Sigh
“I’m a power pitcher, so I have to throw my fastball as my out pitch,” Hernandez said.
Whoever convinced Felix this is true should be beaten with wet noodles.
Game 136, Mariners at Devil Rays
Hernandez vs Stokes, 10:15 am
Because it worked last time, Feliz Dia de Felix!
Brian Stokes makes his major league debut. He’s not a prospect – he turns 27 on Thursday and is your generic Triple-A starter. Of course, Triple-A starters have had boatloads of success against the M’s this year, so who knows.
Game Score is a Bill James gimmick stat created to give an overview of how effective a pitcher was on a particular day, and it actually works pretty well. Felix has pitched four games this year where his game score was over 70. Two of those were against Anaheim, and the other two were against Tampa Bay. Felix’s four best games of the season have come against two of the least patient teams in the American League. That’s not a coincidence. Teams that don’t make Felix work and chase pitches out of the zone neutralize his biggest weakness – command – and play right into his hands. There’s a real good chance we see Good Felix again today simply because we’re playing Tampa Bay.
Game 135, Mariners at Devil Rays
Baek vs Howell, 4:05 pm.
J.P. Howell is a command lefty with average stuff who mixes up his pitches. He’s the kind of guy the M’s just can’t hit. Expect another low scoring performance from the offense, as Howell befuddles them with change-ups early in the count. Also, since this begins a three game stretch against LHP’s, don’t expect to see much in the way of Doyle until Tuesday.
Game 134, Mariners at Devil Rays
Meche vs Shields, 4:05 pm.
Gil Meche was legitimately terrible in August, posting a 6.87 ERA that was completely earned. He couldn’t throw strikes, didn’t miss bats, and averaged just over four innings per start. At this point, the M’s have to hope that Meche finishes the year strong enough to be classified as a Type B free agent, which would enable them to receive a relatively high draft choice (as high as #16) when he signs some ridiculous contract with another ballclub this winter. Personally, I’m just thrilled there’s only a month left in the Gil Meche as Mariner Pitcher era.
Also, Ben Broussard, it’s time for a 4-5, 2 HR evening. Benuardo hasn’t exactly been hitting well since coming over from Cleveland, and we’re tired of having our DH’s hit like pitchers.
Roster move
Emiliano Fruto has joined the team for the trip to Tampa. He takes Rafael Soriano’s spot on the roster, though Soriano has not been placed on the disabled list since we’re in September and the team now has an extra 15 roster spots to play with.
The Rainiers season ends Monday, and the rest of the callups will join the Mariners after their season ends. Expected callups include Francisco Cruceta, Travis Blackley, Greg Dobbs, and Adam Jones.
Ichiro and Johjima
The Seattle Times has a fantastic article written by a freelance writer, Brad Lefton, on the relationship between Ichiro and Johjima. This goes way beyond standard beat writer fare and is probably one of the best baseball articles you’ll ever see published in the Times. Some of the interesting tidbits:
“I only had a bad impression of him,” Ichiro says, laughing heartily as he explains what he now considers a long-standing misperception. “When we played against each other in Japan, as an opponent, I found him brash and cocky. Honestly, I was upset when I heard the Mariners had signed him. I thought, ‘What?’ I didn’t think we could coexist here.”
“My image of him was that he was careless and not detail-oriented,” Ichiro says. “But when you observe his actions on the field, you realize he’s actually very detail-oriented and conscientious. A catcher needs to show sensitivity to his fielders and pay careful attention to details on the field.
There’s also a fantastic explanation of the sempai/kohai relationship that is central to Japanese culture, and predetermined the way these two were going to have to interact. It adds a real depth to this quote:
And Ichiro of Johjima, “Away from the ballpark, he’s always my kohai, that’s simply the way it is in Japanese society. But there are times at the ballpark when he’s more than just my kohai; he’s my teammate.”
Ichiro is disliked by most of the American media who follows the team around on a regular basis. Perhaps they should all spend more time with Brad Lefton and learn about why he does some of the things he does, rather than ascribing arrogance and aloofness to him because he’s not like the kids from Texas.
