A few weeks ago, I walked into the visitor’s dugout at Safeco Field and bumped into a player I had covered when I was reporting on the Red Sox. He asked me how I liked Seattle and then started talking about how great the city is and how much he liked the park.

“This place is great,” he told me. “But they need to move the fences in.”

He went on to tell me about an at bat he had had at Safeco where he hit “right on the screws.” Of course, he pulled it to left field and the ball ended up just making the warning track.

“I crushed that ball,” he said as he shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

That’s a quick anecdote to reinforce what you already know: Safeco is huge. And its dimensions, specifically the deep fence in left field (331 feet down the line and 388 feet to the left-center alley) can change the game. I’m sure you’ve seen tons of hard data on how hard it is to generate offense in Safeco, specifically for a right-handed pull hitter. Clearly, the players all know that Safeco is a little different from other parks.

But do they change their behavior because of it?

I asked a bunch of players that question, talking to both Mariners and their opponents and both hitters and pitchers. The overwhelming answer: “Absolutely not!”

“I never change my swing for the ballpark,” explained Michael Saunders. “I try to never even think about it. You can get in trouble that way. In fact, the last thing you want to do is think at all at the plate. I just try to hit it where the pitcher dictates. And the bottom line is that if you hit the ball well, it will travel no matter where you are.”

The thought process makes sense. Baseball players are creatures of habit and that manifests itself in the form of disciplined routines. Hitters try to approach each at bat the same way. While they do make adjustments (in fact, they do that all the time), the goal is to be consistent. That consistency keeps them from overreacting to a short slump or overadjusting from one at bat to the next.

Remember, while pitchers have all the time they need on the mound to focus on making small changes, batters have just a split-second to make a decision and swing the bat. They don’t have time to consider whether left field is a little deeper than usual.

Once a half-dozen Mariners had told me that they never consider Safeco’s dimensions when they hit, I moved on to the other clubhouse. Finally, I found a former Mariner who disagreed.

“Yeah, I changed my swing a little there,” said Mike Cameron who hit 30 of his 269 career home runs at Safeco, more than at any other park. “Guys change their swings every day. Whether it’s adjustments or for the park…it’s like golf. You’re always tinkering.

“Sometimes at Safeco, you’d find yourself in trouble trying to muscle up a ball on a 3-1 or 2-0 count. You can’t do that there. Sure, the ball will carry if you hit it square, but you have to be careful. But my power swing is naturally to center field, so that helped me stay behind the ball there.”

In other words, he changed his swing but not the way you might think. He didn’t necessarily try to hit to right field, but he did try to stay within himself when he hit there.

That philosophy echoes much of what I heard from pitchers (and catchers). It’s not that they try to keep the ball in on righties or away against lefties to encourage them to hit to left field, it’s that they know they can be aggressive and make mistakes when they’re in Seattle.

“Safeco doesn’t usually effect my location in that I’m not trying to get fly balls to left field,” explained Jason Vargas. “But it does allow me to go after some hitters in tight situations. I can be more aggressive. You don’t have to nibble as much, even against some of the better hitters.”

The strategy seems to be working for Vargas. His ERA at home this year (2.48) is almost exactly half of what it is on the road (4.95).

“Safeco is a little different,” Vargas continued. “You pay some attention to the parks in that you know not to leave the ball up to lefties at Yankee Stadium. And you don’t want to let it go to left at Fenway. But mostly you just throw your pitch.”

Former Mariner and current Angels starter Joel Piniero agrees.

“Yeah, you can be a little more aggressive there and get away with a few mistakes,” he told me. “But the real key is always keeping the ball down. Doesn’t really matter where you are.”

So, who does care?

It’s not the hitters, who seem to be concerned first with their own mechanics and approach and then with reacting to the pitch they are given.

It’s not the pitchers, who might be slightly more aggressive at Safeco, but never consider trying to get hitters to put balls in play to the spacious left field.

It’s not the catchers either. Adam Moore says he never thinks about the dimensions of the park and that he “feels strong enough with this staff to just stay with their strengths no mater what park we’re in.”

But that doesn’t mean the park factor is ignored.

“It’s a consideration for every move we make at the major league level,” according to Assistant General Manager Jeff Kingston. “Any time we acquire a player, it’s got to be a factor because they are going to play 81 games here. We want this to be a home field advantage. The more we can acquire players that fit this ballpark, the better we are going to be.”

That means allowing for flyball pitchers (especially lefties) who might have more value in Safeco than elsewhere. That means right handed hitters who can go the other way. That means left handed sluggers. And it means finding outfielders who can cover ground.

“It’s a great park to be a centerfielder because of all the space and the openness,” said Cameron who patrolled it very well. “But you better be a good one and you better have some speed.”

Obviously, the current management saw the advantages of such a player.

When I started researching this post, I wondered if players considered the dimensions of the park when they hit or pitch. But after hearing from so many players that they never consider it, I’m now wondering if they should. Baseball players love routine and they tend to prefer their world to be as simple as possible. They try to focus on nothing more than the task at hand. What would happen if they tried to use the park to their advantage? Many believe it would distract them into failure. And they might be right. But they may also be missing an opportunity to increase their numbers.

(I wrote this post after Dave suggested the topic. The goal of this content-swap has been for me to offer a clubhouse insider’s perspective to this blog. If you have any pressing questions/topics, please leave them as comments and I’ll try to get some answers in my next post.)

