Game 134, Angels at Mariners
Hernandez vs Santana, 1:05 pm.
Happy Felix Day, and also Happy Fox Blackout Rules So Hardly Anyone Can Watch This Day! MLB’s deal with Fox has made baseball on Saturdays suck.
In news, the M’s called up Erasmo Ramirez and Carlos Peguero today, and will make a few more moves when Tacoma’s season ends on Monday. Expect Casper Wells, Shawn Kelley, and Mike Carp to return, and maybe Alex Liddi if they want another third base option besides Chone Figgins on the bench. Hector Noesi is also a possibility, but given how poorly his season has gone in Tacoma, it might be best to just shut him down and tell him to start over again next spring.
Ackley, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Seager, 3B
Jaso, C
Montero, DH
Thames, RF
Smoak, 1B
Robinson, LF
Ryan, SS
Update: With a holiday weekend and beautiful weather in Seattle, posting may be a little bit light. Feel free to continue using this game thread for Sunday and maybe Monday against the Red Sox, too.
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137 Responses to “Game 134, Angels at Mariners”
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I hate these dumb blackout rules!! All I have is the radio, but Trout take a seat!
We have the game on Big Fox – in southeastern WA
Peguero up before Wells … Casper must be in the dogs house dog house! That’s just silly.
Carp, Liddi – sure … No doubters IMO
Instead of Noesi – I wonder if the org would bring up DJ Mitchell, instead. He is on the 40 man roster and he has looked a hell of a lot better than Noesi.
I have the game on Fox in snohomish county.
Yeah, Saturday afternoons represent one of the few times I can watch without worrying about immediate work pressures, child care, etc., because frankly I’m getting older and being in southwestern Virginia the West Coast night games usually run (well) past my bedtime. And M’s games against the Orioles are blacked out here, too, but unless you want to pay for the deluxe cable package you don’t get MASN where I live. This is all my way of saying, thanks MLB.TV for taking my $149 and then making it difficult to watch games that might otherwise be convenient for me to watch.
Yeah, Gar – totally agree. MLB.com had a special last month “MLB.tv for the rest of the season – $10!” which I decided to do. Then I found out they even black out AWAY games if you happen to live in either team’s home territory!
It’s totally ludicrous, and demonstrates the old men running baseball – much like the movie studios and music companies – have pretty much zero understanding of the internet and the world we now live in.
Hey! Trayvon actually flashed a little power there!!
Trayvon – right on cue. Mark Gubicza is doing the game with Dave Sims – and was just talking about how Robinson could be a star in this league someday.
That would be hard to imagine, but Gubicza said it and then Trayvon hit it.
Guti drives in Ackley!
Man, I am so glad Guti’s back…
Trayvon and star don’t belong in the same sentence. Nice to see a little power though…
Wish I had known about that mlb deal, Westy. I would have jumped on that in a second! No blackouts here, as far as I know.
Guti is playing well…other than a couple baserunning decisions that were not so great…
Nice to see Guti having success right away.
Shoot, Steve, I’m sorry. I should have thought about that.
What happened was I saw the deal when I went to load up the radio feed at work, during the White Sox series (if I remember correctly) – so I thought “Hey it’s an away game, I can have it in a corner of my screen here at work”. But then I immediately discovered it won’t let you watch your region’s away games either, which seemed so ridiculous it pretty much chased everything else out of my mind.
It’s so silly. The argument for the blackouts is ostensibly to drive attendance at the games. People aren’t going to drive 3000 miles to attend an away game…
“Adventure” Thames strikes again.
MLB TV is pretty awesome for someone like me that doesn’t get any Mariner games on regular TV. Plus, being able to watch it through an Xbox, I can watch it on my big screen TV. However, the blackouts on Saturdays and vs. home teams (California for me) drive me insane when its a game I wanna see like today.
Thames with an almost perfect use of his shoulder to “block” that foul ball down the line. Maybe next inning he can register a “sack”.
Mike, that Thames play seemed very Canseco-esque dontcha think?
GREAT play by Ackley to make that tag after that awful throw from Seager!
Oh, I wasn’t blaming you Westy! I probably would have done the same! The blackout restrictions really don’t make sense. I believe some of it has to do with the root sports contract as well.
I will cut Thames some slack – crashing into the foul line wall and battling the sun to boot, but a lot of RF’s probably make that play. Not quite Canseco’esque IMO, but maybe a distant second cousin to it.
