Minor League Wrap (6/15-21/09)
Dave adds: We’re happy to announce that Jay has agreed to join us full time as a USSM author. He’s done a fantastic job with the recaps, and we were so impressed we asked him to take on a larger role. He’ll still be doing the recaps through the season, but he’s also going to be doing more posts on the goings on below the major league level and generally boosting the site’s coverage of the team’s farm system. We’re really happy to have Jay on board as an author. Welcome to the team, Jay.
A few quick notes before we get things rolling. First off, the Midwest and California League All-Star Games, with M’s farmhands well-represented, will be taking place on Tuesday, not that you would miss a match-up against our hated interleague rivals for the world. Second, Everett and Peoria have started play, with Pulaski also getting going on Tuesday, so be patient as the recaps adjust to the added workload. The first half is over. Let the endurance run begin.
To the jump!
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Game thread
Wooooo
Five hundred. Fiiiiive hundred.
34-34. Yeah, the offense is bad, and the pitching’s shaky and Bedard’s injured and our middle infield is hoooorrible. And yeah, there’s some luck here too. But folks —
.500
Last year they’d lost 34 before May was out and didn’t win 34 until July.
It’s been a long, horrible year since they were legitimately .500 (this day in 07 they were 36-32), and as a bonus to seeing the team’s return to respectability, we’re seeing the foundations of a team that can win sustainably, too.
We don’t know what’ll happen next, if they’ll sell, or buy and sell, or how the season will go… but to see them claw their way back up after that May collapse makes me happy.
Game 68, Diamondbacks at Mariners
I ended up seeing Chavez’s injury a dozen times yesterday, between the game and watching the post-game show, and… I don’t have anything good to say for the game thread today. Endy’s out, Wlad’s in, Vargas is starting, and I’m sad. I know this kind of thing’s entirely unpredictable, and I’ve been trying not to, but to have Yuni involved, and walk away unharmed, after all the frustration of the season, it’s almost too much for me to maintain a wall between Yuni, the player who is underperforming and hurting the team eight ways, to Yuni, the guy who is cursing the team.
I can’t be alone on this, can I? We’re only human, and fans so we’re irrationally emotionally involved with this stuff. If he lets the bat go on a swing and gives Gutierrez a concussion tonight, at this point I’d just shake my head and put it on his tab.
If (as it’s gone so far this season) Yuni responds to this by fielding every ground ball in play and goes 4-5 with four home runs, it’d be a good first step to working off this karmic debt.
Chavez has a Torn ACL
Geoff Baker with the story. Not only is the anterior cruciate ligament torn, but it’s possible that there’s further damage to the other ligaments and a bone fracture. Great.
Baker also notes that Zduriencik has made the call that Saunders not be called up. They want to see him play more in Tacoma, and given the shoulder surgery at the end of last year and the slow start to June, along with the usual arbitration clock concerns, that’s a reasonable decision. Left field will be manned by Wlad, with guest appearances by Cedeno and Griffey.
In the meantime, Josh Wilson, who was picked up off waivers from the Padres earlier in the week, will take the spot on the roster until Lopez comes off the bereavement list, and then they’ll have to decide which of their infielders is heading out.
Update from Baker: MCL torn too, meniscus damaged, deep bone bruise, probably out to start 2010. For a player whose game is speed-reliant, it’s difficult to fully characterize how much this sucks.
Aumont Joins Diamond Jaxx
There’s a press release up at an external site, but if you don’t like that, you can confirm the roster. This doesn’t look like a temporary move for today’s doubleheader either, as they released a player to make room for him.
So, what have we learned about our ’07 first-round pick in the past few months? Aumont struggled out of the gate, with some mediocre command marring his April performances and leaving him with a 9/6 K/BB in 10.1 innings. This improved significantly to a 16/2 in 14.1 May innings, but it was coupled with a few more of his hits leaving the park. In June, his performances were more towards the middle; his control wasn’t quite as good, but his home run rate wasn’t quite as bad and hitters were having some difficulty making contact off of him. It would seem that he’s been in the process of adjusting back and forth over the past few months in response to what’s happening around him, which is definitely a good sign.
One more item of interest is that the difference in his splits versus lefties and righties is almost imperceptible, save for a couple of things. He gets twice as many groundballs against same-handed batters than he does opposite, which could help explain the higher home run rate versus lefties and the higher ERA with it. There’s also a slight increase in walks, which would be expected with him. Otherwise, the numbers are identical.
