Cactus League Game Thread, 3/15/2010
The last game in Tucson for the foreseeable future, barring any Japanese teams using it for training or anything of that sort. Not a whole lot of nostalgia in the local press about the departure. In fact, the only note I really have from the papers is that, as a rider to Dave’s post on Moore below, the Everett Herald talked about the change in confidence for Moore from last spring training to this one. On a related note, it’s the spring training debut of Rob Johnson.
Lineup:
LF Patterson
CF Gutierrez
1B Kotchman
DH Sweeney!!!
3B Lopez
RF Langerhans
2B Ackley
C Johnson
SS Wilson
LHP Lee
Shawn Kelley, Luke French, and Chad Cordero could also see some time, along with Tui and Moore, depending on how long they decide Johnson can hold up back there. Lee will be facing off against Dan Haren, in a more heated, but less mustachioed match-up compared to the earlier projection of Clay Zavada starting for the D’Backs.
The Catching Situation
On the pre-game show Saturday, Shannon Drayer noted that we may have our first winner of a job in spring training – she feels Adam Moore has done enough to solidify his spot on the opening day roster. The presumption heading into spring training was that Josh Bard or Guillermo Quiroz would be paired with Rob Johnson to begin the season while Moore got a bit more training in Tacoma, but that plan appears to be out the window. Bard has failed to impress anyone, while Wak has been extremely impressed with Moore’s abilities.
So, barring something unforeseen, we should expect Adam Moore to travel north with the team for Opening Day. But, that does not make him the starter. Not yet.
There’s a good chance the M’s won’t have a true starting catcher this year. Shannon notes that it appears Wak is willing to let Moore learn the hitters from the bench, slotting him in as a part-time player until he sees the league and becomes comfortable calling a game against major league players. If Rob Johnson is healthy enough to break camp with the team, they’ll share time behind the plate. If he’s not, expect the M’s to make a move, unless Bard or Quiroz show something very soon.
Either way, however, you shouldn’t expect a regular starter-backup tandem. The M’s catching job is going to be a job share, with the two guys on the roster splitting time, whether its Johnson/Moore, Moore/Bard, Moore/Quiroz, or New Guy/Moore. The picture is still murky, but they have a few weeks to figure out who will be splitting the playing time with Adam Moore. For now, though, it appears that he’s on the team. We’ll just have to wait to learn who else will be coming north with him.
Cactus League Game Thread, 3/14/2010
Scenic Tucson! I remember the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum being pretty neat when I was nine. It may still be neat now. Those crazy javelinas…
Anyway, Tucson is not much of a place to go for baseball these days. The Sidewinders moved out to Reno and became the Aces, and now the Golden League-affiliated Tucson Toros are at Hi Corbett when the Rockies aren’t using it for their purposes. The White Sox moved to Glendale with the Dodgers last spring, and the Reds and Indians opted for Goodyear when they moved their facilities west. It’s getting lonely down there.
Other news bits kicking around:
* Kirby Arnold: The M’s have been toying around with giving Shawn Kelley extended outings to boost his versatility in camp. Could he start? They don’t know. They haven’t officially talked to him about it and he hasn’t done it since college. That’s at least one square on your spring training bingo card.
* Larry LaRue: Dan Wilson takes time out to work with M’s minor league catchers. No suggestions that they perhaps take up hockey.
* Jerry Brewer: Franklin Gutierrez gets playing time, respect, security, dumb nickname.
Lineup:
CF Byrnes
SS Josh Wilson
LF Bradley
1B Garko
3B Tuiasosopo
RF Langerhans
C Moore
2B Woodward
Even though it’s only spring training, Happy Felix Day to one and all.
Cactus League Game Thread, 3/13/2010
Here we are again with another exciting day of baseball that sort of matters but…. yeah…
There are some news bits this morning though.
* Via the Seattle Times, we have four cuts this morning in 1Bs Brad Nelson and Tommy Everidge along with OFs Mike Wilson and Greg Halman. So, anyone hoping that Everidge’s early hot hitting would somehow leave the Mariners with a different 1B platoon from what we are expecting, sorry.
