Game 86, Mariners at Athletics
Jason Vargas vs. Jarrod Parker, 7:10pm
Maybe they need to move the fences in at the O.co Coliseum too. After another lackluster showing from the M’s line-up, the M’s are strongly hinting at imminent changes – Dave Sims tweeted about it today, and Wedge’s post-game press conference last night was clear as well: the M’s are sick of watching the same players fail, and might make some changes just to watch something, anything, different. Obviously, moves made in frustration and anger, and moves made to placate the “just change something up” crowd are seldom the most well-reasoned, judicious moves a GM could make. But in yet another reminder of just how bad this rebuilding job’s gone, there’s just not a whole lot there for a GM to screw up in a fit of pique. Sure, they could DFA Kyle Seager or trade Felix for cash considerations, but that’s not going to happen. They *could* do something like send Smoak back to the minors, DFA Chone Figgins, or bench Ichiro. I’m struggling to find a reason to argue with any such moves. I think everyone’s perfectly content to wait through a rebuild, but the M’s are offering few hints of any construction-related activity.
Today, they’ll face Jarrod Parker, who dominated them on June 27th. Parker uses a four- and two-seam fastball around 91-92, a good change-up and a slider. He generates an above-average number of swinging strikes, which balances out his poor command. His best pitch is the change-up, a well-disguised offering that’s generated misses on 45% of swings so far, a very high total. For comparison, Jason Vargas (also good) change-up gets whiffs on a bit over 30% of swings. When Parker struggles, it’s generally due to bases on balls. He misses the zone quite a bit more than Vargas – including over 41% of his change-ups (Vargas is at 37% this year). The M’s drew 4 walks against Parker in 7 innings, which isn’t bad, but since they are who they are, they also struck out 9 times and scored just one run off of Parker in June.
On the plus side, Vargas gets to face the A’s, who despite having Parker on their club appear to have never seen change-ups before. Vargas matched his career high against the A’s in his last start against them (today will be his *4th* start against the A’s in the first half of 2012). Pitch type linear weights have problems associated with them, and it’s just a half a year, but right now, the A’s have lost 9 more runs against change-ups than the Mariners. The Mariners are better at not as terrible at something related to batting than the A’s! Too bad about literally everything else related to batting.
Today’s line-up features plenty of left-handers against the righty Parker. Despite the change-up, Parker has “traditional” platoon splits, and has been better against righties than lefties. Again, the M’s need to take some pitches and run up his pitch count, so…ahh, screw it. Peguero’s starting, let’s just hit some dingers. Dingers, M’s! Hit some dingers!
1: Ackley (2B)
2: Ichiro (RF)
3: Saunders (CF)
4: Jaso (C)
5: Seager (3B)
6: Wells (LF)
7: Smoak (1B)
8: Peguero (DH)
9: Ryan (SS)
SP: Jason Vargas
Catcher Adam Moore, who was DFAd this week, was picked up on waivers by the Royals.
Forrest Snow starts tonight for Jackson against Rays prospect Kyle Lobstein – Snow’s righted the ship a bit since his demotion, and tonight’s game looks great on paper. The Rainiers are in Salt Lake finishing up a series against the Bees, and Blake Beavan gets his fifth start since he was optioned.
Dominican lefty Wander Marte gets the ball for Pulaski tonight; the 20 year old is coming off an impressive 5 inning performance in which he gave up 1 run, walked no one and K’d 9.
Taijuan Walker’s in sweltering Kansas City for the Futures Game, which takes place tomorrow.
Comments
108 Responses to “Game 86, Mariners at Athletics”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I would hope they wouldn’t bench Ichiro until Guti’s back – they just don’t have anyone to replace him. Peggy didn’t get many balls hit in his vicinity last night, but boy if it still wasn’t darn obvious he has no business putting on a glove I don’t know what is in this world.
However once Guti is back I wouldn’t mind seeing Wells getting a good chunk of the RF starts. I just don’t know if it’ll happen.
It would not be surprising to see Smoak get sent down, and I’m hoping it happens. I don’t want the team to give up on him, per se; but someone needs to tell him exactly what he needs to fix and then let him do it in AAA. Give Carp the ABs, or call up someone else who’s bat is showing promise (whether they’re a first baseman or not – how hard can it be?) and stick them there.
I like seeing Ackley’s name in the lead-off spot for reasons that are not yet clear. It certainly cannot be based on anything rational. I suppose it has something to do with this being the natural order of things and consistent with what was eventually envisioned.