It really makes you think about what he might be able to do in the rotation, doesn’t it?
Game 67, Diamondbacks v Mariners
The Bob Melvin-less Diamondbacks visiting. Be still my trembling heart! Garland v Washburn.
I was trying to remember Washburn’s last good start and I kept casting back to the first game he threw in May against the A’s, but looking at the game log I found a start that dropped entirely out of my memory, and only two weekends ago, May 6th when he gave the twins almost nothing for six innings, winding up with 6 K against 1 walk. The bad news is that the three most fearsome hitters in the Diamondbacks lineup, unlike the Twins, are not lefties and won’t be conveniently stacked on top of each other.
Still, overall the Diamondbacks are a pretty bad offensive team. Not Mariners bad, but we count our blessings where we can find them. And I’m looking forward to seeing how Wakamatsu manages to put together a lineup while being squeezed like this due to circumstance.
Previewing the ’09 Aquasox
The Aquasox will be opening up their season on Saturday in Vancouver (7:05 pm start time), so now is as good a time as any to preview the third local team, should anyone be curious enough to venture up to Everett Memorial this summer. The roster as constructed right now is especially not-reflective of who will be taking the field for the majority of the season. Not only are there just two ’09 draftees that have signed at this point, but a recent change in passport/visa rules for entering the U.S. has left the Aquasox with a limited roster, as not everyone has their papers squared away just yet. There are two pitchers listed as in the rotation, RHs Chris Kirkland and Taylor Stanton, that aren’t going to be with the team on the first roadtrip for this very reason. The players who you see on the team at this moment are the ones that are capable of going to Canada and back without issues, but there’s going to be a noticeable turnover come Tuesday.
Nevertheless, here is more information on the group than you ought to require.
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Is It Time To End The Ronny Cedeno Era?
When Jose Lopez returns from the bereavement list next week, the M’s will have to ship a middle infielder back to Tacoma. Chris Woodward is the obvious candidate, since he just came up from Triple-A. But, as I watched Ronny Cedeno take a few more ridiculous swings today, I have to wonder if he’s the guy who should head back to the minors. He just looks broken.
He walks as much as Lopez, strikes out as much as Branyan, and hits for power like Yuni. Maybe you could explain his .132 batting average as bad luck, but then you look at his batted ball profile and see a line drive percentage of 4.3%. Cedeno isn’t making contact very often, and even when he does, it’s a ground ball or a fly ball, giving him a high percentage of making an out and a very low percentage of doing anything useful.
He’s a solid defender, he’s only 26, and he has some history of being able to hit in the minors, but man, right now, he just looks lost at the plate. He’s out of options, so the team can’t send him back to Tacoma without passing him through waivers, but I doubt there’s going to be a stampede to claim a guy with a .190 wOBA. Playing once or twice a week isn’t working for him, and if he’s ever going to be a productive player for the M’s, he’s probably going to have to undergo some changes to his swing. That’s a lot easier to fix when you’re actually playing, and he simply hasn’t hit well enough to let Wak put him in the line-up with any regularity.
Chris Woodward certainly isn’t the answer to anything (nor is anyone else in the organization – please, Jack, get us a middle infielder or two!), but he can play SS/2B without being a total disaster and hit .200 at least. Sadly, that would be an upgrade over what we’re getting from Cedeno at the moment.
I’m not ready to give up on Ronny Cedeno entirely, but this isn’t working. When Lopez comes back, I’d like to see the team outright him to Tacoma – if someone else wants to claim him, so be it, but at least they’d have a shot at getting him to Triple-A where he can try to fix his problems.
Game 66, Mariners at Padres
Morrow vs Geer, 12:35 pm.
The Brandon Morrow Experience continues today with a start against the hapless Padres in a park perfectly suited for his skills. Seriously, if he can’t throw strikes today – in Petco, against a bad offense, with no designated hitter – then he’s just physically incapable of throwing strikes.
Wak didn’t do him the favor of sticking Endy Chavez in left field, though. Third straight game Junior is out in LF. Can’t say I’m a fan of that. Yes, the offense is a bit better with Griffey in there, but the defensive dropoff is larger. Especially on games when the flyball oriented pitchers are on the mound (which is basically everyone but Felix at this point), Griffey in LF is not a good choice.
Ichiro, RF
Carp, 1B
Beltre, 3B
Griffey, LF
Gutierrez, CF
Betancourt, SS
Cedeno, 2B
Burke, C
Morrow, P