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Safeco’s Fences

Eight of these players aren’t Ichiro.

Batting average

On-Base Percentage

Slugging Percentage

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Well there’s your problem

Well, this is certainly no Haren/Felix match-up, now is it?

Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B
Kotchman, 1B
Saunders, LF
Moore, C
Josh Wilson, SS

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Game 133, Angels at Mariners

Happy Felix Day.

Posting will be a little bit sparse the next few days as I travel westward. I’ll be on a plane most of the day tomorrow, then spending time with friends and family when not hosting the USSM event on Saturday at Safeco. Hopefully I’ll see a bunch of you this weekend. Posting will resume a more normal schedule next week.

Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B (yes, he’s still here)
Kotchman, 1B
Gutierrez, CF
Saunders, LF
Moore, C
Josh Wilson, SS

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Game 132, Angels at Mariners

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Live Chat

Saunders returns – woo! The rest of the line-up – meh.

Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B
Kotchman, 1B
Gutierrez, CF
Saunders, LF
Moore, C
Josh Wilson, SS

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Game 131, Angels at Mariners

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USSM/LL Event Tickets – Last Chance

To the jump!

Dispatches from the Dominican:
Throughout the minor leagues, having the data is one thing, and figuring out what to do with it as you go further on down is often another matter entirely. For years, box scores weren’t even available for the Dominican Summer League, and the season stats you’d get were updated erratically and often incomplete. These days, we get box scores from them just as easily as we might from any other location stateside, sometimes about a day delayed, but usually coming through eventually. This aesthetically makes it appear like the same kind of data we’re accustomed to, since we’re removed from days of the DSL operating its own website that looked like something you might host Geocities or Angelfire ten years ago.

The trouble with this is that people often stumble upon the information and don’t realize exactly how flawed it is. One of the major issues in the league is that teams play almost entirely within their own division. Three of the divisions have eight or nine teams, but the M’s happen to have their complex in a group that has only four, meaning that any weakness in the other three teams is going to distort the set to the point where it’s practically unusable. The other issue is that you’re dealing primarily with kids in their mid-to-late teens who were coached in the “you can’t walk your way off the island” mindset, who are battling wacky strikezones and have probably never seen a change-up in their lives before turning pro. Of the forty players on a roster in any given season, six getting promoted to the states the next season would be considered a pretty good haul.

This is all a long setup because I’ve had people come in lately asking about one LHP Brandol Perez, who had a 68/14 K/BB in 48.1 IP and only allowed twenty hits all season. While he does have projection on his side, as he’s recently seventeen and already 6’4, the scouting report on him reads pretty much like a guy that I know would put up insane numbers in this climate: mid-80s velocity, and a killer change-up (credit to Churchill on that one). Everyone had been was asking me if he threw in the high-90s or what. It’s probably the best summer league season I’ve seen out of a pitcher, but most of the best seasons I’ve seen have turned out to be little, and the second best was Cesar Jimenez, though I’ll grant that he never had much size to him in the first place. Projection is nice and all, when we remember about it paying off as it did with Pineda, but the short-season rosters are often littered with guys like Miguel Marquez and Douglas Salinas, who signed big contracts because they showed fascinating physical abilities as youngsters. So, try to understand my hesitation when other people are going nuts about these guys.

Moving away from the larger philosophical issues, the M’s had a pretty good season, ending up 43-28 after some early struggles and ultimately losing in the second round of the playoffs. Pitching was one reason the team managed what they did, as Brandol Perez was complemented by another change-up artist, veteran Henry Perez who had a 76/10 K/BB in 73.0 innings, completing his fourth year in the league. The other big, projectable southpaw, newcomer Leonel Cortoreal, didn’t fare as well as he had a 28/35 K/BB in 42.0 innings in his first go at the league. And if 6’5 pitchers are your thing, they also had a right-handed counterpart in Jochi Ogando, who was similarly at 32/27 K/BB in 38.1 innings for his first try at the league.

If you get the idea that the tendency is more towards inconsistent command, you’re not far off. The guy who ranked second in IP, RHP Ambioris Hidalgo, had a 48/30 K/BB getting there, and is in his third season. Sorry, for those of you who were eager to see another kid named after a general who fought the Romans make an impact in the states. New southpaw Wander Marte often had a name strangely appropriate to his command, as he had a 28/19 K/BB through 20.1 IP. Only one other pitcher besides Cortoreal had more walks than Ks, but on the whole you’re not going to see good K/BB ratios over a long stretch of time, and the best of the bunch was LHP Martin Abad, who was 28/7 in 35.0 IP.

The hitting had a more veteran look to it, with a few guys who had already spent time in the states in 2B George Soto, C/1B/3B Rudy van Heydoorn, who picked up catching this year, and OF Efrain Nunez. The experience in some ways paid off, because van Heydoorn and Nunez both were in the top five for walks with forty-two and thirty-four, respectively, and van Heydoorn was tied for the team lead in home runs with seven. The guy he was tied with was 3B Jordy Lara, a nineteen-year-old in his second year who also beat van Heydoorn out in walks, but somehow only managed to hit .191 otherwise. For the all-around hitting package, OF Janelfry Zorilla also intrigued, hitting .286/.376/.429 at the end of the season with four home runs, good for third on the team, though he was also in his third season and at twenty is probably less interesting than the others. CF Randy Perez was one of two hitters on the team to have more walks than hits, and stole thirty-one bases to lead the team by a wide margin, but as his power is limited and he’ll turn twenty-two during spring training, it’s hard to say one should expect much out of him.

