Game 3 – Home Opener: Red Sox at Mariners
Marco Gonzales vs. Chris Sale, 4:10pm
Baseball is back, and not just for two extremely late nights. The regular regular season begins today, and thus it’s time for a bit of optimism and joy. You may have seen the furor over the Sports Illustrated baseball preview, and the quotes they got from rival scouts. It’s a cool idea, but the scouts they rounded up did not…uh…just look at this. And this. And this. I get that you can’t just have nice quotes, and that asking people to name names when they think of guys who aren’t working hard or getting the most out of their talent will drive clicks, but it’s too bad that there are people in the game who seem to despise certain players or can’t see “different” as anything other than “wrong.” But it’s (kind of) opening day, so we won’t dwell on that. Instead, let’s talk about Dee Gordon’s open letter to Ichiro in the Times today. Dee Gordon was awful last year, and as flexible as he was to jump into CF, and as kind as he was to innumerable kids, his production on the field left a bit to be desired. He hasn’t sulked about it, at least that we can see. Returned to 2B where he’s been a defensive asset, a bounce-back season from Dee would really help lift this team and avoid a morale-killing slog to 95 losses.
I’m not sure how to value his off-field contributions and what all he does in the clubhouse. I just think that his presence could be helpful for a young team that will shortly get even younger. His pathway to elder statesman or team leader gets a hell of a lot easier if he can resume hitting, or at least keeping an OBP over .300, but in what might be a heretical statement around here, I think his total value might not be summed up in his WAR.
Similarly, I’m not convinced that the guys the M’s have nominated as the new core of the franchise can fulfill that kind of role, and what’s more, I’m not sure that even the front office actually believes it. But I’m absolutely fascinated to see how Marco Gonzales and Mitch Haniger react to their new status and the new expectations thrust on them. I’ll be fascinated to see Haniger work with some of the younger players who’ll probably show up at some point in 2019, be they Jake Fraley or Braden Bishop or both. I’d love to see Marco work with Justus Sheffield and/or Erik Swanson if they hit Seattle. And of course, I’m curious to see how their own game adjusts, and if they’re able to make the leap from “promising” or “really great…for the Mariners” to plain old great.
That challenge begins today when the M’s take on…uh oh. Chris Sale was, on a rate basis, *impossibly* good last year. It was only a late injury that kept him from a Cy Young, as he K’d 237 in just 158 innings pitched. It’s not for nothing that one new measure on a pitcher’s quality of repertoire ranked him as the 3rd best starting pitcher, and it’s easy to see why. He combines a funky, low arm-slot with plus velocity. The arm slot gives his fastball tons of armside run, which he can accentuate with a sinker or change, or ease off with his four-seam. His slider has extreme glove side break, and it’s effective against righties as well as lefties. To top it off, he has pinpoint control, which keeps his walk rate in the 5% neighborhood, which just seems unfair given the movement on his pitches. Last year, he really seemed to be able to utilize that movement to keep the ball off of barrels, and he posted a very, very low HR rate. Despite debuting in 2010, his average velocity continued an upward trajectory last year, and he had as high a velocity as he did in 2011…when he was a reliever. They haven’t done it with David Price, but the Red Sox deserve some credit for taking a great pitcher like Sale and making him even better, and for the way they brought pretty good but frustrating Rick Porcello to the kind of level everyone expected when he was drafted.
1: Haniger, RF
2: Santana, LF
3: Encarnacion, 1B
4: Bruce, DH
5: Healy, 3B
6: Beckham, SS
7: Smith, CF
8: Freitas, C
9: Gordon, 2B
SP: Gonzales
This team may not be great, but they’ll be better defensively than they were in Japan, and hopefully, they’ll be a lot less lost at the plate compared to the two-game stint against the Padres this week.
GO MARINERS.
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5 Responses to “Game 3 – Home Opener: Red Sox at Mariners”
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Both pitchers velos are down a bit. I hadn’t realized just how volatile Sale’s can be, but he’s 92-94 right now.
Marco’s at 89. I know, it’s April, but Marco averaged 91 in April of 2018, but he lost velo from June on and ended 2018 averaging 89, with 85-86 on the cutter. That’s where he’s been today. Hmm.
On the plus side: TIM BECKHAM.
Mallex Smith is so fast, the camera can’t even locate him on the bases.
Well, that escalated quickly? Way to go M’s! I’m always down for a good start!
159 to go
This year, the M’s surprise everyone by going 162-0.
You heard it here first.