A Thing Worth Keeping An Eye On
Danny Farquhar is only in the majors because the Mariners needed an extra arm for the bullpen after Hector Noesi had to be used as a spot starter because of Aaron Harang‘s aching back. Noesi obviously wasn’t optioned to Tacoma because they wanted to get him off the team, and he’ll likely be back as soon as he’s fulfilled the 10 day requirement that goes along with getting optioned out. However, Danny Farquhar might have shown enough in his one outing on Saturday to not be the one headed back to Tacoma when Noesi returns.
No, it’s not because he struck out five of the eight guys he faced in low leverage mop-up duty; it’s because of what he was throwing.
That’s a PITCHF/x plot of the 34 pitches Farquhar threw on Saturday. Forget the labels, as there’s basically three pitches there: a bunch of fastballs from 92-96, some cut fastballs from 89-92, and a few curveballs at 79.
Now, here’s a PITCHF/x plot of the 43 pitches Farquhar threw in the Major Leagues back in 2011, when he was a member of the Blue Jays.
There are three pitches there too, but as you can see, they are not the same three pitches. In 2011, he threw a fastball at 88-92, a slider from 80-84, and a single change-up at 79.
And now, here are those two charts overlayed on top of each other, and you see the changes by moving the mouse over or off the image.
Basically, the Farquhar who pitched in Cleveland on Saturday bears no resemblance to the one who pitched in the big leagues with Toronto, besides the fact that it is the same human being, anyway. That Farquhar was a garden variety sinker/slider minor leaguer, a guy who could get some ground balls against right-handers but was otherwise ill equipped to pitch in the majors. If you’ve ever watched a Triple-A game, you’ve seen 100 relievers just like him. This is the kind of pitchers that make up PCL pitching staffs.
The one that pitched for the Mariners on Saturday, though? A totally different guy. The fastball averaged 95, as he’s mostly swapped out his two seam for a harder four seam fastball — note that his fastest fastball in 2011 was still slower than his slowest fastball in 2013 — while the cutter sat at 91, and he mixed in few curveballs just for fun. And the entire delivery is just completely different.
You can see video of him throwing a pitch for Toronto here, then compare that to with Seattle in the second video. And here’s an overlay of his release points, both for 2011 and 2013.
As you can see, the release point has gotten much, much higher, and he’s now releasing at something close to 3/4 rather than side-arm. Basically, he’s gotten more vertical, and his stuff has taken a big leap forward in the process.
Not only is he throwing four or five miles per hour harder, the cut fastball is just a far better second pitch than anything he used to have, and unlike the slider, it’s not a pitch that has a huge platoon split. On Saturday, he threw eight cutters to right-handers and six of them to left-handers, and it was actually more effective against LHBs, getting two called strikes and a swinging strike.
A guy throwing 95 mph four-seam fastballs, mixing in a 91 mph cutter, and throwing the odd 79 mph curve just to throw hitters timing off – that’s not the stuff of some random dude called up from Tacoma to eat some innings in a pinch. Farquhar was destroying the PCL before he got called up, and after seeing what he was throwing, his dominance down there suddenly makes a lot more sense.
Basically, we can take Farquhar’s mediocre track record and almost entirely toss it out the window. You might look at him as a journeyman who pitched for four different Triple-A clubs last year, but there’s no way anyone would have tried to sneak him through waivers throwing what he’s throwing right now. What he showed on Saturday was the kind of stuff that good relief pitchers are made of. And, perhaps most importantly to the Mariners, he showed that he might be the kind of reliever that doesn’t have to be pulled whenever an opposite handed hitter comes to the plate.
For better or worse, the Mariners have built a bullpen full of slider-throwing specialists. With the exception of Tom Wilhelmsen, pretty much everyone else down there comes in and pounds opponents with sliders, leading to some crazy platoon splits. Carter Capps, Charlie Furbush, Oliver Perez, and Lucas Luetge all lean heavily on their slider and are best used situationally. The same is true of the returning soon Josh Kinney and Stephen Pryor. Whether it’s intentional development or not, the Mariners have seemingly turned out an endless supply of slider specialists the last few years.
