me. Much more established than Liddi. No comparison there.
Glad Figgins is on the bench. When are they going finally cut the cord and DFA him? Hopefully soon!
Wells still swinging it.
Vargas can actually hit, californiamariner.
That sure sounded like a nice, fat, up-in-the-zone pitch.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to not give Hill anything to hit.
Love me some Domes!
Vargas served up both of those.
Move the fences out!
(someone had to say it)
I gotta admit – I wondered how fly-ball pitcher Vargas would do in this park.
Westy, as long as the fly balls are not hit like the last two!
Well, it does help illustrate how you might expect his performance to be affected if the Safeco fences were moved in.
5-pitch inning for Cahill? I don’t think so.
Aren’t the dimensions in Chase bigger than the Safe?
Worst bottom three might go to the braves when they’ve had pastronicky, their pitcher and constanza. That’s pretty dreadful. (Although statistically it might be a better offensive threesome).
Bat Vargas third!
Don’t DH for Vargas ever!
Two outs, so what!
Wells!
He’s hitting better than Figgins right now! Vargas that is.
SEAGER!!!!
Or maybe Wells CAN stay batting in the heart of the order. For now.
Red said that Wells hit that homer, but Rick quickly said Seager.
Before today, Vargas was 1 for 3 with a walk, for a .500 OBA.
Now he’s 2 for 4 with a walk, for a .600 OBA.
Oh, wait there was only 1 out. I’m multi tasking.
5 straight hits. Cool.
Awesome inning to watch. I’m amazed at their home vs away offensive numbers as a team. 4.9 runs per game away and 3.1 runs per game home. That is a huge difference. Small sample size or is there something to it?
I did a little more research and only 3 teams in baseball average over 5 runs a game, while nobody averages as few runs as the Mariners do at home. How can there be such a difference?
The HRs with Vargas are starting to get concerning. He’s hovering around 1.5 per 9 on the year, and he hasn’t had a game in which he didn’t give up a dinger since early May. 7 in 3+ June starts so far.
Locked in: Aaron Hill!
Locked in: Aaron Hill!
(That’s how locked on he is…iPad double clicked)
Whenever first is open, maybe just walk Hill.
How many cycles is Hill trying to hit for in this series anyway?
@vetted_coach, I feel your pain! The iPad is a great tool though with At Bat 12 on here too!
Bunt him over forvVargas
Blowers just predicted Ryan will have his batting average at .240 by the end of the year.
I’d be more for betting that Ryan will be close to .240 from now to the end of the year. That is regression to the mean, and I think he’s really about a .240 hitter,
To get his average up to .240, what would he have to do, hit about .280 for the rest of the year?
IPad…great product, but it’s freakin out today.
Let’s talk about Kyle Effin Seager! The guy is putting together an all-star first half. 12 months ago, he’s AA. Today, he’s batting cleanup and hitting .400 with risp.
Something like .280 probably, I just can’t imagine that happening.
I guess that walk to the mound didn’t help too much
That was a batting practice pitch right there.
Man, I step away from my desk for a few minutes, and all hell breaks loose in Arizona!
It was 2-0 when I left…
I’d be more for betting that Ryan will be close to .240 from now to the end of the year. That is regression to the mean, and I think he’s really about a .240 hitter,
To get his average up to .240, what would he have to do, hit about .280 for the rest of the year?
Ryan’s hitting what, .160 right now? With the year almost halfway done, it’s more like .310.
I would really love to give the player development group some credit for Seager’s emergence, but he seemed almost fully-formed when he entered the system. He hasn’t had a stop in the minors where he didn’t kill the ball.
I guess the increased power this year seems distinct, and that’s probably due to the player development team… although Saunders went outside the org for help, so who knows. All I know is that Seager’s a legitimate MLB bat right now, and that’s incredible value for the #82 pick in the 2009 draft.
Move the fences way way out.
I’m not sure if it’s the temp or not, but maybe if they turned the A/C on a bit, and maybe add some humidity, they could potentially customize the stadium to their hitters?
(never mind)
Second deck foul….stay fair next time!
Either way, here he is, and what a player! Agreed – bona fide MLB swinger.
Looks like another pitcher’s duel.
Vargas has to feel like he’s in the Twilight Zone. 5 dingers today. Almost 20 before the All-Star break. And that’s with a good number of starts at Safeco. I like Vargas. This is eerie.
Wow… thanks Jason. Don’t know if anyone told Noesi, Ramirez, or Vargas, but this game is in Arizona… not Seattle. It truly shows just how mediocre out starting pitching staff truly is. The field where fly balls go to die makes many pitchers look way better then what they are. Then you go to somewhere like Texas or Arizona, and we see just how good you are. And in Jason Vargas’s world… it aint happenin. Hell, I could hit his crap! Pathetic!