A few other prospects flashed interesting tools at times, and failed to put the whole package together. A tall, left-handed shortstop who just turned seventeen, Noe Berro had a July where he hit .300/.323/.400 in fourteen games, but couldn’t crack a .600 OPS his other months. Another hitter gaining notice for his ability to work counts was OF Estarlyn Morales, who will turn eighteen over the winter. Through the first two months of the season he ran a 19/12 K/BB, not bad at all for a debut, though his August turned out poorly, and relative to the rest of his season, where he mustered only a .167/.300/.262 line, that’s saying something.

On the whole, the pitching staff, which added a whole lot of left-handers in the offseason, is much more interesting than what came out for the hitters, and I’d expect more out of them in the future. But please, for the sake of my sanity and your own, keep those expectations in check a bit.

Tacoma Rainiers (2-5 this week, 70-65 overall)

The Week in Review:
Monday, August 23th 2010
Tacoma 7, Reno 12 (ARI – 9)
W: Mulvey (7-8, 4.48) L: Rowland-Smith (2-2, 6.04)

Tuesday, August 24th 2010
Tacoma 6, Reno 7 (ARI – 8 )
W: Torra (11-6, 4.20) L: Beavan (2-2, 6.10)

Wednesday, August 25th 2010
Portland 2 (SD – 26), Tacoma 0
W: Luebke (5-0, 2.97) L: Robles (1-1, 4.50)

Thursday, August 26th 2010
Portland 17 (SD – 25), Tacoma 12
W: Webb (1-0, 0.92) L: Paredes (0-1, 5.60)

Friday, August 27th 2010
Portland 1 (SD – 26), Tacoma 3
W: Feierabend (4-6, 5.11) L: Ramos (5-7, 3.36)

Saturday, August 28th 2010
Portland 5 (SD – 25), Tacoma 3
W: Munter (4-1, 2.28) L: Rowland-Smith (2-3, 6.00)

Sunday, August 29th 2010
Portland 8 (SD – 26), Tacoma 17
W: Speigner (5-7, 4.99) L: Carrillo (5-14, 5.60)

Hitter of the Week:
3B Matt Mangini, L/R, 12/21/1985
6 G, 28 AB, 8 R, 15 H, 2 2B, 4 HR, 5 RBI, 3/0 K/BB, .536/.536/1.036

The thirteen home runs given up by the pitching don’t seem so bad when the hitters knock out nineteen. Might as well fight fire with napalm. Mangini launched three over the weekend to scramble to the top of the list, but it’s not some aberration of hitting as he had two four-hit nights to end last week, making his ten-game line .511/.511/.915, which also makes more apparent the lack of walks. He has only four in August and hasn’t topped seven in any month, unfortunate because in both of the previous seasons, he had 35+ walks. But hey, he has eighteen dingers this year and with two more, he’ll have as many as in his ‘08 and ‘09 combined. I think that’s within reach, and he’s four doubles away from also hitting the combined total for those years.

Still Hitting Mention:
SS Tug Hulett, L/R, 2/28/1983
6 G, 23 AB, 4 R, 10 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3/2 K/BB, .435/.480/.826

Just Power #1 Mention:
LF Mike Carp, L/R, 6/30/1986
7 G, 24 AB, 8 R, 6 H, 2 2B, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 6/4 K/BB, .250/.357/.708

Just Power #2 Mention:
DH Brad Nelson, L/R, 12/23/1982
7 G, 26 AB, 4 R, 7 H, 3 HR, 5/3 K/BB, .269/.344/.615

Power and Some Walks Too Mention:
1B Justin Smoak, S/L, 12/5/1986
7 G, 26 AB, 5 R, 7 H, 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 7/6 K/BB, .269/.406/.538

Somehow Missed the Memo Mention:
RF David Winfree, R/R, 8/5/1985
7 G, 29 AB, 9 R, 9 H, 3 2B, HR, 7 RBI, 6/1 K/BB, .310/.333/.517

Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Ryan Feierabend, 8/22/1985
1-0, GS, 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP, 5 H, R, 2/2 K/BB, 8/9 G/F, HB

That a pitcher is going to need a lot of innings to sort things out after a surgery is a given. Feierbend is closing in on eighty now with the Rainiers, 113.2 overall, and has pitched over twenty-five each month since June. So how are things looking? The Ks have been pretty stable on the whole, going from twelve, to thirteen, to fifteen from June to August. The unfortunate thing is that the walks are climbing at a better rate. First it was six, then eight, now twelve. If it’s any consolation, he’s not giving as many home runs up this month, which is impressive given that Rainiers pitching gave up so many of them this week, and the only game without was Feier’s.

109 Pitches Later, This Mention:
LHP Mauricio Robles, 3/5/1989
0-1, GS, 3.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 8/6 K/BB, 3/6 G/F

From The Training Room:
When RHP Michael Pineda was finally shut down for the season, RHP Yusmeiro Petit was pulled off of it.