It’s a good thing Peguero can now go in later as a defensive replacement, though.
I think the blackout on MLB TV for all games in your local market is to keep viewers beholden to the cable TV contracts. They don’t want viewers to watch MLB TV without ads when the cable networks are shelling out billions of dollars for the broadcast rights. And from that standpoint, it doesn’t matter if your team is playing at home or away — as long as you are in the region where the cable network owns the broadcast rights, you won’t get the game on MLB TV.
Those regions are big too — I wasn’t able to get the Mariners when I was in Hawaii last month!
Shoulda checked this thread. Took me forever to find the game.
Well, Steve, thing is – some time afterward I kind of kicked myself because it dawned on me that I should’ve told you about it.
Were you getting the Angels broadcast when you were in Hawaii? A few years ago – that was seemingly the local team for the island (Maui).
I would have moved to Mauii, but I found everything to be a bit under-priced. Maybe if the cost of things increases in the future, I can reconsider my options.
Pssst, Westy ……… Sarcasm.
Maui sounds similar to Sao Paulo.
On that note, I~m off. Enjoy the rest of the game
Mike, I didn’t try to get the Angels while over there (why would i want to?) so I don’t know if other teams are blacked out there too. But yeah, I thought it would be Angels I Dodgers or Giants or A’s, not the M’s.
GREAT job by Ryan there!
Haha, Wedge actually puts in a pinch runner for Montero – but it’s PEGUERO!
Seriously, WHAT is he THINKING?? If he wants to put a sub-.200 hitter in at DH, he might as well have put Muni in there.
Urgh, stupid Angels and their stupid hitters.
Why exactly did Wedge let Felix start the 8th? He was over 100 pitches, and had been pitching around trouble for a lot of the game.
It was his 4th time through the line up and he was looking a bit tired, and he wasn’t closing the Angels down. So Wedge leaves him in there until the lead if blown, then relieves him – 4 batters too late – with Pryor to close the deal for Anaheim.
I find Eric Wedge to be a very frustrating manager.
That’s on Wedge. You HAVE to walk Pujols once he’s ahead in the count. Anything to keep Trout at third. I’m not second guessing. I said it out loud when the count was 1-0. Your team doesn’t score enough runs, Felix is tiring, and Pujols is too good. Felix and Jaso share the blame. No way you can back up a fastball to Pujols. Game over as soon as Trout scores the tying run. Too bad. Our announcers never have the guts to be honest.
The Mariners added Peguero and left Wells in Tacoma? What is their problem with Wells? He’s a better ball player than every outfielder they have except Gutierrez! What a bunch of fucking clowns!
Our announcers aren’t allowed to be honest. They are employees of the team. Once late in one crappy season, I was listening to a game on the radio, probably an 8th inning or so, and Niehaus started talking about how nice it would be if they could say what they really thought about some of the players. I’m sure someone else here remembers.
Jeff Sullivan pointed out that Wells has to stay in AAA for 10 days after being sent down.
Felix had to grind hard to get through 7, so I definitely agree with Colm and VC. Felix should have been pulled before the 8th – or early within the 8th when you could see that he was No longer able to dominate … And having to face the meat of the order, as well. Bad “no decision” by Wedge – IMO
In regard to the “10 days” – I have no doubt there is such a rule, but didn’t Delabar get optioned and re-assigned within a matter of hours when Furbush got hurt? Exactly when does the 10 day clock start ticking?
And only because it makes me feel better to repeat it … The team “boned” the timing of the Wells option decision to begin with. They made it a couple days after Saunders was hurt. There is no way to know why the team is frustrated with Wells (there may be a number of good reasons) … His wonky footwork in the batters box – for one … but unless the guy is just a total ass-clown who is simply not listening to his Coaches, there is no way he should not be on a ML roster while a guy like Peguero is on the roster.
No way, no how! It just makes the org look silly.
The season is a big long chess match and the team did not do a good job looking a move or two ahead. They had time to assess the initial Saunders injury. And Wedge (todays game) did not do a good job looking ahead, either. Knowing when to remove your ace is something that would separate a game well managed from a game poorly managed. Felix had already given the team everything he had.
I suspect the 10-day rule doesn’t apply when the player is being recalled to replace someone on the DL.
