Game 73, Mariners at Angels
Joe Saunders vs. CJ Wilson, 7:05pm
The M’s face left-hander CJ Wilson of the Angels tonight, the guy who hasn’t exactly justified the huge free agent contract that brought him west from Texas, but may get more than his fair share of grief for underwhelming pitching of baseballs and shampoo. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s interesting to see the steep climb in opponents ISO/SLG% when they make contact with Wilson’s fastball. He went from posting a very low ISO on his four-seamer of .134 in Arlington in 2011 to .189 last year to .226 this year, in a part that severely restricts HRs (and therefore ISO). All of this could be small-sample nonsense, but at the very least, it casts a great deal of doubt on how much of that 2011 performance was “true talent.” Wilson’s adjusted a bit by throwing more breaking balls and fewer fastballs (of any kind) than he did in 2011. That may be helping him post solid strikeout numbers, and his o-swing and whiff rates are at/near career highs. But his high walk rate may be a result of the change as well, and walks plus even a “normal” amount of home runs isn’t a recipe for making the leap to #1-#2 starter material. That’s not to say Wilson’s bad – he’s not. He’s got a sub-4 FIP, and he’s been a dependable AL starter who’s clearly better than league average. He’s just not going to be worth what the Angels have to pay him in the next few years unless he can drop his HRs-allowed back down.
The M’s look to see if Joe Saunders success in HR-suppressing Safeco and HR-suppressing PetCo park can translate to HR-suppressing Angel Stadium. The park’s well suited to Saunders’ skillset, but unfortunately the line-up isn’t. The Angels were a great match-up for Jeremy Bonderman, but their right-handedness makes it a poor one for Saunders. C’mon wind direction – help a long-suffering M’s fan out.
Line-up:
1: Chavez, RF
2: Franklin, 2B
3: Seager, 3B
4: Morales, DH
5: Morse, 1B
6: Ibanez, LF
7: Zunino, C
8: M. Saunders, CF
9: Ryan, SS
SP: J. Saunders
The M’s have been busy signing their draft picks, so the short-season club rosters will look different pretty much daily for a while. The biggest news on that front is that tonight marks 1st-round pick DJ Peterson’s M’s org debut with Everett, who take on Tri-Cities at home tonight at 7.
With Brad Miller playing SS in Tacoma, AA Jackson gave the position to defensive-whiz Gabriel Noriega. That wasn’t because they saw the defensive-whiz/no-bat Noriega as a prospect, but because they wanted to let Taylor play in the advanced-A All-Star game. Now he (and 3B/1B Ramon Morla) has been moved up to AA, and he’ll start tonight’s game against Mobile. He’ll be playing with his college teammate, John Hicks. Taylor was drafted with the reputation of a slick-fielder without much offense, but he’s blossomed in the M’s org (who signed him to an overslot bonus, so apparently the idea that he wouldn’t hit was not universally shared) and was hitting .335/.426/.524 in the offensive haven of High Desert.
The Rainiers played in Colorado Springs today, and beat the Sky Sox 16-4. Carlos Peguero had six RBIs with a 2B and a 3B, and Dustin Ackley went 3-4. Whatever setting that humidor is at, it’s too low.
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44 Responses to “Game 73, Mariners at Angels”
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CJ does smell 100% handsome!
Very SSS but since Smoaks return, Morse has yet to play the outfield. Could Wedge has learned something or more likely Morse is still hurting a bit.
I’ll vote for Morse is hurting still.
Morse could hardly move at first – no way he should be in the outfield.
Really, he should be on the DL. On an intelligently-run team, he probably would be.
Thank goodness when they signed all those aging, injury-prone crappy fielders they managed to include one aging, crappy fielder that has managed to stay healthy!
And very soon, Julio Morban won’t be the top OF prospect in the system by default! Austin Wilson is close to signing and word is will be assigned to Everett.
AND Taijuan Walker’s likely to see Tacoma soon.
(Hey, I’m looking for ALL the silver linings this season I can get!)
Morse could hardly move at first – no way he should be in the outfield.
Really, he should be on the DL. On an intelligently-run team, he probably would be.
Agreed, Westy.
And you know, that brings up another point to me…why not DL Morse and bring Liddi back up?
It seems that what consensus there is on the guy is that he’s Quad-A material…what if he can be more than that? Stop trying to squeeze blood from a hurting stone like Morse and give a guy like Liddi a legit chance to prove he’s major-league timber.
(Yeah, I don’t think his last stint in the majors that just happened qualifies as a ‘legit shot.’)
He’s 24-ish, and you have to figure out what he is soon enough with 40-man roster spots needed. So what do you lose by thrusting Liddi in and finding out if he’s got a major-league career or not?
@Zavaras
I’d think Morse is playing so he can be auditioned as much as possible prior to the trade deadline. He should be DL, with Smoaker & Morales occupying the 1b/DH positions.
Hey, something I’ve been noticing.
Dustin Ackley is by NO MEANS a bad second baseman..and I’m not saying Nick Franklin is GREAT there yet.
