Game 8, Angels at Mariners
Roenis Elias vs. Garrett Richards, 7:10pm
After spending much of yesterday’s game thread burying Albert Pujols and praising James Paxton, Pujols homered and Paxton’s lat strain sent him to the DL. We around here tend to frown on sloppy correlating, but I promise not to reference Pujols’ contract at all today.
The M’s improved to 5-2 yesterday, but the story of the game probably has to be the two big injuries. James Paxton’s “tweak” of his latissimus dorsi will hold him out for a few starts, while Josh Hamilton’s thumb injury will require surgery, costing the OF about two months. It’s very, very early in the season, but I’m not sure this could’ve gone any worse for the Halos. With several injuries to the Texas and Seattle rotations, the Angels had the opportunity to grab an early lead in a wide-open division. Instead, they’re 0-4 against the M’s, their bullpen’s struggled and they’re about to lose Hamilton for a good chunk of the season. To be fair, their slow start hasn’t impacted their playoff chances much at this point, but injuries and instability in the bullpen will make it tough for the Angels to dig out of this hole. It’s just a couple of games, but while we expected the gap between the Angels/Rangers and the M’s to have narrowed, I didn’t expect BOTH teams to look so flawed. Small Sample Schadenfreude.
Roenis Elias was solid in his first outing despite some questionable work behind the plate from Sean Barber. Today’s a different kind of test. The Angels’ extreme right-handed line-up looks to be a tougher match-up for a lefty like Elias with a lower arm angle. He didn’t pay for it against Cespedes/Donaldson/Crisp, and it’s not like replacing Josh Hamilton with JB Shuck makes the Angels a *better* offensive ball club, but I’m curious how he deals with Trout, Pujols, Kendrick, etc.
Garrett Richards is the hard-throwing righty who’d been terrible in college and the majors and only OK in the minors. He may have figured something out last year, as he was a pretty effective fill-in once Joe Blanton went supernova. I feel like I’ve written more about Richards than any other opposing player, which is odd and a little bit depressing.
1: Almonte, CF
2: Miller, SS
3: Cano, 2B
4: Smoak, 1B
5: Hart, DH
6: Seager, 3B
7: Morrison, RF
8: Ackley, LF
9: Zunino, C
SP: Roenis Elias
It’s too early to complain about PT, given that there’s been so little PT to go around, but when the time is right, Michael Saunders will ask some tough questions of his manager.
Lucas Luetge’s been recalled from Tacoma to take Paxton’s spot.
Edwin Diaz starts tonight for Clinton. Jimmy Gilheeney starts for Tacoma, who look set to actually get the game in today. The big story is Taijuan Walker making what’s looking like his final rehab start tonight for AA Jackson. He’ll go 85 pitches, and could be up soon. Iwakuma threw a bullpen and hasn’t complained of shooting pain, so he’ll probably head out for a rehab start or two in the next week.
Notes From MiLB Opening Weekend
It’s difficult to know what to make of small-sample minor league performances, as the fog of random chance, luck and results bias play havoc. Now imagine all of those factors are present, but add real and not metaphorical fog and clouds…THEN try to make intelligent judgments about prospects. Not so easy. In lieu of definitive judgments, I hope you’ll accept these random scouting-style notes from the opening weekend of the Minors, with a heavy dose of the PCL. Pretty much accidentally, I caught a bit of each game of the Rainiers opening series against Albuquerque. I missed yesterday’s game against the El Paso Chihuahuas, as I am still not quite ready to pay hard currency to watch a team named as one would name a U-10 soccer team (Jeff Francouer, Brooks Conrad and Adam Moore are all on that team, which kind of makes me want to go check them out).