Strange Happenings:
On Monday, Curto reported a strange occurrence. “Just had a 7-8 putout. LF Wilson dived, ball hit glove, popped into air, CF Halman caught it.”… Two games this week had seven home runs. Just by the offense. And on Wednesday the same offense had only five hits, all of them singles.

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (2-5 this week, 67-65 overall)

The Week in Review:
Monday, August 23th 2010
Tennessee 4 (CHC + 15), West Tenn 7
W: Munoz (6-5, 4.04) L: McNutt (0-1, 9.64)

Tuesday, August 24th 2010
Tennessee 9 (CHC + 16), West Tenn 6
W: Harris (1-0, 0.90) L: Bray (7-10, 4.78)

Wednesday, August 25th 2010
Tennessee 4 (CHC + 15), West Tenn 5
W: Jimenez (1-0, 1.50) L: Smit (3-1, 2.00)

Thursday, August 26th 2010
West Tenn 0, Montgomery 2 (TB – 4)
W: Rollins (5-1, 4.50) L: Grube (3-5, 3.40)

Friday, August 27th 2010
West Tenn 5, Montgomery 12 (TB – 3)
W: Reid (2-3, 4.19) L: Gillheeney (0-1, 9.64)

Saturday, August 28th 2010
West Tenn 3, Montgomery 6 (TB – 2)
W: Hall (6-8, 3.54) L: Munoz (6-6, 3.97)

Sunday, August 29th 2010
West Tenn 1, Montgomery 10 (TB – 3)
W: Torres (11-6, 3.33) L: Bray (7-11, 5.23)

Hitter of the Week:
3B Alex Liddi, R/R, 8/14/1988
7 G, 28 AB, 4 R, 12 H, 4 2B, 6 RBI, 6/2 K/BB, HBP, .429/.469/.571

Coming out of the crazy High Desert environment, expectations of Liddi were pretty high, and with a season line of .269/.343/.467 and a wOBA of .363, you can’t really say that he knocked anyone’s socks off. So here’s some context for everyone to chew on for a while. For one thing, though it’s certainly a flawed way of judging prospects, he’s second on the single season leaderboard in RBI for the Jaxx with eighty-six, two more than Mike Wilson had in ‘08. Granted, the Jaxx have only been around since ‘98, but it’s something. Another thing worth noting is that the average hitter in the league is two-and-a-half years older than Liddi. He’ll probably make the 40-man in the offseason, and from there, we’ll have three years to determine what to with him.

Also Looking for a 40-Man Spot Mention:
2B Matt Lawson, R/R, 11/18/1985
7 G, 29 AB, 3 R, 9 H, 4 2B, 3B, 5 RBI, SB, CS, 5/3 K/BB, HBP, .310/.394/.454

Not Until Next Year Mention.
LF Nate Tenbrink, L/R, 12/21/1986
7 G, 26 AB, 6 R, 8 H, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, SB, 3/4 K/BB, HBP, .308/.419/.423

Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Anthony Vasquez, 9/19/1986
0-0, GS, 3.60 ERA in 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R (2 ER), 7/0 K/BB, 4/3 G/F

Enough of the pitchers were turning in good performances this week, but the offense couldn’t put it together enough to get them the wins they deserved. Vasquez was a guy who ended up losing the decision in a win, getting only through five innings, but also needing only eighty-two pitches to do it, as all the D-Jaxx starters seem to be on tight pitch limits these days. I’d expect Vasquez to start next year with the Jaxx too, but one cool item of interest is that he’s lost four-tenths of a walk per nine innings since moving up from High Desert, and understandably, had run a better K/BB. He may be legit in the upper minors.

Elder Statesman #1 Mention:
RHP Luis Munoz, 1/10/1982
1-1, 2 GS, 3.27 ERA in 11.0 IP, 10 H (HR), 4 R, 9/1 K/BB, 14/7 G/F

Elder Statesman #2 Mention:
RHP Jarrett Grube, 11/5/1981
0-1, 3.18 ERA in 5.2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 7/1 K/BB, 8/2 G/F

Quality Relief Work Mention:
RHP Steven Richard, 3/7/1985
0-0, 3 G, 0.00 ERA in 4.2 IP, 2 H, 3/1 K/BB, 4/6 G/F WP,

From the Training Room:
OF Dwight Britton was sent back to Everett as DH Eddy Martinez-Esteve was promoted from High Desert after leaving the DL. It makes sense that he should be playing at this level.

Strange Happenings:
The offense was 16-for-66 with runners in scoring position this week… Limonta achieved a career high in home runs with fourteen.