Gah. I was dreading September for precisely this reason–Wedge would start playing Peguero again.
Z needs to recognize that if he’s going to stick with Wedge, he needs to get this guy out of the organization this off-season. Every MLB PA he gets diminishes my faith in the leadership of this organization.
Dear Mr. Wedge,
Just because Peguero is on the team, does not mean you have to use him.
Sincerely, all reasonably competent Mariners fans.
P.S. If the game is lacking entertainment value feel free to use him as a late game “defensive” replacement or pinch “hitter.”
Wedge is just being a considerate host. It’s a sunny mid-day game, and the field is going to be rather warm. Peguero’s at-bats will provide a refreshing breeze directed at the visitor’s dugout.
Man, it would be really great if we could see Guti AND Saunders on the field at the same time…
(AND Wells, too – but I’m thinking that’s just too much of a pipe dream at this point)
Urgh… Montero is SO bloody slow…
Good grief that is one slow man.
aaaand that’s the worst of all possible worlds. CP gets a hit, and we don’t even get a run out of it.
Montero should ALWAYS have a stop sign at third on any single. I don’t recall him ever scoring from second on a single, and multiple instances of him being thrown out at the plate.
How is Zunino’s speed? Just wondering?
All right! Great play!
“A cast of rising stars and dominant vets”…
I wonder which “dominant vets” that commercial is referring to, exactly?
Man I’m ready to throw in the towel on this whole Montero as a catcher thing. Inaccurate arm, seemingly incapable of horizontal movement to knock down pitches. He could probably pick up more of the fundamentals with time, but he’s not going to get any more athletic. I’m skeptical he could even make a passable 1B. Just bite the bullet and DH him.
Re: Zunino’s speed – he did have 3 stolen bases this year, for whatever that’s worth.
In 113 minor-league games, Jesus montero had 0.
Yes, I agree … I think Montero could be a nice to have around #3 catcher. Nothing wrong with two primary catchers and a serviceable #3.
Now, if we could only get a serviceable 1B. How many 1B’s has Billy Beane cycled through while the Mariners have nurtured the disaster that is Justin Smoak over the past 2+ seasons? 5, 10? Does anybody know?
If Carp and player X don’t get 90% of the reps at 1B – starting Tuesday – the Mariners will lock up the rubber spine Front Office Award for the season.
Wait, I was wrong – Zunino had 1 stolen base this year. My apologies.
I’d be curious to hear from people who’ve caught before – but, to my admittedly inexpert eye, it looks like Montero has changed his style since he got here.
The first few games he caught, he appeared to be squaring up and blocking pitches somewhat adequately – but he was horribly slow with throws to second. Now it looks like he’s doing the “Olivo stab” at pitches, but his move to second is faster (still not good – just faster).
I’m wondering if the organization – or his mentor, Olivo – might’ve broken something he did correctly while trying (unsuccessfully) to fix something he was awful at. Any thoughts?
JESUS HR!!!
That 448-foot Montero home run was further than any home run Justin Smoak has ever hit.
They won’t be throwing him out at the plate on that one. 448′ – … 22 years old !!!
!!!!!!!!
Okay, Peggy – prove us wrong!!
… next inning!!
Man, it’s exciting to watch but – I hope Trayvon doesn’t end up losing some teeth on one of those dives into the left field stands.
PEGGY!!!!
Peuguero – a home run by accident.
I’ll take an accidental home run over a all-but-inevitable strikeout any day of the week.
Man, Trayvon Robinson’s arm is bad.
He’s throwing from center-left field to second base, not throwing particularly hard… and still misses by about 20 feet.
As if Montero isn’t speed-challenged enough, he slides feet first and tries to grab the base or plate with his hand – slowing the slow-down process even more. That should be easy to fix, though. I didn’t think he could find a way to make himself even slower, but he has.
It’s a good thing Monty has significant power, Mike. But it’s really his only marketable major league skill.
Mariners really should try to sign Iwakuma for another year or two.
Great to see the fans give him a standing O as he walks off the field!
Pucker-up time. Here comes the “Gauntlet”
Awfully high leverage situation for Kinney here, Wedge.
Whew!!!
He got through it though! Not without us all sweating bullets however.
I agree Westy …Assuming Iwakuma is interested in re-signing, here.
Thankfully Jaso is faster than Montero…
Hey, Smoak!
Um… at least it wasn’t an infield pop-up?!