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Game 7, Angels at Mariners – HOME OPENER
James Paxton vs. Hector Santiago, 7:10pm
I think the game on April 2nd between these two teams and these two starting pitchers was the most encouraging of the young season. The M’s won their opener, but they *always* win their opener, in large part due to Felix Hernandez. The problem has been filling in enough complementary pieces to make Felix matter. In years past, the offense was a disaster, so the M’s rightly put the focus on improving run scoring – signing Robby Cano, developing Brad Miller, etc. But once Hisashi Iwakuma went down, many of us were worried that the rotation simply wasn’t deep enough to carry the team if the offense struggled. Roenis Elias and Chris Young still have me a bit spooked, but the picture’s dramatically different if the team has another high-ceiling, high-talent arm in the rotation who’s capable of shutting down an opponent. James Paxton’s 7 inning masterwork was thus a very, very encouraging sign.
I know – we’ve seen great performances out of the middle of the rotation before. You may recall that last year’s home opener featured a very good game from Joe Saunders, who went the first 6 1/3 IP with a 5:1 K:BB ratio and no runs allowed in the M’s 3-0 win. Paxton’s game was less about getting a divisional win, and more about demonstrating that the M’s have the capability to be much better than projected.
Like I mentioned with Sonny Gray/Erasmo Ramirez, Paxton’s clearly still tinkering with his approach and offerings. It’s tough to say much definitively about a pitcher who, because we have so little data, seems to change markedly from start to start. On the 2nd, Paxton did a couple of really, really encouraging things. First, his velocity actually increased as the game went on. His first inning saw his fastball sit around 91-93, but by the 5th or so he was consistently 95-97. Scroll down to the pitch speed graph here – there’s a clear upward trend to his velocity, which puts the final nail in the coffin of the “starter or reliever?” debate. The second, and perhaps more interesting, is how often he used his new-ish cutter, and how well it worked. I mentioned it after seeing his last AAA appearance, but it wasn’t something he used a lot. Even this spring, he used it sparingly in his first few outings before taking the training wheels off a bit in late March. But against the Angels, he threw it 17 times – as often as his curve ball. He threw it in the zone 14 of those times, and the Angels only put three of them in play (all were outs). At least that day, he generally saved it for left-handers, and both Ibanez and Hamilton in particular looked flummoxed by it.
It’s interesting that he’d use it that way, as lefties haven’t really been Paxton’s problem (not that he’s really had MLB problems yet). Teams generally stack their line-ups with righties, who’ve seen the ball a bit better against him…though still haven’t quite figured out what to do with those pitches. A good FB, with a plus cutter and a curve, and Paxton could be death on a stick to left-handers. Platoon splits – even big ones -are fine as long as you utterly destroy one side (the Justin Masterson approach), and if that’s how Paxton develops for a bit, that’d be OK with me. But think of *why* pitchers use cutters – they often do it to attack opposite-handed hitters. They have lower platoon splits than standard four-seamers, while two-seams/sinkers have the largest splits.* That’s nice, but it may have another use. Last week, Paxton threw RHBs 9 change-ups, against only 8 curves and 2 cutters. His change is around 89-90mph, and has lots of arm-side run. His cutter’s around 89-90mph, with slight glove-side run. Any batter who saw a change-up last week might see a brand new pitch from Paxton that’s the exact same speed, but with very different movement.
One of those righties is Albert Pujols, and perhaps no Angel position player’s been a bigger disappointment than the big 1B. Dave mentioned on twitter that it’s kind of astonishing that Pujols could be *so bad* for a week and no one really notices or finds it remarkable. Slumps happen to all players, of course, but this one’s been especially hard on the Angels because Pujols is batting behind one of the greatest offensive players in recent memory. In the game against Paxton, Pujols came up with no out, runners on first and second, and no out, runner on second. The first time, he grounded into a double play. The second time, he struck out. He earned his way to the worst WPA in the game (by far). Mike Trout actually hit Paxton fairly well, but with Pujols behind him, the Angels couldn’t take advantage. This brings up the rather awkward situation of having to move Pujols down the order a bit, at least until he snaps out of this. Your reminder: Pujols has actually been fairly cheap for the Angels thus far. He made a total of $28 million for his first two years in LA (combined). This season, his annual pay jumped $7m to $23m, and it’ll rise by $1m each year through…:gulp: 2021.
