2018 Tacoma Rainiers Preview
Tacoma write-ups are usually a little bit harder for me to do despite the proximity and accompanying interest. Part of it is fatigue by the time I get to this point, but in this case, you can look up and down the roster and see a lot of guys who have spent some time in the majors and are known commodities in that respect. There’s not much left for me to do in the way of projection or speculation and their value is mostly determined by the needs of the major league team over much that they’re able to prove individually. This proves especially true in thin systems, which is where the organization is at presently.
The rotation is certainly interesting for what it could provide in the near and longer terms, likewise the ‘pen, though that has a less prospect-oriented look to it. Still, where the depth looks to be right now is far better than where we were a season ago, much as we like to make fun of Jerry for his near compulsive trading. The look of the infield is likely to change a little in the coming days, but the outfield I imagine is pretty set and will feature more guys who can run things down. We’re quite far removed from the 2010 Rainiers and I can’t imagine our current front office putting up with playing first basemen in the outfield because dingers.
It’s the last preview and gets a little loopy in spots, but I remain composed during talking about the interesting starters and almost brand-new bullpen. Then it’s broken hitting stats, Batman, dogging on the Mets, and trying to ascribe a D&D alignment to some poor dude’s baserunning.
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2018 Modesto Nuts Preview
Sure, after I stopped writing on a regular schedule, the Mariners hooked up with Modesto (they even put a ring on it the first year!) after I had been shipping them for years. All that time, it seemed like a perfect match: Pitcher-friendly park, west coast affiliate, but they just kept signing up with the Rockies who weren’t even particularly suited to that style of play. Well, now the Mariners finally have a legit Cal League affiliate, years after they were sent packing by San Bernardino, and with an ownership stake in the team, they’ll be around for a while. We’ll have baseball stats we know what to do with, all at the cost of occasionally having to look at an unsettling, California Raisins-inspired set of mascots.
This affiliate in particular looks a little snake-bit by injuries, and I don’t know how firm a lot of my immediate projections are. The starting pitching could run into some trouble if it’s not careful, but the bullpen will shut down the opposition if they’re handed a lead. The catching will be yet one more offensive void, but I can see the infield and outfield both producing on offense, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this team went to the playoffs for a second year.
I found a lot of vague and general comps to former Mariners players and farmhands, but the content was less wide-ranging and more focused than I’d often expect, although I can’t be expected to help myself around the puns.
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Game 4, Mariners at Giants
Marco Gonzales vs. Ty Blach, 1:35pm
It’s Tuesday, the M’s have had two off-days in the past five days, and they’re playing a day game. Feels like an NBA schedule so far, which, frankly, I could get used to.
The M’s are sending Marco Gonzales to the mound for his first start of 2018, while the Giants counter with their opening day starter, Ty Blach. Gonzales looks to build on an eye-opening spring, and while the bar is decidedly low, I don’t think there’s ever been as many fan/team expectations placed on a 4th starter coming off a bad year as there are on Gonzales this year.
Meanwhile, the hitherto unremarkable Blach is coming off an opening day duel with Clayton Kershaw that saw the Giants win 1-0. Blach’s K rate last year was under 11%, a mark I wondered was against the rules in 2017. He wasn’t awful, so let’s spin the wheel of old Mariner pitch-to-contact lefty prospects and see who Blach compares to. There we go…slowing down now…ooh, Bobby Livingston! Livingston had a good change, and that’s a pitch Blach features to righties and is his best pitch overall. Blach’s fastball comes in 90-91 or so, and misses no bats. He’s got a slurvy curve ball that somehow gets fewer whiffs than his FB. All in all, it’s a profile that can only succeed with good command and a thumb on the scale to prevent HRs. Blach provides the command, while his home park helps hold down HRs.
1: Gordon, CF
2: Segura, SS
3: Cano, 2B
4: Haniger, RF
5: Seager, 3B
6: Healy, 1B
7: Heredia, LF
8: Freitas, C
9: Gonzales, SP
Perhaps it’s not a surprise with the M’s kicking off an inter-league series, but the M’s placed hobbled DH Nelson Cruz on the ten-day DL after he sprained his ankle on the dugout steps. Taylor Motter is up from Tacoma to take his place on the active roster.
Gonzales was a great hitter at Gonzaga; should be good to see him hit against an eminently hittable guy like Blach.