* Via Drayer, Bedard has been throwing for the past ten days from 120 feet and is showing no ill effects from his August surgery. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen ten days from now. Don’t get too excited now.
* Via the Everett Herald, Hannahan has a strained groin and will be out for the next week to week-and-a-half, which means that he’ll be getting less time on the middle infield and Tui and the other J. Wilson might have a chance to make impressions in the meantime.
* Via just about everyone, the Mariners will be heading down to Tucson for two games after today, and they aren’t bringing many regulars with them. We’ll be seeing Ackley, Carp, and Tui, but not Ichiro, or Figgins (both of whom have played the last four games), or Griffey. In addition to this, Adam Moore will be catching Felix tomorrow, which I think is a first. Rob Johnson will be catching Cliff Lee on Monday.
Lineup!
RF Ichiro!
2B Figgins
3B Lopez
DH Griffey
LF Byrnes
1B Kotchman
CF Gutierrez
C Moore
SS Josh Wilson
RHP Fister
Cactus League Game Thread 3/12/10
M’s vs. Royals, so you know what that means…. pitch fx is back! This is a great opportunity to see what Ryan Rowland-Smith’s new cutter looks like in pure, raw Cartesian coordinates. I know I just got joser’s attention.
Line-ups have been posted – here for example (hat tip Kirby Arnold at the Everett Herald)
1: Ichiro!
2: Chone Figgins (2b)
3: Milton Bradley (LF)
4: Ken Griffey Jr. (DH)
5: Ryan Garko (1b)
6: Franklin Gutierrez
7: Matt Tuiasosopo (3b)
8: Josh Bard
9: Jack Wilson
SP: Ryan Rowland-Smith. Aardsma looks like he’ll get back onto the mound today as well.
Also in Kirby Arnold’s story linked above is the news that Jack Hannahan suffered a groin pull and will be out another week-10 days (he hasn’t played since 3/4). Arnold thinks Josh Wilson might benefit, but Geoff Baker mentions Tui as another guy who might make the roster as the utility infielder if Hannahan doesn’t heal quickly. Personally, I think Tui’s got the inside track. Wilson may be the better defender, but his bat is bad enough that it’s tough to justify giving him 100-150 ABs.
Luke Hochevar starts for the Royals, who I think is fascinating. I know his xFIP is much, much better than his results, but as the #1 overall pick in a pitching-heavy draft, his pure stuff has always seemed fairly pedestrian. The fascinating part? He’ll still uncork a game like this just to tease Royals fans, who need no additional teasing, thank you (they’re starting Yuni at SS today and Mike Aviles at 2B. I’m so sorry, Royals fans). Here’s a fangraphs article on Hochevar’s strange results in 2009.
Ichiro as potential switch hitter
Back in the old days when I wrote for Baseball Prospectus, the M’s gave me a one-game press pass. I’d explained what I wanted to go cover, who I wanted to talk to, and how it’d be used only for the annual, and they finally let me in on the understanding that I wouldn’t write anything about it for the website, radio, and so on. I don’t remember exactly why I’d wanted to be at that game — I think I was interested in our starter, but it’s not important. I turned up as early as I could to see home-team batting practice, and it’s great to stand that close. Bret Boone wandered by and gave me a weird look, players made fun of each other as they took their turns, and Rick Rizzs sat on the dugout bench, talking to everyone who walked by.
I was most interested in watching Ichiro, though, as he went through his prep for batting practice. He took easy swings, varying the speed a little, and up close, it looked perfect. Something was wrong, though. I watched for a minute before I could figure it out: he was swinging right-handed.
Ichiro’s right-handed swing looks exactly like his left-handed swing.
I stood there like a yokel, and when it was his turn he got in the cage and started roping hits left-handed. And if you ever get the chance to watch Ichiro hit, even in batting practice, from that close, do whatever you have to do. It’s amazing. Television doesn’t do it justice.
After batting practice ended, I went up to the press diner, where Ron Fairly held court on all the types of teams he’d played for. I kept thinking about Ichiro. I bought my food and sat down at a table with two people from the NHK crew. I chatted with them about their work for a couple minutes before approaching the big thing on my mind.