Heck, who am I kidding – an infield popup would’ve been better in that situation.
Man, Wilhelmsen’s curve is a thing of beauty…
YEAH!! They finally beat them!!
Nice win!
Haha, I just saw Muni in the background waving at the crowd and jumping up and down…
Want to re-sign Iwakuma, he may be in line for a pay-raise though.
Iwakuma deserves a raise and the team can certainly afford it. Right now, the committed payroll for next year is (I believe) around 40 million. Too bad the FA crop is so slim.
AFAIK, the rule is that a player must stay down there at last ten days, unless he’s called back to replace someone going on the DL–which is frequently the case.
W/R/T: Some years ago, KC sent down RAUL IBANEZ, called him back right away (when another player got injured), and IBANEZ began his tear.
Drayer on Iwakuma, for what it’s worth:
“He eased into the season, eased into the starter’s role and while some will say he was there all along and it was Eric Wedge’s bad for not pitching him more early or putting him in the rotation from the get go, they are wrong. He wasn’t ready. Anyone who saw him this spring knew it. The velocity wasn’t there, the pitches weren’t there. Physically he did not look ready. It had little to do with his performance in games this spring and it was all about what we saw in bullpens, side work. The arm strength wasn’t there, the pitches were flat, he needed work. He himself admitted in May that it takes him some time to get into a season.”
I do like Drayer, and she may be right about Iwakuma – but she does tend to take anything the manager or a player says as gospel.
I think it comes with the territory when you’re the “clubhouse insider”. You can’t spend huge amounts of time with a particular group without being somewhat influenced by their point of view.
Monday’s lineup, per Greg Johns:
Jason Vargas vs. Clay Buchholz
Ackley 2B
Gutierrez CF
Seager 3B
Jaso DH
Smoak 1B
Thames RF
Olivo C (hmmm, hurr… what??)
Peguero LF
Ryan SS
Olivo gets rewarded for this season’s excellent performance against righties… hahaha No he’s probably 3 for 5 against Buchholz in his career, or something equally silly.
Saunders is still day to day – he’s “available for pinch hitting”, or would be if Wedge actually ever used pinch hitters. It’s probably just as well that he doesn’t, in this case.
What a sorry lineup after 1-4. Geesh even 1-4 aren’t ideal but on the Mariners they are beyond ideal.
I’m glad Wedge put Thames in there; but with him and Peguero at the corners it may be ugly. Also I hope they’ve added extra padding to Guti’s uniform today – either one of those guys could accidentally break him.
Hmm… I was hoping the “good Vargas” would show up today, but unfortunately I think “bad Vargas” is still hanging around.
Here’s hoping he gets it sorted out before inning two. One run’s not too bad.
Westy, you should guest blog here more often!
hehehe
D! F! A! D! F! A!
I think you spell that “O-O-Olivo!” hehe
On a positive note – Vargas has settled down.
He pays them to keep Figgins on the team so he can say someone else is less deserving of a roster spot.
Only thing I can figure is maybe Wedge felt Monty needed a day off for some reason.
Guti!
It is so nice when Guti is healthy…
I wonder what they’ll do at catcher. Cuz they have 3 kinda bad catchers right now. We may need a stop-gap for a year while Zunino is developing. I could even see them bringing Olivo back for cheap. Not sure what else they’d do.
JASO!
Why not let Jaso just take the majority of catcher at bats, and have Monty sub in once or twice a week until Zunino’s ready?
The way Zunino’s going, we might see him sometime next year.
Smoak!?!
Smoak! Good job!
Monty could be transitioning to first next year, but I’d have no problem with him just being a little-used stopgap at catcher.
We’d need an emergency catcher in case one of them got injured. I would say it’s farfetched, except it already happened. Unless you move Montero to 1B, which I’d be fine with.
Alright, great, so we just need to trade Smoak, or at least DH him.
Yeah! Boston shooting themselves in the foot again!
BTW when I said “little used” in reference to Monty, I just meant as catcher – I’d want him in most every game as 1B or DH.
Olivo!
Hahahaha!! Boston just gave us TWO outs!
I’m gonna keep talking trash to Olivo, it’s working!
Also, yes, we’re on the same page with catchers.
This is awesome. I just wish it’d happen vs. the Yankees.
Woo hoo! Okay, Boston managed to finally make a play, but…
I think Lavarnway has got to find a way to stop that ball, but we’ll take it!