2018 Arkansas Travelers Preview
Since early season roster news comes out somewhat erratically (really wish I had a full Modesto roster to talk about), I found myself writing about the Travelers immediately after the Lumberkings. Having never written about this affiliate before, I also took some time to familiarize myself with the mascot. I am informed that “The Arkansas Traveler” is a folk song and formerly the state’s official song. Good to know. Yet, to the original point, perhaps it was just the easy centerfielder comparisons, but I found myself thinking that the two teams seem to be organized under similar philosophies. The rotation is built out of flyball pitchers backed up by a likely elite outfield defense. Add in a bullpen with interesting components, and you’re looking at a team that would figure to be built around run prevention. Yet, looking at probable lineup configurations, I think that the lower you get on the card, the more trouble you find yourself in. Perhaps they’ll mitigate that by having an OBP-heavy guy at ninth, or having a non-conventional number three hitter with better contact skills than power, but there’s definitely some give to the projected six through eight spots.
Below the jump, I will hold forth on several guys known as Joe, namedrop Driveline a few times, make note of one aspiring second-generation baseball player and another third-generation one, talk up a local dude, reference one of Yahoo! Answers’ most famous questions, and nearly indulge in a Simpsons reference but stop slightly short.
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2018 Clinton Lumberkings Preview
For the first time in a while, I found myself without a normal venue with which to collect baseball thoughts. Grand Salami, after twenty-two years, suspended operations and while I was grateful to not puzzle over a top ten with the system as it presently is, there was also the feeling that something was missing or lacking. I don’t expect this to be a great year for the system, but interesting things will be happening nonetheless and we’re in one of those “nowhere to go but up” spots. So, here I am again, writing too many words on a fair number of players in the hopes that someone finds it useful.
The Lumberkings this year are working with certain deficits we see system-wide, and some of the strengths as well. The rotation has the early look of being somewhat interesting and the bullpen looks to build on good returns from the previous season. As for the lineup, there are a handful of position players looking to build up prospect credentials, notably the second baseman and part of the starting outfield, though catching is once again a problem spot for the offense. I see this team as presently configured to be “pitching and outfield defense” and not really living up to what you would think from the mascot name.
Beyond this point lie too many words and wild speculation on a variety of topics, including overlaps between the Founding Fathers and baseball, who is suffering an allergy attack in their team photo, who aspires to be a Flow Bro, and a fair number of utterly preposterous AZL performances now getting vetted in a non-joke league.
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Game 3, Indians at Mariners
Mike Leake vs. Trevor Bauer, 1:10pm
I’m writing this from a sailboat trying to make its way north through Colvos passage. The idea was to tie up in Seattle and go to today’s game. As it happens, there’s a small craft advisory and the water’s a bit rough for kids and their landlubber/baseball blogging dad (Mom can sail through anything, but we’re at that poorly marked border between ‘can’ and ‘should.’) [Edit – eh, this nothing bad. She wants to put more sail up than I’m comfy with, but we’re flying.]
Sooo, James Paxton’s poor spring came north with him, huh. Paxton had minimal command, and his velocity isn’t high enough to pitch through that right now. Every hit the Indians had came on his fastball, and the command issues resulted in Paxton pitching from behind and needing to throw a ton of fastballs. Credit to Cleveland for spoiling some cutters and laying off curves, but Paxton threw heaters on 2/3ds of his pitches, and that’s just too much.
Interesting match up today between Mike Leake, whose already-great control got even better with Seattle last year, and Trevor Bauer, whose refined slider led him to an eye opening spring. If Leake’s able to spend a full season pitching like he did for Cincinnati and less like the durable-but-hittable guy he was for much of his Cards tenure, it’d help tremendously.
1: Gordon, CF
2: Segura, SS
3: Cano, 2B
4: Haniger, RF
5: Seager, 3B
6: Vogelbach, DH
7: Healy, 1B
8: Ichirooooo, LF
9: Freitas, C
SP: Leake
Happy M’s debut for catcher David Freitas, a waiver claim from the Braves a while ago.
Ichiro’s HR robbing catch was amazing, and it really felt like a play from 10 years ago; Ichiro’s mannerisms after the play remain cooler than anyone who ever played. The two hits were encouraging as well.
Cleveland lefty Andrew Miller had the tying run in scoring position yesterday and decided to intentionally walk Mitch Haniger. In one sense, that’s understandable – Haniger’s a good RH bat. In the other sense, the Indians willingly put the go-ahead run on to face the M’s first baseman, who had the platoon advantage. If there are other teams besides the M’s who feel Ryon Healy is better than his statline, Cleveland is evidently not among them.
The biggest loss may have been Nelson Cruz, who, as Ryan Divish reports, slipped in the clubhouse and hurt his ankle; he’s now in a walking boot.