Enough schadenfreude. Paxton’s potential emergence is one of the big reasons M’s fans are a bit more encouraged this year. The M’s have opened on the road each year since 2009 – and that was the last year the M’s came into Safeco with a winning record. They were 4-4 in 2012, but still ended April with a losing record. 2009 really was the last time there much excitement about the M’s, with that out-of-nowhere 85-win season. Here’s hoping this year’s team rewards our hope a bit better than that one.**
1: Almonte, CF
2: Miller, SS
3: Cano, 2B
4: Smoak, 1B
5: Hart, DH
6: Seager, 3B
7: Romero, RF
8: Ackley, LF
9: Zunino, C
SP: Paxton
Paxton’s the 1st rookie to start the M’s home opener, apparently.
Happy Birthday to Felix Hernandez, who turned 28 today. When Felix came up, Jamie Moyer and Shiggy Hasegawa were M’s, and Pat Borders was on the team. Wiki Gonzalez caught him. Jamie Bubela played CF behind him, and Mike Morse played SS. He faced Bernie Williams and Corey Koskie. He was outdueled by Randy Johnson in the first meeting of the two greatest pitchers in team history. HE IS JUST NOW, JUST TODAY, 28 YEARS OLD. He’s moving through life like it’s a slow walk off the mound after another 1-2-3 inning while I accelerate towards the grave, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jimmy Gilheeney starts tonight against the Chihuahuas of El Paso (looks pretty rainy right now, and it’s supposed to get worse by 7, but who knows). 2013 22nd-round pick Tommy Burns starts for Clinton. AA Jackson’s off tonight, but they’ll get Taijuan Walker’s next rehab start, perhaps tomorrow (as he pitched 4+ IP for High Desert on Friday).
* Though FB with a lot of “rise” and little horizontal movement have even lower splits than cutters. Paxton’s regular FB is built to be an equal-opportunity frustrater.
** The 2009 roster is nearly unrecognizable. The M’s went into their home opener at 5-2 that year, with the wins allocated to Jarrod Washburn, Roy Corcoran, Miguel Batista, Chris Jakubauskas…and Felix, of course. I know all of the players, it just seems like they played here a decade ago. How was that only five years? Jose Lopez! Wlad!
Podcast: An Encouraging Beginning
Monday morning podcast(s) continues/begins.
This week we talked a little about the rotation and the defense and handing it to the Angels, the it being a buttkicking. Also, playoffs? And positivity! Lots of positivity; so much so that it got a little weird at the end. Sorry!
Podcast with Jeff and Matthew: Direct link! || iTunes link! || RSS/XML link!
Thanks again to those that helped support the show and/or StatCorner work in general last week. It’s really appreciated.
Game 6, Mariners at Athletics
Erasmo Ramirez vs Sonny Gray, 1:05pm
In 2012, Sonny Gray was coming off a disappointing year in AA, with an RA9 around 4.5, a high walk rate and a K rate under 6 per 9 innings. A year later, he’d made a splash in his big league debut, striking out more than a batter an inning, and outpitching Justin Verlander in a jaw-dropping 1-0 win in the AL Divisional series. This is why prospecting based only on numbers is such a fool’s errand, and why player development is at least as important as good amateur scouting.
The A’s overhauled Gray’s mechanics, and in about a year, he went from undersized, underperforming righty to the unquestioned ace of the Oakland staff. Development isn’t a straight-line path for any pitcher not named Felix Hernandez, and it’s not uncommon to see some ugly lines while a pitcher works on a tweak or learns a new pitch. James Paxton comes to mind, as does Stephen Pryor who was absolutely lost in High-A before learning a cutter/slider in AA and turning into an unhittable relief ace. Today’s two pitchers show that the process simply can’t stop. Both are short righties with solid fastballs, and both continue to adjust on the fly in the big leagues.
