Game 72, Mariners at Angels
Jeremy Bonderman vs. Joe Blanton, 7:10pm
If last night’s match-up focused on a trade/acquisition that works out exactly as you’d hope, tonight’s features the opposite. Joe Blanton looks very much like the pitcher he was in Philadelphia – he’s an average GB%, solid K%, low walk pitcher who gets the most out of a 90mph fastball and an assortment of bendy pitches. He’s a junkballer, but he’s carved out a niche for himself by being a dependable middle- to back-of-the-rotation starter. The Angels, sensibly, thought that by taking a guy out of a HR-aiding park like Philly’s and inserting him in HR-neutralizing Anaheim, they’d get the great K:BB ratio without paying a penalty in gopher-balls.
Well, that deal’s worked fine, but the Angels aren’t collecting lots of kudos for signing Blanton to a 2-year, $15m deal. Part of the reason is that Anaheim can’t protect Blanton in away games. He’s given up 11 homers in 7 road games, and batters are slugging .592 off him away from So Cal. But that doesn’t mean he’s been brilliant at home. Blanton’s game works when his BABIP is under .300. This year, it’s .368. Sure, some of that is clearly luck, but his LD% and the homers suggest that batters are getting a good look at his pitches. His FIP isn’t terrible despite all of the HRs thanks to the K:BB ratio, but his ERA is pushing 6. It’d actually be worse if he wasn’t pitching relatively well with RISP; he’s getting torched with the bases empty. In any event, this is not the rotation-stabilizer they thought they were getting when they picked up Blanton (and traded Ervin Santana away).
Bonderman’s been better recently as his sinker has a bit more sink, allowing him to post great GB numbers against righties. He’s throwing a ton of sliders, which has been effective (in a tiny sample, SSS warning here) in generating weak contact. But just as we saw with Brandon Maurer, he doesn’t have a good pitch to go to against lefties. As a result, they’re destroying him. But also like Maurer, he may find some success against the Angels’ righty-heavy line-up.
1: Chavez, RF
2: Franklin, 2B
3: Seager, 3B
4: Morales, DH
5: Ibanez, LF
6: Smoak, 1B
7: Zunino, C
8: Saunders, CF
9: Ryan, SS
SP: Bonderman
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66 Responses to “Game 72, Mariners at Angels”
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For those of you scoring at home, that’s another blown save for The Bartender. Nope, it doesn’t have to be the ninth.
15 K’s to 2K’s. What a disgrace.
Apparently Wedge wants to get back to the hotel bar quickly.
Wedge has a lot of sorrow to drown
Dear god, how did that happen?
On a side note – with all of the non-DL DLs currently on the team, do we even have a bench? Would we have to run Blanco into the outfield if Ibañez got hurt?
Beavan plays a mean LF!
MORALES!
Whoa, a lead!
Excellent at bat for Kendrys Morales!! Would love to see him as our full-time DH and backup first base next year.
Let’s hold it this time, guys!
A win!
Nice!! Who would have thought that after all the joking and head scratching about Medina clinging on to the 40 man roster that he is now our closer.
Glad I stayed up. I saw Medina channeling J.J. Putz with the scan and glare. Didn’t Trumbo look bothered?
Woooo!!
This might be sacrilege, but I would trade the win for a loss if I could have seen a fourth GIDP for Hamilton.