High Desert Mavericks (5-2 this week, 70-62 overall)

The Week in Review:
Monday, August 23th 2010
Lancaster 3 (HOU 0), High Desert 10
W: Kasparek (9-4, 3.67) L: Cespedes (2-6, 6.55)

Tuesday, August 24th 2010
High Desert 9, Inland Empire 4 (LA – 15)
W: Carraway (10-7, 5.27) L: Walter (1-8, 6.56)

Wednesday, August 25th 2010
High Desert 4, Inland Empire 6 (LA – 14)
W: Blevins (2-7, 5.95) L: Reed (0-1, 6.75)

Thursday, August 26th 2010
High Desert 12, Inland Empire 5 (LA – 15)
W: Cleto (4-8, 6.25) L: Redding (4-9, 5.63)

Friday, August 27th 2010
Lake Elsinore 8 (SD 0), High Desert 12
W: Cooper (1-0, 4.76) L: Gonzalez (6-4, 6.92)

Saturday, August 28th 2010
Lake Elsinore 12 (SD + 1), High Desert 8
W: Garrison (1-1, 3.18) L: Kasparek (9-5, 4.08)

Sunday, August 29th 2010
Lake Elsinore 4 (SD 0), High Desert 5
W: Carraway (11-7, 5.26) L: Musgrave (3-4, 2.43)

Hitter of the Week:
2B Kyle Seager, L/R, 11/3/1987
7 G, 28 AB, 8 R, 10 H, 3 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 CS, 5/7 K/BB, HBP, .357/.500/.750

It’s been hard this season to talk about Seager without invoking the other left-handed second baseman in system. Still, Seager has a good chance with two games left in the month to walk more than he’s struck out, currently at an 18/17 K/BB, and that was one comparison I made a lot earlier in the year. One that’s worthwhile to make at present is that Seager doesn’t have really any platoon issues. Against left-handers, he’s .368/.424/.513, and against right-handers it’s .336/.419/.487. How much of that is the High Desert factor coming into play, well, I can’t easily say, so we’ll have to take another sampling when he encounters the trickier pitchers at the double-A level.

Minor League RBI Leader (now w/ 30th HR!) Mention:
1B Rich Poythress, R/R, 8/11/1987
5 G, 17 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 3 2B, HR, 11 RBI, 5/4 K/BB, HBP, .353/.478/.706

Two or More Hits a Game This Week Mention:
OF Jake Shaffer, L/L, 8/16/1987
7 G, 33 AB, 9 R, 15 H, 3 2B, 2 3B, HR, 10 RBI, 5/1 K/BB, .454/.471/.758

Reaching Base Dangerously #1 Mention:
SS Edilio Colina, R/R, 10/10/1988
7 G, 28 AB, 10 R, 12 H, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB, 3/4 K/BB, 3 HBP, .429/.543/.571

Reaching Base Dangerously #2 Mention:
RF Johermyn Chavez, R/R, 1/26/1989
7 G, 27 AB, 7 R, 8 H, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB, 3/3 K/BB, 3 HBP, .296/.424/.481

A Sixth of his Season Walk Totals Mention:
CF Denny Almonte, S/R, 9/24/1988
6 G, 24 AB, 3 R, 7 H, 4 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 8/4 K/BB, .292/.393/.583

How Is This Still Happening? Mention:
1B Ji-man Choi, L/R, 5/19/1991
6 G, 24 AB, 5 R, 7 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 3/4 K/BB, .292/.393/.542

Recently Hitting Catcher Mention:
C Trevor Coleman, S/R, 1/19/1988
4 G, 15 AB, 5 R, 4 H, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 3/3 K/BB, .267/.368/.600

Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Daniel Cooper, 11/6/1986
1-0, 3 G, SV, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (ER) 8/4 K/BB, 6/1 G/F, 2 WP

Having a competent bullpen in High Desert seems significant, what with the risk that you’re a few flyballs away from the starter being knocked out at any given time. So credit to Coop here for winning one of the games and saving another. His tenure as a Lumberking was largely undistinguished, with 37/21 K/BB in 56.2 IP, but as that season went on he showed one skill that has been helping him get by in the Cal League, and that’s getting groundballs. There’s only been one home run off him this season and I wouldn’t expect more, as he seems to be keeping the Mavericks infield busy so far. If he can somehow avoid walking the world, he’ll be all right.

Breaking the Rules [Usually a 4.0 IP Minimum] Mention:
RHP Blake Nation, 5/16/1987
0-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2/1 K/BB, 6/2 G/F

From the Training Room:
After EM-E left, the Mavs opted for an outfielder and brought in CF Daniel Carroll from Clinton while sending OF Julio Morban to where he probably belongs in Everett.

Strange Happenings:
The Mavs had three post season all-stars and I don’t think anyone’s going to be surprised to hear than none of them are pitchers. Congratulations to 2B Kyle Seager, 1B Rich Poythress, and RF Johermyn Chavez… The Mavs slipped out of first this weekend, which means that this upcoming series with Rancho Cucamonga is going to be pretty intense… After I went and posted about LaFromboise having better numbers in the rotation, they ran Nate Reed out there instead and LaFromboise got kicked around for two out of three appearances… Carraway gave up three home runs in a start this week and that still isn’t his season worst… Saturday’s game might have been closer, but in the sixth inning Chavez was called out on a controversial third strike which not only led to the bases being left loaded, but his ejection… Choi is the youngest hitter on the roster by two years and four months and he’s still doing this thing.