Farquhar and Yoervis Medina are exceptions. Medina throws an 85 mph curve as his second pitch, but relies primarily on his fastball to go after hitters, as his curve isn’t a great weapon yet. Farquhar’s cutter looked like a real asset on Saturday, and he was throwing just as hard as Medina, whose velocity kept him on the 40 man for years even when he couldn’t get anyone out in Double-A.
With Farquhar, and maybe Medina to a lesser extent, the M’s now have two guys in their bullpen who might be more than just a platoon match-up specialist. Farquhar showed flashes of being a true middle reliever, the kind of guy the M’s could give multiple inning runs to without worrying about who is due up further down the line-up. Farquhar is much more interesting, and potentially much more valuable, than a redundant left-handed specialist.
If it’s me, Lucas Luetge is the guy heading back to Tacoma when Noesi returns to take the long man spot in the bullpen, and to be honest, I wouldn’t be in a huge hurry to replace either Medina or Farquhar with Josh Kinney any time soon. His rehab assignment is set to expire in 10 days, but I don’t know that adding a 33-year-old who throws a slider 50% of the time is actually going to help a bullpen that needs a real middle reliever. If Kinney throws decently in Tacoma, maybe you make the switch because it’s not a big harm to option Farquhar or Medina back to Triple-A and give the veteran another look, but Farquhar showed more interesting stuff on Saturday than Kinney ever has, and for a team building for the future, it’s probably worth getting a longer look at a kid who might have taken a big step forward in his career.
As a 5’10 26-year-old, Farquhar’s not exactly a franchise building block, but in his first outing, he showed the stuff of a guy who could fill a void in the Mariners bullpen, and maybe be a key middle reliever going forward. While the team didn’t get the results they wanted in Cleveland, Farquhar’s debut couldn’t possibly have been any more impressive.
The Cleveland Takeaway
Over the last four games, the Mariners launched eight home runs, getting two each from Smoak and Ibanez and one home run from Seager, Morales, Ryan (!), and Chavez (!!!).
Over the last four games, the Mariners scored a grand total of 15 runs, and went 0-4.
The Mariners entire plan to turn the team around in 2013 revolved around “hit more dingers”. They’ve succeeded in that goal, as with 53 home runs, they are now 6th in the majors in total home runs hit. They are 25th in the majors in runs scored, and are 20-25, on pace to win 72 games. Trading pitching, defense, and on base percentage for home runs has made them no better.
There is more to winning baseball than hitting home runs.
Game 44, Mariners at Indians
Iwakuma vs Kazmir, 9:05 am.
Scott Kazmir is healthy again, and is currently throwing as hard as he did when he was a top prospect. Don’t think of Kazmir as the broken terrible pitcher of the last few years. His fastball has been up to 96 and his slider has some bite again, so the M’s will have their work cut out for them today. As always, the key with Kazmir is to not give him free outs, and make him throw strikes consistently. Patience, not aggressiveness, should be the trait of the day.
1. Saunders, CF
2. Bay, LF
3. Seager, 3B
4. Morales, DH
5. Morse, RF
6. Smoak, 1B
7. Shoppach, C
8. Andino, 2B
9. Ryan, SS
Game 42, Mariners at Indians
Felix Hernandez vs. Justin Masterson, 10:05am
Well this has certainly been a frustrating series. The M’s bats have come alive late, only for the bullpen to cough up the lead again. You’ve got to be confident about this game, though, as the M’s start Felix.
Masterson’s Carter Cappsian arm angle has always produced huge platoon splits. This year he’s been successful against lefties largely due to BABIP and HR/FB luck, and the M’s can trot out several hitters who will get a long look at the ball. Saunders and Seager can hopefully get on base for the incandescent Raul Ibanez. Honestly, match-ups like this are why Ibanez is here. He’s a streaky hitter on an insane tear and he’s facing a pitcher who plays to Ibanez’s strengths.
1: Saunders, CF
2: Ackley, 2B
3: Seager, 3B
4: Morales, DH
5: Morse, RF
6: Ibanez, LF
7: Smoak, 1B
8: Montero, C
9: Ryan, SS
James Paxton starts for Tacoma this afternoon in the finale of the 4 gamer against Memphis against ex-M’s fireballer Maikel Cleto, aka the guy the M’s swapped for Brendan Ryan.
Taijuan Walker and Tyler Pike also start in AA and A, respectively, making this a pretty interesting day in the minors.