In the spirit of saying it so Mike Blowers does not have to, May today be the day that he “gets himself going.”
Mike, let’s hope on TV tonight we are hearing Blowers not say things rather than Hendu saying things.
BTW Peggy at DH – I can’t complain about that!
So, have you guys seen the SI article on why we should trade Felix Hernandez… Basically NO PITCHER (there have been 14) who has pitched 1500+ innings by age 26 has gone on to be a winning pitcher into his 30′s (sort of like the running back who hits 2500 carries rule).
And the writer argues he’s at his peak value right now, being under team control for 2 years, with the Mariners not looking like contenders till at least 2014.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/07/06/felix-hernandez-justin-verlander-carlos-lee/index.html?xid=cnnbin
I’m OK with Ackley in the lead-off ,just cause he has alphabetical supremacy, even though “Ichi” is technically “1″ in Japanese.
God I hope it’s Blowers tonight…I may have to mute the TV, and play the radio.
The Diamondbacks are supposedly willing to listen to offers for Justin Upton:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/07/dbacks-could-consider-offers-for-justin-upton.html
This was Dave’s take on Upton prior to the 2011 season:
http://www.ussmariner.com/2010/11/17/the-big-splash-option/
Albeit in the offseason of 2010, the M’s were on Upton’s no-trade list but according to reports the teams on the previous list have since changed.
The Mariners have the chance to acquire one of the best young players in the game. Upton is just 24-years-old and he’s already produced 15.6 career WAR (14.2 WAR from 2009-2011). He’s under contract for $41 million through 2015, so Seattle would have their franchise cornerstone for the next three-and-a-half seasons. In order to live up to the rest of this contract, he would have to annually produce 3-3.5 WAR, of which he has already done three times in his four full seasons in the MLB.
He wouldn’t be cheap and he IS one of the more inconsistent players in the game, but he’s a cost effective, young and established star at the MLB level. I’m going to get bashed for this, but if the Diamondbacks need a prospect package built around a couple of the young studs, hopefully Zduriencik is all ears. At some point you need to solve the offensive woes and get some fans in the seats and as shown in the Fister and Pineda trades, the only way that’s going to get done is by dealing from the plethora of pitching talent.
Unfortunately, Justin Upton has been his own sort of “offensive woe” this season.
I am not questioning the logic in regard to his overall body of work to date, but he is not having a good year, gets paid a lot of money and hits right handed.
I am not sure what’s going on with Upton this year, but he has “red flags” all around him.
Or they can move this team to OKC.
Wedge is suddenly irrationally attached to Peguero? Whoocodanode?
Call me crazy, given the results, but I kind of like this team. It gives me hope.
They can play three credible outfielders, especially with Gutierrez healthy. Seager has played well, Ryan doesn’t hit but he can field, and Jaso has been good.
The big problem with the rebuild is that all three of the young stars-to-be — Ackley, Montero, and Smoak — are producing way below average at the plate. If you believe that at least two of them will be better than average hitters one day soon (please?), the future doesn’t look so bleak.
If those three (OK, Montero and Ackley) never break out, the M’s are in Purgatory for a long time, but I still hold out hope.
Interesting article by Verducci … Thanks Mr Z.
When logic meets emotion, decisions get difficult.
Personally, think they need to keep Felix into the 2014 season and then decide what to do based on where the team is at that point in time. The freaking Mets turned it around in a year. In theory, the Mariners could turn it around within Jacks 5 or 6 year tenure.
Keep in mind, I did say “conceivably”.
Upton is having a down season, but I think it’s more important to take his last 2700 PA’s into account instead of his last 300. This season he could be a solid buy-low candidate. Some of his early season struggles were due to a thumb injury which made it difficult to even swing a bat. We’ve seen improvement over the course of the past month or so, as he’s gone on to post a .301/.347/.409 slash line.
The fact that he’s a right handed bat shouldn’t be much of an issue considering he has power to all fields.
Fair enough, although I doubt he would be thrilled with Safeco. With that said, what would you propose trading to Arizona – knowing they are primarily looking for position players?
I am sure they would be interested in a top flight pitching prospect too ( who wouldn’t be) but my understanding is they want position players – of which we have a select few options.
What are the odds that, between Romero and Catricala, we actually have one 110+ OPS hitter in the making? I know, I’m getting way ahead of myself….
Romero is currently impersonating the 2011 version of Catricala. Hopefully he impersonates someone else next year.
I like keeping up with each of them, actually – and I hope they both work out. Evidence of low draft picks that are working their way through the system nicely – if nothing else.