But the way that Franklin plays it, there just seems to be a smoothness to his pivot and his throws that I didn’t really see with Ackley there.
It’s just different.
I’d think Morse is playing so he can be auditioned as much as possible prior to the trade deadline.
Five will get you ten you’re right, phineas. I can’t think of a more logical reason than that.
Um, wow. C.J. Wilson just gave us a bit of a break.
(What the hell happened there, why would you withdraw your glove like that?!)
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/mariners/2013/06/19/get-ready-for-mariners-first-base-job-sharing-and-morse-in-outfield/
I’m pretty sure we have a careers worth of data to show that Morse is a terrible defensive outfielder lol.
Yeah, Sims, Morse is really likely to get back to the pace he opened the season with.
The 140-home-run pace he was on back then. Yeah, he’s gonna do that.
CJ’s hair looks kind of sweaty – nothing like in the commercials.
Heh, Westy. I didn’t even realize that it was Wilson in the ad! First, he looked more like some surfer rat when he was with Texas, and second, he looks like a plastic Ken doll in the ad.
Ugh, team. Ugh.
Mike Morse has incredibly disappointing pitch recognition ability and what appears to be an overall decline in approach. He has been awful to watch. He never needs to be thrown a strike to get him out.
I cant believe he was a career .295 hitter before this season. How much of that can be blamed on his injuries, I am not sure. Maybe some, but overall, he is really meh and provides no base running or defensive value. I hope they don’t waste their money on him.
Thanks for the updates on Taylor and Morla
It’s going to be really interesting to see who goes and who stays and for what reasons in the next few weeks.
Upon until he decided to torpedo a lot of his value, I had a hunch that Wilhelmsen would’ve been dealt. I’m almost positive Perez will be. Lefty relievers with a K/9 rate over 12 usually catch the attention of some contender.
Morse seems like the sort of player that could really fall off the cliff when he goes into decline, a la Richie Sexson.
I’m not saying he’s declining yet; I think trying to play through his injuries has more to do with it. But big non-selective power hitters do seem to not age well, and he does have a significant history of injuring himself.
Yeah, Perez is good trade bait. Probably wont result in a very big return, but there is definitely some value there.
Thank goodness for these double-plays!
Speaking of falling off cliffs, just wow at Hamilton’s continued swoon. But it gives me sick pleasure. Never liked him and love to see the Angels fail.
Ow, Franklin. Don’t you blow a hammie making up for Morse having bad ones.
Oh, man, we can’t have Franklin getting hurt…
Imagine if no trades are made, no free agents are signed, and no extensions are given. A team full of Z-era prospects. How funny would that be if he’s fired, and they generally go that route?!
For the record, I’m done with him. And I certainly hope they do something proactive for 2014.
Aybar was out. Zunino looks great back there. Or maybe I’m just used to the guys we’ve been watching recently.
The Angels are playing for a run, although they haven’t succeeded. The M’s just keep going up there and hack away until they’re out. No sense of managing at all.
Dammit! Reverse cursed the M’s!
Yeah, Slats, that’s a troubling article. I was sold on the idea of “Morse can play not-disastrous RF and his bat will make up for it, so it’s fine” until he showed he can’t stay healthy. Now, not only is his defense a liability to our run prevention, it’s a liability to his bat. Stop it, Wedge! And Baker keeps cheering it. Stop it, Baker!
Another roster-construction-created problem – Raul having to start against a good lefty.
Just stop paying any attention to him (Baker), Waco. You’ll be a lot happier.
We need hitters with strong legs, and short, compact swings. everyone else should be shot.
This game ends not with a bang, but with a whimper.
That was awesome! Glad I took a two inning nap.
Seasick, we need hitters that can hit above the Mendoza line and not make us seasick watching them out in the field…
Westy, the 2013 Mariners are a whimper… they remind me of my Bichon Frise. Small dog, lots of whine, whimper and bark – absolutely no bite, and she trips me constantly.
That explains it:
Trout is just too good.
Westy, the 2013 Mariners are a whimper… they remind me of my Bichon Frise. Small dog, lots of whine, whimper and bark – absolutely no bite, and she trips me constantly.
I have a Bichon, too, nvn8vbryce. A male one. And I was told he wouldn’t be a very vocal dog.
Uh-huh. Yeah. Lying bastids. [smile]
So the Mariners have to play.550 ball just to get to 81 wins. Does Jack Z have a job with yet another sub-500 year?
Mariner GM death watch:
Bill Bavasi as Mariner GM: 322-395
Jack Zduriencik as Mariner GM: 318-403
^GM death watch…. that is really funny, yet appropriately titled.
And Bavasi was fired on June 16th, 2008. Maybe a move before the end of June isn’t a stretch?
By the way:
For those who say D. J. peterson can’t be play third for Mariners because the position is taken, is it really likely that Mr. Seager will want to stay here when he becomes a free agent?
Why not? Felix did.
We’ll see.
In essence a player can force a trade. After three years a player can file for salary arbitration. This is a process that more and more the owners and GMs are trying to avoid.