Game 74, Mariners at Yankees
King Felix vs. Jonathan Loaisiga, 4:05pm
Happy Felix day. I’m a bit nervous on this happy occasion, as I’d very much like to see the M’s offense shake off some rust and score a bunch of runs, and I don’t want a few series losses to give the Angels a chance to catch up right after the M’s put some distance between themselves and the Halos. I’ll say that any opportunity the M’s give me to feel nervous as opposed to numb and resigned is a gift.
Domingo German looked amazing against the M’s last night, and Jeff Sullivan’s got a timely piece on the details of the run German’s on right now. He looks like he could develop into a very good starter, given his velocity, a solid change-up and a good breaking ball. That repertoire and the Yankees’ light-on-fastballs usage has been remarkably effective against just about everyone the past few years, but what sets them apart is that they seem able to essentially clone pitchers who can do this.
Take tonight’s starter, Jonathan Loaisiga. He, too, throws a fastball in the mid/high 90s, has a firm change with a bit more armside run and moderate drop, and then a hard, slurvy curve. Loaisiga’s mechanics mean that his FB has slightly less run than German’s, but everything else looks very similar – the change gets 5″ more run, and the curve’s break is just about identical, too. Loaisiga’s velocity is a touch higher than German’s, which isn’t a great sign. Where do the Yankees get all of these guys? Minor trades and minor free agent signings, as I discussed yesterday. The key, though, seems to be that the Yankees are able to essentially clone their biggest player development success: Luis Severino.
Severino throws harder than just about everyone, so he’s got a touch better FB than German/Loaisiga, but the parallels are kind of spooky. Loaisiga’s heater averaged 96.4 MPH in his one start, and had 9.38″ of vertical rise, with about 3″ of armside run. Severino’s has averaged 98.3 MPH (!) this year, with 9.39″ of rise and 4″ of armside run. They both throw a change at 88 MPH, with essentially the same vertical movement; Loaisiga’s gets a touch more run, though that could be a small sample thing. Severino’s breaker is a slider, so it’s firmer and has more horizontal movement than Loaisiga’s slurve, but still – these are very similar pitchers.
That’s the key to creating a sustainable, dominant team: replicating player development successes. The M’s turned James Paxton from frustrating, oft-injured, command-plagued enigma into the team’s ace. Imagine if they could do that with other lanky over-the-top-throwing starters they had in the minors? I’d take another 3-4 Paxtons, even if none of them were quite as good as the original.
1: Gordon, 2B
2: Segura, SS
3: Haniger, CF
4: Cruz, DH
5: Seager, 3B
6: Span, LF
7: Healy, 1B
8: Gamel, RF
9: Zunino, C
SP: FELIX.
2nd round pick Josh Stowers homered in his pro debut last night for Everett, who beat Hillsboro. Arkansas sewed up a playoff spot in the Texas League with a win over NW Arkansas, and Tacoma swept the I-Cubs at Cheney. Everett’s in Vancouver tonight, while Tacoma’s off. Modesto and Clinton had All Star Games in their leagues last night, so they get another night off for their mid-season break.
Comments
8 Responses to “Game 74, Mariners at Yankees”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I have to watch these Yankees Mariners games on the YES network where I live and its even more terrible than any of you could possibly imagine.
I feel sorry for having to deal with Yes.
Felix looks ok. Judge got lucky on one pitch. Come on bullpen!
Thanks a bunch Colome!
Gosh, seemed like the plate umpire was squeezing the Mariner’s pitchers all night. Lots of pitches right on the black and seems none were called strikes. Here’s a link to an article about how MLB umpires get evaluated; seems like tonight’s ump should get some really bad feedback after a game like that. Maybe a little home team / Yankee courtesy?
https://www.quora.com/Do-MLB-umpires-get-graded-on-their-performance
Romine… Why?
Hard to believe the M’s can’t get a better utility player than Andrew Romine.
We are basically a NL line up anytime he plays. And it’s not like he is in a slump, he has been terrible his entire career. Huge track record of sucking for years.
Please tell me they didn’t play him because his brother was behind the plate…
Why did they get rid of Motter again?