Saunders struck out and walked in the same at bat.
Holy crap! Blowers on the radio instead of Hendu. I couldn’t believe I missed the game yesterday and was sure that I’d have to listen to more insane stories from him tonight.
Sims and Hendu on tv though? Root is going to
have their lowest ratings of the year during this series.
New lineup, same old crap though.
Thanks Coco!
Jaso to the rescue!
YEAH!!!
Jaso and Saunders seem to be the two most consistent Mariners this year.
Well unless you count Smoak.
I am not sure if scoring 1 run in the first inning is a good omen or not.
Well I’m just happy they’ve gotten a hit before the fourth inning, the last two games.
Yeah that’s a low bar…
Oh well, that didn’t last long. Fun while it lasted though
Vargas has given up 23 HR’s already…
Argh, Vargas…
Since when can Cespedes take a walk?
How can you watch the game on tv with radio sound only … With the 10 second delay?
And why is there such a lengthy delay? It hasn’t always been that way.
How many of those 23 HR’s have been on the road? It’s most of them right? Vargas definitely seems to benefit from Safeco the most on this team
That was an interesting stat, that the A’s had not had a walkoff homer in extra innings since 1950. The M’s certainly have since then (the Cameron one in the 2000 19 inning game comes to mind).
Wake the neighbors – Smoak is up!
They won’t want to miss this fantastic exhibition of baseball talent.
Smoak!!
Holy shit!
See, told ya!
Did your neighbors see that Mike? Ha!
Hey TV Producer – could we get Sims on one stereo channel and Hendu on the other so I can just use the balance control to tune out Henderson?
Smoak! Good Job! (Wells too, but with Wells it’s not so unexpected)
Peggy strikes out on three pitches.
A Smoak Double????? Are you kidding me?????
I saw Peguero have that same at-bat in Tacoma a week ago Thursday.
I’m sure the ump and catcher appreciate that nice cooling breeze, Peggy.
A Peggy strikeout???? Are you kidding me???? Oh wait…..
Peguero has really cut down on that swing, hasn’t he?
Three swings from his ass as hard as he could
Brutal.
Suicide squeeze, Wedge – suicide squeeze!
Ryan! Two run double.
How about they just turn off Hendu’s mic? Don’t tell him, let him keep telling his stories.
That’ll work too.
What the hell was that Ryan?
For once I agree with Hendu, that should be called a balk.
A Ryan 2 run double???? Are you kidding me????? What is happening to this team??? Runs??? Wow!!!
Why is Hendu commentating over Blowers anyway?
BRENDAN STOP THAT.
Why can’t our pitcher strike out every hitter on a breaking ball in the dirt? Oh, right, because major league hitters have learned not to swing at them. If only we had some major league hitters on the team.
My neighbor saw it and still can’t believe it. Me either.
Maybe that’s Ackley’s problem – Mickey’s not hanging around with his chickens anymore.
Three runs so far, I’m not going to complain.
Best SS glove in the bigs!
Beautiful, Ryan! You’re forgiven (mostly).
Ryan is pretty solid for player of the game so far.
Hendu is horrible to listen to.
A balk on a legal spin -. Even though Ryan took off before the pitcher made a move?
The pitcher is supposed to disengage before throwing to an unoccupied base, but Ryan made such a dumb play, nobody probably noticed the spin to 2B and the throw to 3B.
If you want to see the spin move abolished entirely, I couldnt find a heck of a lot to argue with. Strange play all around – and another free out give away by a team that can’t afford it.
Sweet catch by Reddick.
Most Ichiro at bats lately have been pretty lousy. This one I can’t complain about.
Hendu is paid to speak, by the way. Someone pays him to do this.
With money.
On purpose.
I personally think the balk rule itself is silly. So many things about baseball involve deception – why is one particular set of moves being singled out?
If the pitcher can fake out the runner, I think he should be allowed to.
You have to consider what how many more throws over to first you’d have without it. The game is slowed down enough with them.
Wells!!!
How long before someone gets to that ball?
Casper!
How long before someone gets to that ball?
Of course, what Sims and Hendu are conveniently ignoring in all this talk about Wedge lighting a fire under people is that Wells, Jaso, and Saunders – who’ve been a big part of today’s scoring – weren’t really the issue.
Horrible swing Peggy.
Smoak, sure. Ryah, sure. But let’s see how they do over the entire game before we credit Wedge’s little speech with the victory.
