Game 133, Mariners at Astros
Roenis Elias vs. Scott Feldman, 5:10pm
Quick one today, as Feldman’s a well-known quantity and because there’ve been so many moves, they deserve a separate post.
To refresh your memory, Feldman’s a cutter/sinker guy with a curve as his breaking ball. He made his debut back in 2005, and joined the Rangers rotation in 2008. His sinker and cutter both generate grounders, which helped him survive in Arlington. His cutter’s become a real weapon against left-handed bats, and he’s somewhat famously posted reverse platoon splits for years as a result. To be fair, though, it’s an odd kind of weapon: Feldman doesn’t get more whiffs or strikeouts or out-of-zone swings than most pitchers. He’s below average in each of those metrics. Instead, he’s been very successful at keeping left-handers in the ballpark. That sounds like something of a fluky stat to build your value around (not that this would’ve been a conscious process), but he’s been doing it so long, it stops looking like luck. He’s not an extreme GB guy, and thus he’s not an extreme HR-suppressor like Dallas Keuchel (who, of course, gave up a HR yesterday), but it’s enough that Feldman can be a perfectly solid #3-4 for years.
1: Marte, SS
2: Seager, 3B
3: Cruz, RF
4: Cano, 2B
5: Gutierrez, DH
6: Smith, LF
7: Trumbo, 1B
8: Miller, CF
9: Hicks, C
SP: Elias
News: Justin Ruggiano was traded for cash considerations to the LA Dodgers, whose OF is banged up at the moment. As the deal went down before midnight, Ruggiano has playoff eligibility for LA.
The M’s announced their first round of call-ups today: Stefen Romero, Jose Ramirez, Tony Zych and Shawn O’Malley are all joining the team in Houston. No James Jones or Mike Zunino yet. Zunino has to wait 10 days, and James Jones isn’t quite 100% after his injury – they figure to be up when Tacoma’s season ends in less than a week. Ramon Flores would’ve been in this group, but he suffered a gruesome compound fracture of his ankle in a game a few days ago.
In addition, the M’s announced their Arizona Fall League selections today. The group is headlined by James Paxton, who needs innings after his injury. Also heading south will by RP Paul Fry, RP David Rollins, and RP Tony Zych, IF DJ Peterson and SS Tyler Smith, and OF Tyler O’Neill. Peterson’s the big prospect name, and Tyler O’Neill is coming off an eye-opening season, but I’m interested to see how Paul Fry fares. As an unheralded pick, Fry, a lefty reliever, certainly has the most eye-popping 2015 stats.
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16 Responses to “Game 133, Mariners at Astros”
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Would have loved to see Flores, he looked outstanding in AAA. OBP over.500, just a dozen or so games. Of course Zunino is 7for 12 with 3 HRs, so much for AAA #s.
I would like to see Blash, but I think he needs to be in a place where he plays everyday.
Why no Jabari? I guess they need enough OF down there to finish up their season, but I’d rather have a longer look at Blash than Romero.
I’m assuming he’ll be up after the 7th?
No Jabari?? They are not going to sit Cruz or Miller so that leaves just LF. So Romero, Guti, Smith and Blash would have to share that spot. I am guessing they want him to play everyday.
Blash isn’t on the 40-man.
With the trades of Ajax and Ruggiano they had room to put him on if they wanted. I think he would just sit if he came up.
Blash not being on the 40-man is a problem but position wise, he played a lot of 1B in the spring. It’s one way, along with DH and OF, to get to see him hit at this level.
Looks like the Brad Miller experiment is working well in CF???
Wow….errors abound tonight. This is how we’re ending the season huh??? Nice.
Also, on another negative note. Does Cano not hustle for ANYTHING, ever?
I haven’t been able to watch tonight – how has Miller looked in center?
Basically I’m wondering if WTF_Ms was being sarcastic or not. 😀
Miller throws to the wrong base.
Okay, I saw THAT.
this is why you don’t ask a player to learn a new position on a whim at the major league level.
After WTF’s last Miller post, Miller and Cruz both tried to catch a fly in RCF. Not sure if he didn’t call enough, or if Cruz messed up. Cruz caught it. Before that, I didn’t really see anything, but I am sure he wasn’t being complementary.
Mariners’ roster construction – the gift that keeps on giving.
I wasn’t being sarcastic. It’s hard to pull that off on a board like this…
I mentioned my displeasure with Miller in general earlier this week, and it still holds up. He’s not good in the field…anywhere. Eric Byrnes comes to mind?? Wasn’t he an M at some point? Then went on to an adult softball league?
Byrnes famously pulled back his bat on a suicide squeeze, leaving Ichiro a dead duck. From the commentary, Ichiro might not have hesitated if Byrnes had gone through with it, even if he missed the ball.
http://m.mlb.com/video/v7763259/texsea-ichiro-is-out-at-the-plate-in-the-11th