In 2012, Erasmo Ramirez made a splash from June through September when he hit the rotation and started relying on his best pitch, the change-up. In every game from June on, he threw his change up more frequently than his breaking balls (slider/curve), and looked like the M’s #3 starter for the next decade. In 2013, he was dealing with arm soreness, and whether it was due to pain or the predilections of then-PC Carl Willis, Erasmo went to his slider a lot. He made 11 starts from August through September and threw more breaking balls than change-ups in 10 of them. He also started using a sinker more than his four-seamer. In his first start this season, the sinker was back, but he paired it with a heavy dose of cambios. The sinker and change have very similar movement, and many (including me) thought that this may have been the reason his change-up was less effective than it had been in 2012. His last few starts of 2013 and his great opening start in Anaheim suggest otherwise – that the speed difference (which is ALSO less than it used to be, but still 10-11mph) is plenty to get hitters to swing over the change. One of his big problems, and one I didn’t see coming, was struggling against lefties. Part of this may have been pitching through injury, but part of it seemed to be the angle on his fastballs – for whatever reason, lefties have hit his four-seamer hard (though his career sample’s still small). Erasmo’s still a work in progress, but his willingness and ability to change on the fly are certainly good signs.
Sonny Gray didn’t look like he needed to make any adjustments after last year’s stunning debut (capped off by a season-ending win against the M’s and Erasmo Ramirez), but he’s got a new pitch this year. When he came up, he threw two fastballs, a change, slider and a curve. He used the big curve a lot, throwing it over a quarter of the time. Against lefties, he’d mix in the occasional change and a very rare cutter. He was great against lefties and righties, but the combo of fastball and curve destroyed righties in particular. Cleveland used a lefty-heavy line-up against Gray on opening day, and saw a flurry of cutters – 21 of them. With two very different breaking balls – the cutter’s a hard one, at around 86mph, and he hit 90 with one of them – he’s in a good position to give left-handers more than one look. His FB/Curve arsenal was great in 2013, but as hitters get more familiar with him, he’s adjusting and giving them more to think about.
Today’s line-up:
1: Almonte, CF
2: Miller, SS
3: Cano, 2B
4: Smoak, 1B
5: Morrison, DH
6: Seager, 3B
7: Ackley, LF
8: Saunders, RF
9: Zunino, C
SP: Erasmoooo
8 lefties to face Gray today.
Great day in the M’s system, as Victor Sanchez makes his AA debut for Jackson. South African control artist Dylan Unsworth makes his first 2014 start in the Cal League for High Desert. The Rainiers host Albuquerue as Chance Ruffin makes the start against Dodgers prospect Zach Lee – good game to head to Cheney if you’re in the area.
You’ll notice that Chance Ruffin’s in the Tacoma rotation and Brandon Maurer isn’t. That’s…different. This is something to watch this year; I’m just curious what the plan is for Maurer, who still has big league stuff, but obviously had a very difficult time in his first big league season last year.
Game 5, Attempt 2: Mariners at Swamp Things
King Felix vs. DAN STRAILY. SERIOUSLY. 1:05pm
I swear, one of these times I write that the M’s are facing Dan Straily today, it’ll actually happen. But enough of that: Happy Felix Day!
The A’s left the tarp off their field, the skies opened, and the infield was the consistency of cottage cheese, hence the rain-out of a game in which it wasn’t actually raining. The field was in such a sorry state that it’s not certain that the M’s and A’s will get THIS game in, and it was the deciding factor in playing only one game today instead of trying to get a double-header in. On the upside, the M’s can go back to Felix Hernandez on regular rest and push Chris Young to the long-relief role that had been filled by that guy who came over in a trade or whatever…can’t think of his name.
Line-up:
1: Almonte, CF
2: Miller, SS
3: Cano, 2B
4: Smoak, 1B
5: Hart, DH
6: Seager, 3B
7: Morrison, RF
8: Ackley, LF
9: Zunino, C
SP: King Felix
I went to the Rainiers opening day double-header last night. They won their opener in grand style, with Blake Beavan going all the way (that’s 7IP), giving up 1 run and striking out 6. The bigger story was the offense, which annihilated Albuquerque’s pitchers, especially starter Stephen Fife. The Isotopes won game 2, despite HRs from Cole Gillespie and Nick Franklin. Those two looked very good; one of Franklin’s few outs on the day was a deep drive caught against the wall in left.