Coming in late, so apologies in advance for re-tracing some of the steps.
Mike, the delay has existed for at least 3-4 years, a curious piece of social engineering that ticks me off on general principle. Like the Safeco ushers who forbid movement during an at bat.
WELLS! HR! Love the guy !
I like Ichiro hitting 2nd. Thought it shoulda been done 3 years ago. Peguero is not major league IMO, but he might as well get a look. Just not in RF.
No one with qualified # of ABs is hitting abovev.260. In July. That is not embarrassing, it’s shameful.
Exactly, Westy. And Wedge pretty much wanted to bury all three of them and play Carp, Olivo and Figgins.
Singles Night at Safeco is the same night as LL/USS Mariner event.
I just hope the M’s actually hit some singles, doubles, triples and home runs that night.
Stat geeks will get a chance at a date? Break out the black leather pocket protectors!
Good contact by Ryan, but right at someone unfortunately.
Same for Ackley
Yeah Ichiro!
The pitcher is having trouble throwing strikes today – our guys need to not swing at balls so much.
(and now he’s gone)
Actually, the stat geeks will be carefully segregated from the singles night people. They will be drinking beer in center field and we’ll be in the Ellis Pavilion talking with Tom McNamara (actually, though I have a ticket I can’t attend).
Tell that to Ichiro (swinging at balls so much.)
No argument, VC; unfortunately he’s not the only one.
Oh, phew! I lost track and thought Peguero was up after Jaso.
Hrm, just had a thought from that last at bat that give Jaso a goatee, and there are some remarkable facial similarities with Jay Buhner….
YEAH SEAGER!!
The Mariners are playing add-on. Am I suddenly in an alternative universe?
If I remember my Star Trek episodes, there’s always one guy who’s exactly the same in alternative universes – excepting his facial hair.
Is Peguero’s beard a bit different than you remember, Breadbaker?
About time Seager!
That was a nice curve that got Smoak, I must admit.
Yay for Peggy! That wasn’t a strikeout!
Glad to see Vargas get some run support – and even more glad to see Vargas holding the A’s down.
The Casper Wells shift. Who knew?
Woe, had to leave for a while and the youngins that needed to start producing, have. With Ack and Smoak not amongst them.
Watching Peguero’s at bats yesterday and today, I can really see the subtle changes and newfound maturity of his approach at the plate.
His maturity is a bit stronger in his hacks. It’s subtle, but if you’re an expert you’ll see it
Peguero appears to have changed absolutely nothing since last season. Raw power without a clue.
Mike, you’re obviously not an expert to see the subtle changes!
I definitely saw some changes in his beard as well. Definitely alternative universe stuff.
Mike, how can you not see the changes in Peguero’s approach from last year to this year. The difference is like night and night.
I will look more closely for the “changes” next time, Which hopefully won’t be tomorrow.
Non 40 man speedy outfielder (Darren Brown) continues to produce in AAA … Still with less than 20 games played on the season, though. He does have some limited MLB time, too. Has anybody seen him play in person? Scouting report, please.
I think you are on to something, Westy.
And, I am sure that Hendu would understand and thoroughly be able to explain the nuance, too.
I really hope Carlos Peguero doesn’t ever have the urge to go read what the blogosphere has to say about him.
He’s probably a really nice guy. Too bad he can’t play baseball.
Mike, first off it’s Darren Ford that you’re talking about I’m almost positive..
As for a scouting report, I was stunned he’s not on an NL roster somewhere. I don’t think he’ll hit much in the bigs but he’s fast and was amazing in center the game I went to. He read everything off the bat so quickly. However, he had limited power and when I was there one of his two hits was a ground out ball to short that was hit so soft that he didn’t have any play at first.
I think he’d be a good fit for an NL team that could use him for double switches and a defensive sub, but I don’t think he’d help us too much. I’d guess he’d hit right about .240 with no power and really good D.
.240 with no power and really good D? Isn’t that basically two-thirds of the roster right now? I’m shocked he’s not up with the big club because he’s the perfect Mariner!
Thanks Marcus. I did mean “Ford”.
I had no idea what “Brown could do for me” … Until just now.
The answer: nothing.
Thanks for the scouting report. This team needs speed and another guy to chase down a fly ball – if Guti stays on the perpetual IR. I suppose “brown-ford” could assume the figgy role. However, I have made many assumptions in regard to who could best fill the figgy role – and the answer is never figgy, but here he stays
Well, if another team thinks it needs a plus defensive guy – Ford could possibly be turned into something the team needs.