Comment of the day
I’m getting tired of this race to the bottom/Strasburg sweepstakes shit. Cheering against your team is — purely in my opinion — sucky behavior even if it results in a long-term benefit. But it goes beyond that.
Look:
1. The Nationals are a way worse team (hard as that is to believe) and they have a much harder schedule over the remaining weeks. The M’s are not going to catch them at the bottom.
2. Even with first pick, the Nationals might not bust slot to pick Strasburg
3. Even if the M’s have first pick, or the Nat’s do but pass on Strasburg, the M’s may not bust slot to pick him either.
4. Even if the M’s do end up with Strasburg, he may never see the majors (Ryan Christianson ring a bell?) or he may end up not being anything special (Jeff Austin? Tim Stauffer?) or he might blow up his arm (too many to list).All of this means that talking about Strasburg all the time makes you sound like the guy who insists he’s going to move to California where Angelina Jolie will divorce Brad Pitt and marry him. Yeah, it’s possible but it’s unlikely, and even if it happens it’s still getting annoying to listen to. I realize there’s essentially no reason left to watch the team except the pure love of baseball, but tedious and repetitive is tedious and repetitive, no matter how likely (or not). You’re being worse than a bad fan. You’re being boring. Don’t be boring.
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh
RRS: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
Game 132, Twins at Mariners
Baker v RRS. 7:10. Here’s hoping Ryan tosses another fine game and the M’s can string some wins together. That’d be sweet.
Woah…
RF-L Ichiro!
CF-L Reed
3B-R Beltre
LF-L Ibanez
DH-R Lopez
C-L Clement
SS-R Betancourt
1B-L LaHair
2B-L Hulett
Morrow to start next week versus Yankees
w00t!
Once rosters expand, it is on. I would love to see a Joba v Morrow matchup just for the “here’s a couple guys who’ll be facing off in the 2012 ALCS” angle.
Hilarious quote from that article:
”He’s a great late-inning reliever,” one AL scout said this week. ”Why would you risk that to make him a starter? I don’t see it.”
You don’t, really?
Of the top, say, thirty pitchers in terms of value contributed to their teams last year, how many were starters? I count thirty.
But maybe this AL scout has a point. Babe Ruth was a pretty decent pitcher. I still don’t understand why they converted him to a full-time position player.
Ahhh, Minnesota
The M’s just managed as many victories against the A’s that series as they did all of 2006. Now, welcome to the Twins– Check out these probables.
Liriano vs Batista (in his re-re-re-return to the rotation)
Baker v RRS
Perkins v “TBA”
Yeah, this could get really, really ugly. Like spend a couple bucks on a gas mask ugly.
Tragedy or comedy
Good things
Ichiro, three games in first place, McLaren fired, Bavasi fired, the improvement of Riggleman, Morrow’s development, Morrow going to start, Felix starts, nice return on Rhodes trade, RRS ascent to rotation, Vidro release, Sexson release, Beltre, Clement promotion, Clement re-promotion, Ibanez’s hitting, continued if diminished fan support, anger of the Lincoln/Armstrong post-Bavasi-firing conference, Lopez’s hitting, improved outfield defense, the most valuable Bloomquist season in years, Burke pitching, LaHair getting a shot, the return of a healthy Mark Lowe, the July 28th game where the M’s hit four home runs, three walk-off wins, Wilkerson released, Sean Green, four shutouts, twelve wins by five or more runs, hope (however small) for a organizational overhaul this winter, and 48 wins.
Bad things
McLaren started the season as manager, team offense, team pitching, team defense, Washburn versus Johjima (one and two), personal catchers, Bedard hurt, Silva starts, Batista appearances, Washburn not traded, Baek traded for no reason, Putz injury, Putz ineffectiveness, Putz re-injury, Vidro, Sexson, Johjima extension, Johjima’s season, Clement demotion, Ibanez’s defense, some Dickey appearances, continued if diminished fan support, Lincoln-Armstrong still in charge, Lopez’s defense, Betancourt’s collapse, Reed not hitting after promotion, Wlad not hitting after promotion, Clement not hitting after promotion, no towel service day, Bloomquist injured, Morse injured, Cairo, the division cellar, three seven-game losing streaks, eight times being shut out, twenty three losses by five or more runs, the 15-3 loss to the White Sox this last week, winless against the goddamn Yankees on the season, swept by the Nationals, “funk blasts,” the fifteen-inning 1-2 loss on July 6th, the thirteen games where no Mariner collected an extra-base hit, the thirteen games where no Mariner drew a walk, the one game where no Mariner had an extra-base hit or a walk, Valle and Fairly guesting in the broadcast booth, the Moose, 1-71 record when going into the ninth behind, nine walk-off losses, Drayer fired, Rally Fries, Bloomquist’s quest for historical futility in the field of hitting thwarted, and “no question about it” the 82 losses.
Game 130, Athletics at Mariners
Meyer v Hernandez.
Felix has been more valuable than every other pitcher who started the season in the rotation combined, even if you consider negative value starters as zero. Discuss.
Bloomquist out for season?!?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHY GOD WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Game 129, Athletics at Mariners
Eveland versus the Bus.
Number of starts Bus has had this season as good as RRS’ last: one, maybe two (July 27th, then pick ’em)
Number of starts Bus has had this season as good as Feirabend’s last one: nine? ten?
Good News From T-Town
Brandon Morrow in Portland last night – 4 2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K, 72 pitches, 52 strikes.
In his last couple of starts, Morrow has begun to mix in his breaking ball and not just depend on the fastball, and well, the results are obvious. He faced 18 batters yesterday, punching out 56% of them. Almost three quarters of his pitches were strikes. He was dominating.
The M’s will probably give him one more start in Tacoma, getting him up to 85-90 pitches before bringing him back to Seattle when rosters expand. With Rowland-Smith succeeding last night and Morrow flashing his potential, there is some hope for this rotation yet.