The games were interesting for two reasons. The opener brought back memories of the big three way trade from a few years ago when the M’s sent Erik Bedard to Boston. Trayvon Robinson, who came to the M’s in that deal, led off for the Isotopes. Their battery, Fife and C Tim Federowicz, were the pieces moving from Boston to the Dodgers in that deal. All we needed was Josh Fields, but though he had the most uncertain future at the time, he’s in the big leagues. Where have you gone, Chih-Hsien Chang? The second game featured Miguel Olivo behind the plate and Carlos Triunfel in the infield. All watched over by former M’s scout Hide Sueyoshi, who is also now with the Dodgers (along with Bob Engle).
Taijuan Walker’s rehab start in High Desert went quite well. After a so-so first inning, he settled in, and finished with a line of 4 1/3 IP, 4H, 1R, 1BB, 7Ks. DJ Peterson hit his first High-A HR.
The End Of The Start Of Hector Noesi’s Big-League Career
People say you’re not supposed to kick a man when he’s down. But really, you’re just not supposed to kick a man, because who kicks, but if you’re already in a position where you’re kicking, you probably don’t care if your opponent is standing up or lying flat. Hector Noesi probably doesn’t deserve to be literally, physically kicked, but he can go ahead and deal with some frustrated words, and for all I know a solid kicking would be good for him. The Mariners tried everything short of that.
As you’ve read here and elsewhere, Noesi has been designated for assignment, his last pitch as a Mariner having been hit for a walk-off home run. Of course, Noesi could clear waivers and end up in Tacoma, and then that’s only a few exits away from Seattle again, but I’m here to talk about Noesi in the past tense and my hope is that I never have to change tenses. Dominic Leone is coming up to take Noesi’s place in the bullpen, and you can read about Leone here. He’s exciting, and he’s new, and he’s good, and he’s not Hector Noesi, so he’s got a lot in his favor. Leone might well never leave. If Noesi hasn’t left yet, I’ll help him.
You know what gets me? Michael Pineda hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game as a Yankee yet. Jose Campos still hasn’t pitched above Single-A. Pineda’s in the rotation so he’s about to start paying dividends, but to this point, the Yankees have gotten nothing at all from that trade. The Mariners have gotten -1.5 WAR. Or, if you prefer actual runs to FIP, -2.5 WAR. Jesus Montero is the disaster we’ve still got. Hector Noesi is the disaster we’re starting to recover from. The Yankees seem to have won that trade even before getting a single minute of major-league playing time. The Mariners traded for a young strike-thrower and one of the very top prospects in baseball. Nothing wrong with the idea. Nothing wrong with the ideas of the players they got. Plenty wrong with the realities of the players they got.
Noesi interested me, because he could throw strikes. And it’s because of him I’ve come to appreciate the difference between regular strikes and quality strikes. It was a strike he threw last night to Coco Crisp, don’t you know. Missed up, by two feet, but that pitch didn’t go in the books as a ball. Noesi’s been able to find the zone, but he’s been unable to find areas within it, and on top of that, he was the original guy who struggled with 0-and-2 pitches before Erasmo Ramirez struggled with 0-and-2 pitches. A couple years ago, before we knew what Noesi really was, he allowed five 0-and-2 home runs and three 0-and-2 doubles in 48 plate appearances. Ramirez, at least, hits spots and has a good secondary pitch. Noesi’s pitched cluelessly, and he hasn’t had the stuff to get away with it. Reporters picked up on it before I did. I tried to be forgiving for a while. In the long run, Hector Noesi made no friends.
It’s interesting how many people can’t stand him, since he was a bigger factor in 2012 than in any other season. He barely did anything a year ago, and he lasted two appearances in 2014. Noesi spending most of 2013 in the minors did nothing to soften people’s impressions, and I think today’s being considered a joyous occasion, because the Mariners swapped out a long reliever. Even the Mariners got sick of the act, since they put Noesi on the roster and then changed their minds after a handful of days. The general message here is, the team isn’t screwing around, it intends to win this year. The specific message is, go away, Hector Noesi, you are not needed any longer.