Speaking of game thread hosting, the next time you do it ” Westy” could you simply post a “Game 135″ and “Game 136″ in advance. No lineup. No insight … Just a worm hole to peek through – for the commenters. In theory, that could be done for all 162, but that wouldn’t be any fun.
Hehe Mike.
Has Cody Ross ever played any 1B – and is he a FA after this season? He could be an extremely useful player for the M’s (and their payroll) if he has the ability to cover a couple different OF positions as well as 1B.
Fangraphs doesn’t show him with any games at first, Mike.
Olivo has two hits today! More confirmation for Wedge’s voodoo matchup skills! (since I’m sure he ignores all the times it doesn’t work out, and only remembers the few times it does)
So Peguero watches a strike go by, then swings at a pitch that’s within 6 inches of his feet – both very low and very inside.
Where’s this supposed “improved discipline” some people talk about? It’s pretty obvious he has no idea where a pitch is.
And yes, Ross is a free agent after this season.
BTW after a not-great first inning, Vargas has looked darn good today!
I don’t know if I send him out in the 8th though.
Wedge read your comment, Waco.
Yay
Well, even if Ross cannot play 1B, he could help strengthen the OF for next season – IMO. There will be some teams interested in his services, and he is not the kind of talent to get into a bidding war over, but he could help provide some above average production. It would be better if he could have the IF/OF positional flexibility, though. Apparently, he does not have it.
Wouldn’t you think, with some spring training reps, he could be good enough to play first in a pinch?
I’m not saying he’d be particularly good… just that he might be able to not embarrass himself at first.
I wonder if there is any hope/chance for Figgins to approach the team in the offseason and ask to be bought out of the last year of his contract? If he asked for 50% of what he is owed next year – to walk away free and clear – does the team do it? At some level, Figgins must have enough pride to not want to waste away and simply cash checks. Right? If he was a FA, he likely would get nothing more than a minor league deal, but to just sit there …… It has got to bother him.
Speaking of spring training reps, maybe we could have sliding drills?
What, G-Man, you didn’t like Seager almost sliding into left field?
Urgh, SMOAK.
Why pinch-hit Robinson for Thames? Wedge’s preferences for certain guys just baffle me.
Hot hand. Thames has sucked lately and Trayvon’s hit well.
Westy, that and Montero’s 2 outs yesterday. Jaso was only slightly better there.
Good AB by Trayvon. Which leads to Me Clutch.
And there it was
Okay, I unfortunately have to run. GO MARINERS! DON’T BLOW THIS!!
Good to hear Voodoo Child. But I’d like to hear Fire.
So, is anybody going to order the Felix perfect game bat? I have an Ichiro bat from his 9th consecutive 200 hit season. I am still not sure why i had to get it, but i had to – so i did. Someday, I will pass it along.
That play happens (Ackley’s) when you intentionally backhand a ball that you could have gotten in front of. I am not sure why, but I think it is a rule.
Good win – and with a brutal looking lineup. Nice game by Vargas. I hope Carp and Wells come back with some fire in their ass – and make a case for themselves. I will be able to make it through the winter just fine – without seeing another Smoak or Peguero AB.
Definitely, mike.
Westside:
Shannon might well have been repeating what Wedge and Willis told her, or she might have witnessed it herself. I wasn’t there, so I can’t tell you. But she referred to “what we saw in the bullpens, side work.” If you take that to mean what she saw personally, and if that is in fact what she meant, then is there even a chance in hell that she might know what she’s talking about, or do you have some solid evidence to the contrary?
I’m not claiming to know. I’m just wondering how it is that she can describe in detail what Iwakuma was throwing in the bullpen, and on what basis you dismiss that automatically as “insider” stuff, and imply that she’s just repeating what Wedge and/or Willis told her.
Ivan,
As I said in the comment, she might be right. But I have read (and usually enjoyed) her stuff for as long as she’s covered the Mariners, and I can’t think of a single time she’s made comments that haven’t fallen right in line with what a manager or player says – at least while they are with the team. Never a “Wedge said X, but that doesn’t really explain Y or Z”. So when she says “we saw” I always assume she’s just going with what was filtered through Wedge or another team person.
But analysis isn’t her niche, so I’m not going to ding her too much over it. Drayer is best when she’s providing insight into the locker room, give behind-the-scenes stories about the players, that sort of thing – and she does that very well.