Clinton Lumberkings (6-3 this week, 72-59 overall)

The Week in Review:
Monday, August 23th 2010
Peoria 1 (CHC – 2), Clinton 3
W: Czyz (4-4, 4.71) L: Kirk (0-1, 4.50)

Tuesday, August 24th 2010
Peoria 5 (CHC – 3), Clinton 10
W: Wilhelmsen (4-1, 2.05) L: Wallach (6-2, 3.90)

Wednesday, August 25th 2010
Quad Cities 5 (STL + 6), Clinton 14
W: Stanton (11-6, 4.29) L: Rondon (4-7, 4.99)

Thursday, August 26th 2010
Quad Cities 5 (STL + 7), Clinton 4 (ten innings)
W: Terry (5-4, 4.04) L: Josselyn (3-4, 3.96)

Quad Cities 3 (+ 6), Clinton 6 (seven innings)
W: Jimenez (3-4, 3.19) L: Kelly (6-8, 4.13)

Friday, August 27th 2010
Quad Cities 0 (STL + 5), Clinton 5
W: Medina (5-0, 2.17) L: Smith (7-2, 3.45)

Saturday, August 28th 2010
Clinton 1, Peoria 7 (CHC 0)
W: Kirk (1-1, 2.79) L: Czyz (4-5, 4.57)

Sunday, August 29th 2010
Clinton 6, Peoria 2 (CHC – 1) (seven innings)
W: Wilhelmsen (5-1, 2.15) L: Wallach (6-3, 4.16)

Clinton 1, Peoria 2 (0) (seven innings)
W: Martin (3-2, 6.75) L: Josselyn (3-5, 4.22)

Hitter of the Week:
LF Vinnie Catricala, R/R, 10/31/1988
9 G, 30 AB, 8 R, 14 H, 5 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 5/5 K/BB, HBP, .467/.526/.833

Catricala spent most of the season playing second-fiddle to Franklin, but has bookended it with some pretty solid months. August, after all, has him hitting .440/.496/.743 to Franklin’s .258/.355/.383. These days, he’s getting most of his starts in left with Martinez being the superior third basemen and Wiswall and Morris fighting over first, but he’s been pretty solid defensively out there, which opens some possibilities for him down the line. Even if his left/right split, which is .180 right now, stays roughly the same or deepens a little in coming years, he still might have a bit of a future.

High Average Mention:
RF James Jones, L/L, 9/24/1988
9 G, 36 AB, 6 R, 15 H, 3 2B, 5 RBI, 2 CS, 6/1 K/BB, HBP, .417/.436/.500

For Some Reason, Not Seeing a Lot of At-Bats Mention:
CF Matt Cerione, L/L, 1/4/1988
9 G, 19 AB, 7 R, 9 H, 4 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB, 4/6 K/BB, .474/.600/.842

Peripherals! Mention:
SS Nick Franklin, S/R, 3/2/1991
9 G, 28 AB, 6 R, 7 H, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 9/9 K/BB, SB, CS, .250/.447/.429

Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Taylor Stanton, 1/15/1988
1-0, GS, 2.57 ERA in 7.0 IP, 6 H (HR), 2 R, 14/1 K/BB, 6/0 G/F, WP

Stanton has had a season that I would qualify as intriguing, but difficult to sort through. Through his first two months, he had only walked six, and through the last three he’s averaged nearly nine. Strikeouts were at around one per inning in May and June, and little over five per nine in both April and July. Then, of course, you have more than half his Ks for this month coming in the one start. Whether he’s been a groundball or flyball pitcher has been no more stable. He’s one of a bunch of tertiary pitchers in the system that have shown enough to make them worth keeping track of, and exhibited few signs of assembling it all into something interesting.

Seco Special Mention:
RHP Yoervis Medina, 7/27/1988
1-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 2 H, 9/6 K/BB, 2/7 G/F, WP

Spot of Bad Luck Mention:
RHP Erasmo Ramirez, 5/2/1990
0-0, GS, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R (ER), 6/2 K/BB, 6/5 G/F

Reliever on the Rise #1 Mention:
RHP Stephen Pryor, 7/23/1989
0-0, 3 G, SV, 0.00 ERA in 5.0 IP, 2 H, 9/3 K/BB, 1/3 G/F

Reliever on the Rise #2 Mention:
RHP Forrest Snow, 12/30/1988
0-0, 2 G, SV, 0.00 ERA in 4.0 IP, H, 5/2 K/BB, 3/4 G/F, HB

From the Training Room:
Carroll left. No one came back because no one needed to.

Strange Happenings:
Wilhelmsen’s command has gone a bit erratic on him. After running a 36/4 K/BB in the first two levels over 19.2 IP, he’s 30/14 in 37.2 innings for the Lumberkings. He had an 11/5 K/BB this week… Royster hit .455/.600/.727 in his first week with the team, but as he only managed to accrue eleven at-bats I couldn’t note him… Franklin and Ramirez were MWL Post Season All-Stars, which rectifies the earlier BS of that one other shortstop starting in the game… Franklin also had a classification report written about him behind the subscriber wall at Baseball America.