You only get so many chances, as a pitcher. Noesi’s 27, so he’s not young anymore. He can throw in the low- to mid-90s, so it’s not like he won’t have a job in a month somewhere, but his stuff isn’t special enough for him to keep getting good opportunities, and his approach isn’t good enough to make up for the stuff. At some point, with a frustrating pitcher, you have to cut ties and move on to the next crop. The Mariners ran out of reasons to be patient with Noesi, and while some other team could and will take him on, Noesi’s career isn’t starting anymore. He’s not some kid who just needs time. Now he’s been dumped by an organization, not in a trade for a player, but in a trade for a roster spot that doesn’t have Hector Noesi in it. Noesi isn’t yet a journeyman, but he’s headed down that path and you have to wonder if he realizes it.
Noesi was born in 1987 in the Dominican Republic, in a municipality named Esperanza. Esperanza is Spanish for hope, or promise, and that’s something Noesi’s always had, and something people have had for him. It’s 2014 now and Hector Noesi is a long way from home. At the moment, in a professional sense, he doesn’t have a home at all.
It Is Done
Hector Noesi’s been DFA’d, and Dominic Leone’s been called up to take his place.
It’s often uncouth to snark your way through a post about a guy losing his job, but let me just say that his last pitch in a Mariner uniform was just so perfectly Noesi.
Game 5, Mariners at Athletics
Chris Young vs. Dan Straily, damn it, 7:05pm
The A’s had changed the pitching order, but the recap went on as normal. Some of the audience thought that the change itself must be wrong. Others sat forward in their seat, wondering when the Post would acknowledge the error. Kids just looked at each other, at first confused, then with a brimming sense of excitement. They picked up on the tension, and were simultaneously excited by the breach of protocol – the sense that established orders were falling before them- and the more mundane excitement of seeing someone fall on his face.
Eventually, the Post waved his arms, stopped talking about Straily’s change-up, and sighed. With another gesture, the house lights came up. The excitement of the older kids was peaking now; the illusions were falling away one by one, and they would KNOW something others didn’t. The Post stepped to the front of the stage, then, his right hand on the edge, he hopped off. Younger kids were completely confused, but excited as well – the Post was going to give them a high five, maybe? Others just demanded answers. In a low, somewhat quiet voice, *so* different from his character’s, the Post explained that he was really Jed Billings, that he was from Tukwila, and that he was an actor hired to explain things like pitch fx and cutters and fly ball rates – things that didn’t make any sense to him. “I’m actually more of a NASCAR fan, to be honest” he said, his left hand wiping off a thick smear of stage makeup from his eye and cheek. One kid murmured to a friend, loud enough for several to hear, “I TOLD you he’s a robot,” Another asked if the Post was always an actor – if there’d been a real life person there, before time, technology and life’s demands led to the hiring of an actor most famous for non-speaking roles in check-cashing advertisements. “I think so, yeah, probably, but I haven’t asked too many questions. It’s fun – I’m glad I have lines!” “So who’s writing all of this,” demanded a mother who’d brought her two young sons, one of whom was crying by now. “Marc does, I guess. I’ve never met him.” “So why couldn’t you have got a NEW script, one with Jesse Chavez and not all of that stuff about Dan Straily?” demanded a voice from the back of the room. “Because,” said Jed, his smooth, rosy-cheeked complexion now replaced by pallid skin and a five-O’clock shadow, “They’re written well in advance. If a team makes a change, we don’t have time to fix it.”
A very young voice said something, but there was too much cross talk and Jed couldn’t hear. He raised his chin a bit, inviting the kid to repeat himself. “I still believe in you, Post! I know that was Straily last night. Tukwila isn’t real.” The crowd didn’t know what to do, and Jed stood there for a moment, mouth open, like he was searching for the right words. The silence was broken by the young fan’s older brother, a boy of about 12. “You’re so STUPID, Henry. GOD.” and he smacked his younger brother on the back of the head.