Go M’s.
Game 42, Mariners at Indians
Joe Saunders vs. Zach McAllister, 10:05am
Tough loss last night, as Jason Kipnis hit a walk-off off of Lucas Luetge. Today’s game starts before some in Seattle have woken up, but as all baseball fans know, you can’t sleep on a pitching match-up like this:
Saunders.
McAllister.
In the baseball mecca of Cleveland, Ohio. You’ll punch yourself in the face if you miss this.
McAllister is a fastball/slider guy with a change to lefties. As I’ve talked about, he’s perhaps best known for massive gaps between his ERA and RA, thanks to a slew of unearned runs. He’s got another 5 already this year, which is pretty remarkable. Still, his ERA is even prettier this year as he’s finally got his strand rate above 70%; even so, his career rate is in the mid 60s. Be patient, get some runners on base, M’s.
Michael Saunders hadn’t had a day off since his return from the DL, so he gets a day today. In his place, Endy Chavez leads off against the righty McAllister.
1: Chavez, CF
2: Ackley, 2B
3: Seager, 3B
4: Morales, DH
5: Morse, RF
6: Ibanez, LF
7: Smoak, 1B
8: Montero, C
9: Ryan, SS
SP: Saunders
Game 41, Mariners at Indians
Brandon Maurer vs. Ubaldo Jimenez, 4:05pm
Dave mentioned it on twitter, and Matthew mentioned it in his series preview, but because the Indians can stack their line-up with quality left-handed bats, this game represents the toughest test Brandon Maurer’s faced since his abbreviated start against Baltimore. Maurer’s last start marked a noticeable change in approach, as he largely ditched his slider to left-handers and instead relied on his curve ball, a pitch without the large platoon splits that sliders carry. It wasn’t a great start by any stretch, but the new strategy looked quite promising. He fanned a few lefties, kept the team in the ballgame, and while he gave up another two homers, he didn’t look completely helpless against left-handed line-ups.
That Maurer’s still in the big leagues, overhauling his approach on the fly, speaks to both how injuries have ravaged the M’s pitching depth and to Maurer’s ability to learn and adapt, perhaps the best qualities a young hurler can have. On the one hand, it seems counterintuitive that this should work – that you could pick up a new pitch, or radically alter your pitch-mix from start to start in the majors. On the other hand, failing on a big stage can be a hell of a motivator. Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez should know – he’s gone from a 6+-WAR pitcher to replacement level in the past three years (!). The prime suspect for this mid-career collapse has been his diminished velocity. In 2010, his two- and four-seam fastballs averaged 97mph. In 2011, that fell to 94. In 2012, 93, and so far this year, he’s between 92-93. That’s a pretty big drop in a short time frame. Sure, King Felix’s velo’s dropped a similar amount, if not more, but it’s happened gradually, and his off-speed stuff and command mean he hasn’t paid a price in terms of results. Jimenez though…Jimenez has paid a price.
Jeff’s piece on him here and Kyle Boddy’s here have focused on the mechanical changes Ubaldo’s made since 2010. I’m not an expert on mechanics, though you can clearly see he’s made some changes. Whether they’ve in some way caused or accelerated the velocity drop, I couldn’t say, but recent changes haven’t (as yet) reversed it. Through most of April, Jimenez’s decline looked to be nearing a terminal phase, as he followed two awful starts against New York and Boston with a just-as-bad-in-context start against Houston. But since then, over the span of all of three starts, he’s been good again. Maybe he just needed Scott Kazmir to talk to him about how far it’s possible to fall, or maybe the raised front-shoulder thing that Jeff’s article mentioned actually helped in some way, but his K:BB ratio in those three starts is 20:6, and he’s given up only three runs.