Open Thread
Okay, it’s an off day, Derek’s in Europe, and Jason, Jeff, and I are too busy to put up any kind of substantial content for the afternoon. If we leave last nights game thread as the top post, that’s going to turn into an off topic bandwidth nightmare, so, against my better judgment;
Here’s an open thread for those of you who constantly complain about our requirements that you stay on topic. Want to post your roster construction ideas? Take potshots at the engineering community? Need to rant about Hargrove walking Adam Kennedy to get to Howie Kendrick (seriously, what was he doing)? You a lurking Red Sox fan who still hates me because of the Papelbon/Lester thread and wants to gloat?
Knock yourselves out. These opportunities won’t present themselves very often. Talk about anything you’d like within the comment guidelines – the general rules still remain, so no politics, no steroid innuendo, and be nice to each other.
And for those of you who are cringing reading this intro, I suggest skipping the comments section. We’ll have real content for you guys again tomorrow.
Game 133, Angels at Mariners
Lackey vs Woods, 7:05
Jake Woods has given up just 1 run in the 10 2/3 innings he’s pitched since moving into the rotation. The lesson the Mariners should be learning from this is that replacement level pitchers are literally everywhere, it really isn’t that hard to find a guy who can get major leaugue hitters out with smoke and mirrors for a little while, and there is no reason to pay big money to end-of-rotation starters just because they’re proven to only kinda sorta suck.
The lesson the Mariners are learning from this is, instead, that Jake Woods is a pretty good pitcher. So, without being rude to Woods, I hope he gets pounded tonight, and the Mariners win 10-9. Because we really don’t need this organization failing to get us a real major league pitcher this offseason because they were fooled by the likes of Jake Woods.
Ultimate 2006 Mariner Line-Up, Take 2.
Roundup
Lots of things to cover this morning.
1. Get well, Raffy.
Obviously, we’re all nuts about the Mariners, and we take this team way too seriously. But it doesn’t take much to remind you that this is, after all, just a game, and the line drive off Rafael Soriano’s head brought that perspective back to the light. I don’t care if the M’s go 0 for September, as long as Rafael Soriano is okay and is able to lead a long, healthy, productive life. We’re all pulling for him.
2. Doyle!
Need I say more?
3. The Price of Pitching Just Went Up
Yesterday, on his 29th birthday, Roy Oswalt agreed to a 5 year, $73 million extension. While Roy Oswalt is a legitimately terrific pitcher, a five year commitment to any starting pitcher is borderline folly, and when he’s a year away from becoming a free agent… well, lets just say I see a lot of downside in this move. It also helps set the market for pitching this offseason. If you thought Jason Schmidt had any chance of being a bargain, that just went out the window.
Eventually, teams are going to realize that these kinds of contracts are not good ideas. They’re just not going to realize it this offseason.
4. Game Ball
If you haven’t been following, the Rainiers staff has been decimated lately, between callups and injuries, and they’ve barely been able to field a team. Jason Snyder was called up from rookie ball to start on Monday, and he lasted just four innings before a shoulder problem forced him from the game. Baek and Huber are in the majors, Clint Nageotte is out for the year, and the team’s rotation is a giant question mark.
So, last night’s performance from Rich Dorman was just what the doctor ordered. 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 14 K. He’s 27 and not a real prospect, but for one night, he was Tacoma’s savior.
5. Hello flaws
Remember when Michael Wilson was killing the ball in San Antonio, and I begrudgingly added him to the Future Forty because he just wouldn’t stop hitting?
Yea, that seems like a long time ago. He’s hitting .162/.207/.333 in August with 6 walks and 41 strikeouts (!) in 105 at-bats. I think Double-A pitchers have finally found the holes in his swing.
The game has changed
From a May 18, 1997 Chicago Tribune article by Mike Reilley on Ken Griffey Jr.’s possible pursuit of the single-season home run record:
Still, Bonds doesn’t realistically believe Maris’ record will fall.
“Not unless you make it mandatory for a starting pitcher go eight innings,” he said. “Baseball has changed.”