—————————————————————————
Ok, I’m reasonably sure it’s Dan Straily tonight, so if you’d like to read more about Straily, please refer to last night’s game preview. If they change it again, I probably won’t get to it, as I’m going to try and make the Rainiers’ opener.
Chris Young is a fly-baller whom you’ve read many, many words about thus far. It’s exciting, I guess, that he was throwing 88, which is a phrase I’ve never thought I’d write. He’s been a very good pitcher at times, and has succeeded in environments both built for his skillset, and those seemingly designed to frustrate it. The M’s have been playing a bit shorthanded in the rotation, and honestly, they and the Rangers have only needed to stay close to the pack in April/May. Both teams figure to be slightly better later on – unless further injuries complicated the picture, obviously. A fast start, of course, would be even better.
Line-up:
1: Almonte, CF
2: Miller, SS
3: Cano, 2B
4: Smoak, 1B
5: Hart, DH
6: Seager, 3B
7: Morrison, RF
8: Ackley, LF
9: Buck, C
SP: Young
Ok, Ok, actual baseball information. I was going to make a separate post about this, but not sure it deserves one. The biggest storyline in last night’s game was Sean Barber’s strikezone. You can read about here, or here, and hey, even TNT beat writer Bob Dutton posted a link to the Brooks Baseball strikezone map. It was, and should be, a pretty big deal for M’s fans. Barber was making his MLB debut behind the plate, and hey, he can only get better.
This morning, Jeff posted this classically Jeff post at Fangraphs about two pitches right down the middle of the plate, the exact center of the zone, that umps have called balls. It’s great, and you should read it; laughing at the failures of others isn’t the most noble of things you could do with your time, but I’m telling you, RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. One of Jeff’s examples came in a game ump’d by Chris Fagan on 4/2. Fagan, in that game, was also making his MLB debut behind the plate, and in the comments of that post, some aggrieved Washington Nationals fans pointed out that his zone was comically low (the 2nd of the two GIFs in the post seems to provide evidence of this). What happens if you look at Fagan’s strikezone map (it’s here) and Barber’s from last night (here)? They look freakishly similar, especially to RH Hitters. If anything, Fagan’s was somehow *worse,* or rather, more consistently bad, as opposed to INconsistently bad.
I mention this not to let Barber off the hook, or to shrug my shoulders and give a muted “Robot umps now” war cry. It’s just that the two guys just called up both made fools of themselves in the exact same way. Is the PCL/IL strikezone noticeably lower? Have umpires noted that too many youngsters called a lot of high strikes in the past, and so they’ve made the top of the zone a point of emphasis? Or, when you’re nervous, and thousands of people are waiting on your call, is it just easier to keep quiet, as opposed to making the definitive, clear strike call? That is, do new umpires try to let the players decide the game, and in so doing, call the game in a really odd way? Thoughts?
No, seriously, Barber was bad. It’s probably not good if you’re a new umpire and you stick out like a sore thumb on a graph like this.
As reported by…everyone, I just wanted to reiterate that Hector Noesi was DFA’d today. This means his total fWAR in an M’s uniform is -0.7. By BBREF, it’s probably about double that (it’s at -1.3 for 2012-13). Our not-terribly long regional nightmare is over.
Both the Rainiers and the Jackson Generals were rained out on opening day. That’s always tough; home openers draw big crowds, and I’ve attended some extremely wet and cold openers at Cheney. For them to postpone a game, it really has to be coming down.
The Clinton game today’s already been postponed due to cold. Beavan and Anthony Fernandez start for Tacoma, with Stephen Landazuri taking the hill for Jackson.
Hector Noesi In Two Pictures
A whole lot of things happened in last night’s game. As one of said things, this happened:
“It was probably a little bit more up than we wanted,” said Mariners catcher Mike Zunino.
The PITCHf/x coordinates: 0.12 feet in from the middle of the plate, 3.38 feet off the ground. Let’s estimate the target. Let’s say Zunino was set up in the middle of the outer half, at the strike zone’s lower boundary. Using that estimate, Hector Noesi missed his spot by almost exactly two feet. Speaking of two feet, that’s what Hector Noesi can go ahead and leave on.