Since I don’t know about mechanics, I thought I’d talk about his pitches. One way Jimenez has changed since his days as a Rockie is that he’s developed a split-finger fastball that’s all but replaced his change. He had one in 2010 with Colorado, but he started throwing it a lot last year, and that’s continued in 2013. He now throws it about 25% of the time to righties and lefties alike. The other change since 2010 is an increased utilization of his two-seam fastball, and this highlights how difficult it is to isolate variables in something like pitching. Not only did Jimenez use his sinker more with Cleveland, he used it in a specific way. Check it out in his usage tab at BrooksBaseball. Particularly against lefties, he’s used the pitch much more when he’s behind in the count. This may indicate he had more confidence in his ability to command the pitch, or it may be a decision to go for a grounder and not a K. Whatever the reason, it’s produced ugly, ugly results from the two-seamer – results that are ugliest this year. That’s to be expected in a way, though – every pitcher looks bad when they’re behind in the count, and if he uses a specific pitch in those situations, it’ll look like a bad pitch. Jimenez is perhaps more extreme than most pitchers in that the gap in his FIP in PAs that start 0-1 is about 3 full runs lower than it is when they start 1-0.
The M’s needed to make a 40-man move today to get some bullpen help. Yesterday’s spot start by Hector Noesi and 4+ innings of bullpen work that followed hollowed out the M’s pen, particularly righties. Thus, the M’s brought up Danny Farquhar today,* one of the two small righties they acquired in the Ichiro deal last year. Farquhar had a 30:4 K:BB ratio in just 20 innings, numbers which underscore how much he’s thrived since moving to the M’s org. Farquhar can touch 95 and has a funky delivery – something that’s helped him get lefties out as well as righties. But its his improved control since 2012 that’s really helped him get back to majors – he always walked too many, especially lefties, but the walks have dried up since moving to Tacoma (his combined K:BB with Tacoma in 36 2/3 IP is now 46:9). To make room, the M’s moved Stephen Pryor to the 60-day DL. Ryan Divish’s story on the move points out that a big part of his success has been trusting his curve ball more. Pryor was eligible to come back on May 30th, and though this move is retroactive, he’ll be out another month. He may be ready before then, but this allows the M’s to put off some potentially painful decisions – Francisco Martinez still isn’t hitting in AA Jackson.
Line-up:
1: Saunders, CF
2: Ackley, 2B
3: Seager, 3B
4: Morales, DH
5: Smoak, 1B
6: Ibanez, LF
7: Shoppach, C
8: Chavez, RF
9: Ryan, SS
SP: Maurer
Michael Morse was scratched with “eye irritation.”
I had a great time in Tacoma last night, but I was gutted that Oscar Taveras didn’t play for Memphis. Sounds like he won’t play again tonight, but if you’d like to catch him, it sounds like he’ll play this weekend. Michael Wacha was really impressive last night, blowing away Mike Zunino with high fastballs. Zunino’s clearly struggled with breaking stuff, but he’s struggled against just about everything at home, fastballs included. He’ll get there, but he’s going to need some time. Stefen Romero impressed me, though, making hard contact a few times when no one else on the team could figure Wacha out. Andrew Carraway looks to quiet Kolten Wong and the Redbirds tonight.
* Full credit to Shannon Drayer for essentially calling this on twitter last night. I was wondering who they’d bring up and what the corresponding move was, and she called both sides of the equation. Again, twitter is awesome.
Second Place Seattle Mariners Travel to First Place Cleveland Indians
| MARINERS (20-21) | ΔMs | INDIANS (22-17) | EDGE | |
| HITTING (wOBA*) | -7.0 (21st) | 2.9 | 28.3 (2nd) | Indians |
| FIELDING (RBBIP) | 7.9 (8th) | -1.8 | 8.9 (7th) | Indians |
| ROTATION (xRA) | 13.6 (7th) | 3.4 | 3.0 (12th) | Mariners |
| BULLPEN (xRA) | 4.4 (11th) | 2.3 | -2.2 (21st) | Mariners |
| OVERALL (RAA) | 19.0 (10th) | 6.9 | 38.1 (3rd) | INDIANS |
A team’s record in one-run games is a number worth paying attention to. Vastly outperforming .500 in that regard is often a fluke, but sometimes can be sustained with an especially dominant bullpen staff. Seeing a team that’s run itself well to the positive or negative side of even on those games can be a good hint that the team may not be as good or as bad as their overall record indicates.
The Yankees entered the series against the Mariners with a 7-2 record in one-run games. Additionally, the Yankees had had the benefit of playing the incredibly underwhelming Blue Jays seven times, during which they racked up a 6-1 record. Still — and even though the above ratings spit out a comparison that favored the Mariners before the series started — it’s hard not to have watched those past three games and wondered exactly how it is that the Yankees accrued so many wins this early into 2013. They don’t look particularly formidable.