This series has been sponsored by USSSA
Woo-hoo, dingers!
Well, on the bright side – one might hope this series will show the “move the fences in” crowd that doing so wouldn’t really help the Mariners any more than it’d help their opponents.
Vargas is going to need an inhaler. Gotta be in total shock. Looked like John Rocker today. Real test of his mental makeup five days from now. I’ll be pulling for him. He’s been the anchor of the staff til today.
ERA up from 3.95 to 4.57
Westside guy, I disagree. What it shows is that Ramirez, Noesi, and ESPECIALLY Vargas aren’t good enough to pitch for a team that you want to have make a shot at the playoffs. Move the fences in for our offense and get some real pitchers. These guys don’t have the mental makeup to do the job. Vargas is so inconsistent that it makes me sick to my stomach!
“This series has been sponsored by USSSA”
and Sominex
Actually, Vargas has been nothing but consistent until today. He certainly doesn’t belong in a discussion that includes Noesi and Ramirez. And next week I’m guessing he’ll throw 6-7 innings and keep his team in the game.
Something’s definitely wrong here. Vargas has always walked a very fine line, as anyone who throws 86-87 does. But the M’s are near the top of the league in HR rate, and there’s no way that should be true given their home park.
Beavan, Noesi, Vargas…these guys would be HR-prone under any circumstance, so it’s still possible this is luck, but away from home, the M’s have yielded more dingers than anyone else, and thus opponents are slugging .461 overall. That’s before today’s 5-HR outburst. This seems systemic, and I’m not sure if it was the systemic preference for flyball/low walk pitchers at the GM level or some instruction that’s going terribly wrong at the pitching coach level.
“and Sominex”
And X-Box
“Actually, Vargas has been nothing but consistent until today. ”
To be fair, he’s been pretty consistent in allowing HRs over the past year and his pace is accelerating. It hasn’t really hurt him, as most have been solo shots, but he’s got a homer problem.
Conceded…but hasn’t his control been fair and his ERA decent in spite of it?
Also, (unrelated), at UNC, Ackley and Seager were surprisingly similar in BA, doubles, and RBI. Ackley had 22 HR, Seager only 6. Interesting, though not particularly indicative of anything significant. Just curious.
Oh good grief.
Didn’t Elton John write a theme song for games like this?
Woohoo Westy – a 3 touchdown game! Isn’t it awesome!!!
Guess I’m done with this for today; 20 + runs in two games for AZ offense. I give. Encouraging that the M’s are slowly developing a lineup that may provide some offense for a change.
(Inside the Parker…Saunders could have played that one better…seems that Gutierrez had a similar problem with that OF yesterday, too. Life on the road…)
Done with Arizona.
I really wish I could watch this game! hehe
I don’t think the radio is doing it justice…
“but hasn’t his control been fair and his ERA decent in spite of it?”
Yes, it has, and it’s just a question of what’s going to give. Is his HR/9 or HR/FB or plain old HRs allowed going to fall back to where it’s been in the past couple of years, allowing him to maintain a very good RA, or is he going to start missing the zone a bit more to stop giving up so many HRs? He’s clearly been a bit unlucky in that no one would expect THIS many fly balls to turn into HRs, but this is the sort of run any fly baller can have.
That was nice to see. Not sure if it justified my decision to keep watching this game, but still.
More of that, please, Franklin.
Any guesses on how much longer Zagurski is in the Major Leagues?
Maybe I should walk away more often. I was just in a short meeting… and the Mariners scored another four or five runs!
Figgins is threatening to cross the Mendoza line!
I thought it was renamed the “Mariners at home” line
The “M’s doza” line.
Nicely done, sir!
Coach, that’s why ERA isn’t a good stat to use.
Iwakuma’s also had a bad couple of days…
A good stat to use for what? I’m just illustrating Vargas’ control as a factor in managing the damage of his homeritis. As I write this, I’m not specifically certain of his career WHIP, but I would guess that it’s a reasonable number. My whole treatise was (and is) that he has been a steady, dependable starter, albeit fly-ball prone. Not in the Hoesi, Ramirez conversation.
Also, I’m an advocate for Hultzen to make a major league appearance well before September. Let’s see what we’ve got. You take a guy that high, you’re saying he’s close to ready.
Figgins went 2 for 2.
Really, somebody needs to snatch him up.
Can we petition the MLB to let us play the rest of our games on the road? If we’re going to lose it my as well be in style. Or better yet lets move to Las Vegas, then change our name to the Seattle Mariners of Las Vegas. Makes perfect sense to me anyways.
Our pitching staff is Felix and the 4 fifth starters.
We have a window folks and right now we ain’t in it. Couple years for the young position players to come into there prime and hopefully the minor league pitching bounty is ready for the bigs at the same time.