“Hey,” I said, “I think I saw Ichiro practicing his swing right-handed.”
“Oh yes,” the man said. “He’s always done that. He feels it keeps him limber and helps with his balance.”
At which point my brain engaged the clutch and I stammered for a bit before I could ask “Could he hit right-handed?”
They both nodded. “He’s very good,” the same man said.
Ichiro is so good that he could hit right-handed if he decided it would offer him some kind of advantage. Every time I’ve seen him in the on-deck circle since, and particularly against left-handers who can’t pitch effectively to righties, I look a little more closely: is this the at-bat where Ichiro does his mental calculations and decides to switch to the other side of the plate? He wouldn’t even make a big deal about it — and he’d look so natural that he might be standing on first before we figured out what was strange about that single.
Cactus League Game Thread, 3/11/10
M’s v. Giants, Snell v. Lincecum
M’s line-up thanks to Ryan Divish at the TNT
1: Ichiro!
2: Figgins
3: Kotchman
4: Lopez (3b)
5: Garko
6: Byrnes
7: Langerhans (CF)
8: Moore
9: Josh Wilson
In the ‘pen: Kelley, Colome, Koplove, League, Lowe, Cortes.
Would be great to see some pitch fx data on Snell and Cortes (if he pitches), but playing outside of Peoria means no Griffey, no pitch fx.
Cactus League Game Thread 3/10/2010
Cliff Lee makes his Cactus League debut for the Mariners. As I’m sure you have seen from other sources, the team made its first round of cuts this morning. Players whose dream of cracking a major league roster will have to wait a little bit longer include Ryan Feierabend, Josh Fields, Chris Seddon, Steven Shell, Nick Hill, Mauricio Robles, Steve Baron, and Luis Oliveros. Nothing too surprising here. Of these guys only Nick Hill had any chance of working his way onto the roster, and he could benefit from time in Tacoma.
Today’s lineup:
RF Ichiro(!)
2B Figgins
LF Bradley
DH Sweeney
1B Kotchman
CF Gutierrez
C Moore
3B Jo. Wilson
SS Ja. Wilson
Lee’s first official outing as a Mariner has him pitching in front of 2/3rds of the best damn defense in baseball. Figgins is still manning 2B, which may or may not mean the Mariners are seriously considering pulling the trigger on the Figgins-Lopez position switch. Stay tuned.
Where to get the annual, which is awesome
(and which makes us no money)
We’ve been getting a steady stream of emails on where you can buy the Maple Street Press annual edited by Dave and featuring the finest batch of yearly M’s-related content you’ll find anywhere.
to quote Dave:
7/11, Safeway, Target, Walgreens, Fred Meyer, QFC, Costco, Winco, Wal-Mart, K-Mart… if you have one of these near you in either WA/OR, it should be there.
Additionally, all Borders in WA should have it, as well as all Barnes and Noble in WA/OR/ID/MT/HI/AK. It looks like a few locals (First and Pike, Eastside Daily Planet, J&S Broadway) should have it too.
Really, though, it’s pretty much everywhere: the newsstand at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue has it, and I’ve seen it wherever I looked in Seattle.
And if you don’t see it at your local retailer, ask. They should be able to get it.
Also, Griffey cures cancer
The M’s reported a 2009 profit to the PFD, putting us one step closer to starting to recoup the Safeco Field costs, rebounding from their reported 2008 loss (and I’m just going to skip my usual digressions about that). Their financial position’s clearly better, and that’s good.
Anyway, I wanted to point out this is how Jim Street wrote the lead paragraph in that story for MLB.com:
The Mariners made a profit in 2009, thanks to a 24-game improvement in the win column and the return of Ken Griffey Jr.
Nothing in the story mentions any kind of financial breakdown at all. 2.2 million people came out in 2009, which was dooooooown from 2.3 million in 2008. Did ticket revenue go up because of new pricing? What was the media split? How’d they manage that, exactly? Did they sell an extra million Griffey jerseys at the team store?
If you read on, you’ll hear again that they won more games and Griffey came back. Which is not helpful if you’re curious. Repetition of a contention is not support for that contention.
It’s lazy reporting. The story’s better off without this recycling of worn storylines.