In contrast, I think the Indians are a mixed bag. On one hand, they’re perhaps ripe for a similar regression in their record as it’s been bolstered by a very high 10-3 record in one-run games. The Indians’ pen has run themselves a very good ERA so far, but it’s also 0.75 better than their xFIP and much better than their xRA is saying they’ve independently performed.
On the other, their crop of position players have been excellent of late and their overall record is fair given the entire team performance.
Never Forget To Be Patient
(Game thread posted just below)
—
The Mariners are about to get underway in New York, and starting for Seattle will be Hector Noesi. The last time Noesi started in New York, he gave up five runs in seven innings, with five hits in two-strike counts. That was a game that got a hell of a lot of people frustrated. But this isn’t by design — Aaron Harang is a little bit hurt — and this also isn’t a post about Hector Noesi. Because another guy starting today for the Mariners is Brendan Ryan, at shortstop.
It was early on April 24 that Brendan Ryan was benched in favor of Robert Andino. From the linked article:
Just to clarify, I asked Wedge point-blank whether the pair were flip-flopping roles — Andino the starter and Ryan his backup.
“Yeah,” he said. “What I’m going to do is take it day-by-day, week-by-week and month-by-month, quite frankly,” Wedge said. “And I’m going to give Robert a chance to play and see where he takes it. I liked what I saw with his work and his approach this spring. I don’t feel like it’s been as good here in-season.”
The news caused a stir, because Ryan is better than Andino is. They’re basically identical hitters, in that they both suck, but Ryan’s a spectacular fielder while Andino’s an okay one, so in terms of overall value, Ryan comes out ahead, almost unquestionably. A lot of people didn’t understand why the Mariners were going to make themselves worse. It’s not like Andino is some kind of prospect. He’s 29 years old. He hasn’t been a prospect for more than half a decade.
This is going to be the Mariners’ 19th game since that news was delivered. Over that course, Andino has started at shortstop seven times, while Ryan has started at shortstop 12 times. The day-by-day breakdown, from oldest to newest:
- Andino
- Andino
- Ryan
- Ryan
- Andino
- Ryan
- Ryan
- Andino
- Ryan
- Andino
- Andino
- Ryan
- Andino
- Ryan
- Ryan
- Ryan
- Ryan
- Ryan
- Ryan
It’s not like Andino’s been hurt. He just started a couple times in a row in place of Dustin Ackley, who might be working on something on the side. But where it looked like Andino might take over as the Mariners’ regular shortstop, Ryan looks like the starter again just a few weeks later. He hasn’t earned it by hitting. Ryan hasn’t started to hit. But Andino also hasn’t hit, and this was probably more about trying to get Ryan to relax and take a step back.
Which is fine. With this move in particular, it’s not necessarily like the Mariners were ignoring Ryan’s defensive value. If the Mariners didn’t realize how much Ryan can do in the field, he wouldn’t still be on the team. I think the Mariners just wanted to give Ryan a break, which would be in their longer-term best interests. Ryan gets frustrated easily, and the Mariners don’t need for that frustration to consume him. Picking Robert Andino over Brendan Ryan for a little while isn’t the same as picking Andino over Ryan, just.
More generally, I think it’s important not to overreact to news like this. Sometimes a player needs to be dealt with, even if his numbers are better than those of his backup. I think a common, kind of similar issue is the matter of the opening-day roster — people spill a lot of emotion over who does and doesn’t break camp, even though the roster is constantly changing. A guy who makes the bullpen might be out of a job a week and a half later. It’s good to have opinions, it’s good to have analysis, but it’s important to be patient. Criticize what you want to criticize, but don’t get overly critical until it’s actually warranted. Until a bad situation has played out for too long.
I guess this is along the same lines as the post I wrote the other day, about young players getting days off. I don’t really trust baseball managers on their strategy, and I don’t really trust them on their analysis or interpretation of statistics. If there’s one area where I do most trust managers, it’s on the day-to-day handling of personalities. They have to decide when a guy needs a day and when it’s right to push him, and while they won’t always be right in what they do, that’s where they have the biggest information advantage over an outsider. That can’t be ignored, or overstated. There’s a reason I seldom complain about lineups.