Everett Aquasox (4-4 this week, 44-25 overall)

Monday, August 23th 2010
Tri-City 9 (COL – 6), Everett 5 (seven innings)
W: Sitton (1-0, 2.70) L: Lewis (0-1, 23.62)

Tri-City 4 (- 5), Everett 1 (seven innings)
W: Jarrett (1-0, 0.00) L: Hudson (4-2, 2.76)

Tuesday, August 24th 2010
Tri-City 2 (COL – 6), Everett 3 (thirteen innings)
W: Merry (2-0, 4.40) L: Tilford (3-3, 6.19)

Wednesday, August 25th 2010
Everett 7, Eugene 4 (SD – 1)
W: Sorce (7-2, 4.03) L: Tabachnik (3-3, 3.83)

Thursday, August 26th 2010
Everett 1, Eugene 6 (SD 0)
W: Branham (5-3, 3.17) L: Seco (2-3, 2.53)

Friday, August 27th 2010
Everett 4, Eugene 6 (SD + 1)
W: Everett (5-2, 2.70) L: Burgoon (1-1, 3.18)

Saturday, August 28th 2010
Eugene 1 (SD 0), Everett 4
W: Fernandez (7-3, 2.79) L: Sanchez (0-2, 3.15)

Sunday, August 29th 2010
Eugene 2 (SD – 1), Everett 7
W: Diaz (4-3, 5.12) L: Carter (1-1, 4.98)

Hitter of the Week:
3B Kevin Mailloux, R/R, 3/5/1986
6 G, 24 AB, 7 R, 9 H, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, SB, CS, 8/0 K/BB, .375/.375/.792

Because one has to be ever vigilant to keep one’s spot on the leaderboard, Rivers has lost out to Mailloux as to who leads the team, and the league, in slugging. However, where Rivers also ranks second in walks with fifty-three, and first in OBP by a good margin, Mailloux has walked half as often, and is twelfth on OBP behind Serrano. That particular issue seems to be getting worse, as he had nine in thirteen games in June, then eleven in twenty-four games for July and finally six in August. Ten home runs is nice and all, but you’d think that he’d be able to parlay that into fear of pitchers giving him anything down the heart of the plate, and that just hasn’t happened.

Can Actually Get On Base Mention:
OF/DH Kevin Rivers, L/R, 8/24/1988
8 G, 26 AB, 3 R, 11 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 8 RBI, SB, 6/6 K/BB, HBP, .423/.545/.654

Same For Him, Just Don’t Expect Power Mention:
IF Terry Serrano, S/R, 2/6/1987
8 G, 25 AB, 8 R, 10 H, 2 2B, 3 SB, 3 CS, 5/7 K/BB, .400/.531/.480

Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Anthony Fernandez, 6/8/1990
1-0, 2 GS, 1.63 ERA in 11.0 IP, 6 H (HR), 2 R, 12/4 K/BB, 14/5 G/F

Sure, after I go and talk up Fernandez’ command, he has to go and lose it and trade it for groundballs again or whatever. Fine. I’ll talk about his splits a little more then. His K-rate vs. right-handers is 7.74 and against left-handers it’s 7.08, but the real interesting thing to me again is that when facing left-handed bats, the walk rate goes to 3.54, where it’s only 1.42 with right-handed bats. Again, this comes back to the groundball difference, which is a full three more against left-handers, so I’m thinking that he has a two-seam against them that he’ll use that isn’t quite as good as the change, or what have you, he uses to get right-handers out. I feel like I said or gestured towards all this last week.

Extreme Groundball Pitcher Mention:
RHP Ogui Diaz, 12/1/1985
1-0, 2 GS, 0.90 ERA in 10.0 IP, 6 H (HR), R, 4/3 K/BB, 23/3 G/F

“Consider the” Mention:
RHP Chris Sorce, 10/28/1987
1-0, GS, 2.70 ERA in 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 9/3 K/BB, 7/4 G/F, HB

From the Training Room:
Britton came back, as mentioned. Morban was added too. He’s now the youngest player on the roster by over a year. Take that, Steve Baron.

Strange Happenings:
The Aquasox have forty-four wins in the regular season which is as many as they’ve ever had… Valdez had a 7/1 K/BB and two hits allowed in one of his appearances this week, lasting 3.1 innings, but I think I’ve set 4.0 IP as a baseline (High Desert excluded) to get in and he was an out shy.

Pulaski Mariners (3-4 this week, 36-27 overall):

Monday, August 23th 2010
Burlington 3 (KC – 4), Pulaski 2
W: Avinazar (5-3, 2.49) L: Mieses (4-4, 3.18)

Tuesday, August 24th 2010
Burlington 6 (KC – 3), Pulaski 4
W: Dooley (4-6, 4.56) L: Nava (4-3, 4.60)

Wednesday, August 25th 2010
Pulaski 5, Elizabethton 4 (MIN + 16)
W: Bischoff (4-4, 3.10) L: Salcedo (4-3, 3.23)

Thursday, August 26th 2010
Pulaski 3, Elizabethton 2 (MIN + 15)
W: Kohlscheen (3-0, 2.51) L: Dean (2-2, 2.82)

Friday, August 27th 2010
Pulaski 0, Elizabethton 5 (MIN + 16)
W: Darnell (2-3, 2.20) L: Boyce (9-3, 2.98)

Saturday, August 28th 2010
Pulaski 6, Bristol 9 (CHW – 8 )
W: Evans (2-2, 5.19) L: Vitale (0-2, 5.31)

Sunday, August 29th 2010
Greeneville 4 (HOU – 4), Pulaski 5
W: Vancil (2-1, 2.84) L: Bullock (3-1, 1.26)

Hitter of the Week:
3B Ramon Morla, R/R, 11/20/1989
5 G, 16 AB, 6 R, 6 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, SB, 5/0 K/BB, .375/.375/.875

At some point between the last time I talked about it and now, Morla passed Oswaldo Arcia for the league lead in home runs with sixteen, and with two games left in the season, he has a good chance of holding it. Part of that is probably that he’s been slugging .705 in August, though he had two more home runs in July. Regardless, he’s cut down on strikeouts by a fair amount, from 35 in 121 ABs in July to 19 in 88 ABs in August, and he’s continued to steal bases as often as ever. They may opt to continue the slow and steady development with him, but there’s a chance he could open in the Midwest League next season as a twenty-one year old, which wouldn’t be bad at all.

