Game 150, Mariners at Astros – On Going Gently, Good Nights, etc.
Andrew Moore vs. Justin Verlander, 11:10am (Note: due to the Seahawks game, the M’s radio broadcast will be on AM 770 instead of 710)
The M’s are stuck at 3.5 games back in the wildcard race, but there are now just 12 games left in the regular season. It’s…ah…it’s not happening this year. The most important thing the M’s can do now is figure out who’s likely to be a part of a similar run in 2018, and that means figuring out what went wrong with the M’s pitching depth in 2017. Andrew Moore was one of the team’s top prospects and he was excellent in AA, pretty good in AAA, and then fell on his face in the big leagues. That happens to plenty of pitchers, but it’s critical that the M’s understand why it happened to Moore and what they plan to do about it. He was always better than he seemed when every other batter homered off of him and he was demoted and then lost his rotation spot. But the key is figuring out where he’ll slot next year, and what tweaks to his arsenal the M’s will make. Moore seems like a great learner, and I’ll be he has his own ideas of what to do, some of which he may be implementing now.
Justin Verlander’s turned back the clock since moving to Houston. In 2 starts and 14 IP, he’s given up 7 hits and just one run while striking out 16. After a dreadful August, the Astros are once again set up fairly well for the playoffs. Damn it.
1: Segura, SS
2: Haniger, RF
3: Cano, 2B
4: Cruz, DH
5: Seager, 3B
6: Alonso, 1B
7: Zunino, C
8: Gamel, LF
9: Heredia, CF
SP: Andrew Moore
Congrats to Jacob Hannemann on his first big league hit in yesterday’s game. It was a quintessentially M’s-of-2017 moment, as the M’s mounted a challenge but ultimately fell short. A young player made a good first impression, but 95% of serious M’s fans probably didn’t know who he was, where he came from, or when.
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“The most important thing the M’s can do now is figure out who’s likely to be a part of a similar run in 2018.”
I can’t envision Daniel Vogelbach being a part of any Mariners playoff run.
I have thought about that poem several times this year. Rage, rage against…oh never mind.
I am going to be rooting for the Astros during this year’s playoffs. While I wish the Mariners had performed better against them, I have a hard time disliking their organization right now. I’d certainly prefer them to any of the other AL West teams (our team excepted, of course).