Too often, people act like a controversial bit of news is a big deal. Few things are big deals. It’s always fine, and downright encouraged, to think critically, but try to save the strong words for when they most make sense. Have patience, in sports and in everything.
Game 40, Mariners at Yankees
Aaron Harang whoops Hector Noesi vs. Andy Pettitte, 4:05pm
Your Mariners begin play tonight tied for second place with the free-falling Oakland A’s. With the A’s off, the M’s have a great chance to wrest control of 2nd and jump into the fringes of the wild card chase. It’s somewhat funny that we all thought the addition of the Astros would give the AL West an advantage in the wild card hunt, but instead the AL Central has four teams ahead of Seattle, with one (the White Sox) only a game or so back.
Speaking of somewhat funny, tonight’s pitching match-up would have been a must-see game in 2006. Aaron Harang peaked with a pair of five-win seasons in 2006-07, while Andy Pettitte sandwitched five-win seasons around an injury year in 2003/2005*. While Pettitte’s had an up-and-down campaign thus far, he’s coming off a bizarrely effective 2012 (after retiring in 2010), and he claims to have made mechanical adjustments that led to a successful start five days ago. We’ll see. Aaron Harang has *really* been up and down, and apparently, it doesn’t matter, as he’s been scratched with back stiffness. The thought of skipping Harang’s spot in short-porchy Yankee Stadium is a great one, but be careful what you wish for, M’s fans. Today marks the 2013 starting debut for ex-Yankee Hector Noesi.
This is the spot where’d I’d point out that Pettitte, especially during his comeback, has been death on a stick against lefties, largely thanks to an effective cutter. I’d also point out that Hector Noesi is HECTOR NOESI, and that his lack of HRs allowed is just sitting there, taunting me and muttering about the Gambler’s Fallacy. On paper, this is just a weird, weird looking game. If the past few days are anything to go by, Noesi will throw a shutout and Ibanez will homer off of a Pettitte cutter.
Line-up:
1: Saunders, CF
2: Bay, LF
3: Seager, 3B
4: Morales, DH 1B
5: Morse, RF
6: Ibanez, DH
7: Montero, C
8: Ackley, 2B
9: Ryan, SS
SP: :deep breath: Hector Noesi
While it’s tempting to gorge on the incongruity of it a game like tonight’s M’s game, I’m going to head to Cheney Stadium for the first of a four game set pitting the Rainiers against the Memphis Redbirds. Before the season started, I targeted this series as the match-up of the two potentially most prospect-laden teams in all of minor league baseball. If you think I’d like to backpedal from that statement now, well, thanks, that’s very kind of you….just a little…yeah, there we go. I thought Taijuan Walker would be assigned to Tacoma, that Hultzen would be healthy and that Carlos Martinez would be in Memphis. But Walker’s in AA, Hultzen’s in the training room and Martinez skipped AAA and is in the Cardinals bullpen. Still – these games feature two of the absolute best position-player prospects in all of baseball in Mike Zunino and Oscar Taveras. Pitching for Memphis is another top prospect, RHP command-artist Michael Wacha, who would probably be in St. Louis now if the Cards rotation wasn’t already incredible. If you feel like getting out to a game this weekend, you should probably head down to Tacoma and check it out. Jimmy Gilheeney starts for Tacoma in Hultzen’s place tonight, but the whole series has a lot of interesting match-ups to watch as MLB’s #1 and 2 (or thereabouts) minor league orgs face off.
[Edit to add: another reason to check out the game tonight? Franklin Gutierrez will DH in his first rehab start.]
* Pettitte’s biggest WAR year? Way back in 1997, when the M’s were setting HR records, making the playoffs, making regrettable trades for Heathcliff Slocumb, and when a young Andy Pettitte put up a 7 win season for a solid team but lost to Jaret Wright and the Indians in the ALDS.
A Farm System Podcast, with Jay!
Jeff was otherwise occupied, but I wrangled Jay (aka JY) into my digital audio lair and held him hostage to talk about the minors. We touch on both a high level overview of the minor league philosophy of the Mariners and their player development and also get into some specific player details. I hope you enjoy.
Podcast with Jeff Jay and Matthew: Direct link! || iTunes link! || RSS/XML link!