Will Hopefully Escape Short-Season Next Year Mention:
OF Jose Rivero, 1/8/1990
7 G, 26 AB, 4 R, 9 H, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 SB, CS, 6/1 K/BB, .346/.370/.615

Pitcher of the Week:
RHP Preston Vancil, 11/15/1986
1-0, 2 G, 0.00 ERA in 5.2 IP, 3 H, 8/0 K/BB, 1/7 G/F

Vancil is the second-oldest guy on the staff right now in a league where the average hitter is under drinking age. The story of how he came to be with the Mariners, however, is a bit different from the average pitcher. He was undrafted out of his D-2 university, where he led the conference in Ks as a senior, and pitched in the Frontier League last season (where he had a 149-pitch no-hitter) before signing on with the Mariners before spring training. What does all this mean? I don’t know, but he has a memorable name and has struck out a bunch of dudes on occasion so feel free to root for him.

Another Quality Start Mention:
RHP Steve Kohlscheen, 9/20/1988
1-0, GS, 1.80 ERA in 5.0 IP, 4 H, R, 7/0 K/BB, 4/3 G/F

Sort of Started? Mention:
RHP Lance Abbott, 9/22/1986
0-0, GS, 0.00 ERA in 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2/2 K/BB, 3/0 G/F, HB

Not Starting Until Next Year Mention:
RHP Matthew Bischoff, 5/21/1987
1-0, G, 0.00 ERA in 3.0 IP, H, 6/1 K/BB, 8/5 G/F

From the Training Room:
There may be minor DL and not-DL moves going on, but (shrug)

Strange Happenings:
Four M’s made the Appalachian League All-Star Team, those being 3B Ramon Morla, IF Jorge Agudelo, OF Jose Rivero, and RHP Tim Boyce. They have separate utility infielder and utility outfielder positions, which is how Agudelo and Rivero got on.

Dispatches from the Land of Rehabbers and Teens:
RHP Danny Cruz Ayala: 8 G, 3 S, 4.05 ERA in 13.1 IP, 13 H (HR), 6 R, 23/3 K/BB
2B Michael Acevedo: 40 G, 155 AB, 19 R, 51 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 14 RBI, 7 SB, 4 CS, 31/6 K/BB, .329/.358/.406
C/1B Ji-Man Choi: 39 G, 135 AB, 23 R, 51 H, 15 2B, 2 3B, HR, 23 RBI, 10 SB, CS, 30/21 K/BB, .378/.459/.541
RHP Jeroen de Haas: 15 G (GS), 4.18 ERA in 28.0 IP, 33 H (2 HR), 21 R (13 ER), 23/6 K/BB, 2 HB
1B Jose Flores: 38 G, 127 AB, 17 R, 29 H, 10 2B, 3 HR, 21 RBI, SB, 2 CS, 45/14 K/BB, .228/.322/.378
RHP Seon Gi Kim: 13 G (7 GS), 5.14 ERA in 61.1 IP, 76 H (3 HR), 37 R (35 ER), 71/12 K/BB
RHP Brandon Maurer: 4 G (4 GS), 1.64 ERA in 11.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R (2 ER), 14/2 K/BB
CF Alfredo Morales: 48 G, 174 AB, 25 R, 39 H, 17 2B, 2 3B, HR, 14 RBI, 6 SB, 3 CS, 59/14 /BB, .224/.283/.362
OF Guillermo Pimentel: 51 G, 184 AB, 20 R, 46 H, 7 2B, 6 3B, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 5 SB, CS, 58/5 K/BB, .250/.276/.451
LHP Derrick Saito: 3 G (3 GS), 5.14 ERA in 7.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R (4 ER), 9/4 K/BB
RHP Jandy Sena: 13 G (4 GS), 4.01 ERA in 42.2 IP, 43 H, 22 R (19 ER), 35/14 K/BB, 2 HB
RHP Luke Taylor: 10 G (GS), 5.24 ERA in 22.1 IP, 25 H (HR), 22 R (13 ER), 14/17 K/BB, HB
RHP Dylan Unsworth: 11 G (10 GS), 3.93 ERA in 50.1 IP, 71 H, 27 R (22 ER), 44/1 K/BB, HB
RHP Taijuan Walker: 4 G, 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP, H, 2 3 R (ER), 9/3 K/BB, HB

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Minor League Wrap (8/23-29/10)

Sorry about missing the game thread yesterday. I went biking on the Blue Ridge Parkway with my wife and just never thought about it. So I’m actually not all that sorry after all.

Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B
Kotchman, 1B
Gutierrez, CF
Moore, C
Tuiasosopo, LF
Wilson, SS

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Game 129, Twins at Mariners

M’s return home to take on the Twins. Good news on Saunders, as an MRI found no damage, and he may be back in the line-up as soon as Monday.

Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B
Kotchman, 1B
Guiterrez, CF
Moore, C
Tuiasosopo, LF
Josh Wilson, SS

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Game 128, Twins at Mariners