For that matter, we don’t know what kind of leeway she really has with regards to saying what she really thinks, deep down, anyway. If she did say things that went against the company line, she might very well lose that closeness with the players and managers – and that’s her bread and butter. These baseball guys are extremely touchy – look at how LaRue got ostracized after writing about Griffey’s naps and lack of participation. Players weren’t even allowed to talk to him for weeks (enforced by other players, not the club)! Do you think a LaRue or a Baker could develop that same “in” Drayer enjoys?
Drayer’s access is a peripheral issue, and all it does is cloud the real issue, which is why Wedge didn’t use Iwakuma earlier in the season That’s what I’m trying to get at.
Drayer’s report is the first SPECIFIC mention I hear about how Iwakuma was actually throwing in spring training. If there is other information that I have missed, I hope someone will set me straight.
Is Wedge making shit up after the fact to save face now for having misused Iwakuma earlier, and feeding it to Drayer? Maybe he is, but other than circumstantial evidence, what hard evidence do we have from which we might draw that conclusion?
It’s clear from your comment that you don’t trust Wedge, or Drayer. I’m not saying you should, or that anyone should. I’m not saying I do.
But what access, or what leeway, Shannon Drayer has, or Larry LaRue has, or any other reporter or blogger has, doesn’t have any bearing on how Iwakuma was throwing in the bullpens in the spring.
All I have read here on USS Mariner boils down to: His NUMBERS didn’t justify his benching, therefore Wedge is horseshit, and Wedge does enough other things that are horseshit that we feel safe in drawing that causal inference in the case of Iwakuma.
Once again, if I am misrepresenting, please set me straight. I don’t mean this as putting anybody here down, or even disagreeing, necessarily, with anything I have read here.
What I have read from Drayer is information I haven’t seen before, and all I’m asking is if we shouldn’t re-examine the mysterious disuse of Iwakuma earlier in the season in the light of apparent new evidence.
Carl Willis mentioned today the great job that Rick Griffin and other trainers have done with Iwakuma, helping him build strength and velocity that was lost with his shoulder surgery. Wedge has done an excellent job bringing Iwakuma along and hopefully he will be back in the rotation next season!
Ivan, I think you do have a point, at least in my case. I do have a tendency to judge Wedge’s decisions through a filter based on my perception of previous decisions he’s made. In my mind, he’s not a good baseball manager (however I do think he is a good clubhouse guy, and is very protective of his young players – those are important traits, and he deserves credit for them). And if Drayer is accurately relating something that they all knew from the get-go… yes, we should re-examine it.
And as far as Iwakuma’s spring numbers go – they were bad. No one has said otherwise. What people here and elsewhere have said, though, is it was silly to judge Iwakuma and Jaso based on spring training numbers, because they are essentially meaningless. And up until recently, the Mariners narrative appeared to be that the lack of playing time for both those guys early on was because they didn’t do well in spring training.
The problem I’m having with this apparent new information is – why is it just coming up now? Very early in the season, people were questioning why Iwakuma wasn’t being used at all – if this new issue (Iwakuma’s supposed lack of readiness) was known to Drayer and to others back then, why didn’t they bring it up before? Or did they do so, and we all just missed it?
(Seriously, does she have older articles talking about this? Because if she does, I really should just shut up right now.)
Please note that, even if the new info is not 100% valid, I’m not claiming Wedge is making up lies or trying to cover up anything. It’s the way human minds work – most people’s memories aren’t as accurate as they think they are, because our minds are constantly adjusting memories in an attempt to maintain a consistent internal narrative.
Of course MY memory is perfect.
Also, I agree with Don – hopefully the team can bring Iwakuma back. The only reason we’re going back and forth on this at all is because he’s turned into a valuable guy.
I could swear that I’ve heard the radio play-by-play team talk earlier this year about Iwakuma’s lack of arm strength in spring training. Rizz saying what a great job Willis and Wedge have done slowly bringing him along and letting his arm strengthen, etc.
Okay, I will defer to the cumulative memories of several people here.
BTW I did find a quote about Iwakuma from Wedge when they broke spring training. He didn’t refer to any lack of strength (but I wouldn’t expect him to, honestly) – but he did refer to Iwakuma’s previous year’s health as a reason he was starting off in the bullpen.