Game 42, Angels at Mariners
Saunders vs Bedard.
The newest Yuni rumor
Baker tosses out another Betancourt trade rumor, this time tying him to San Diego and throwing the names Chase Headley and Matt Antonelli out as potential returns.
I’ll just state flat out that there’s no chance – zero, zilch, none – that the Padres would trade Headley for Betancourt. That’s not happening.
Antonelli for Betancourt isn’t out of the realm of possibility, though. It’s at least feasible, assuming the Padres actually would be willing to give up something for Yuni. They’re a statistically oriented front office, so they’re well aware of his UZR, I’m sure. It’s hard for me to imagine that a team that employs Paul DePodesta would be trying to acquire Yuni, but perhaps he’s just getting overruled on this one.
As for Antonelli, he’s a third baseman trying to play second base, and not doing it very well. He’s a patient right-handed bat with gap power who had a miserable year in Triple-A last year and is off to a terrible start this year as well, suffering a leg injury in spring training that cost him the first month of the season and failing to hit in the last couple of weeks since he came off the DL. He’s the kind of player the M’s could use in their system, though – draws walks and plays the infield, but unfortunately, he’s right-handed. He’s a much better fit defensively at third than second, however, where his ability to turn the double play is highly questionable.
He’s a lower upside guy who could use another few months in Triple-A, but he’d be a pretty decent return for Yuni. Would the Padres make that deal? I doubt it, but you never know. Unlike with Chase Headley, it’s not totally ridiculous.
Yay, we won
Nice to see the defense, Yuni included, make some nice plays tonight. Effort is ridiculously hard to discern through a television (or, in my case, a laptop screen), but it sure seemed like he was running a lot harder than usual, both on defense and on the base paths. I couldn’t believe he got to that ball up the middle – he hasn’t been within a few feet of similar ground balls earlier this year.
Oh, and I just want to throw this out there, since I know that the team’s struggles with RISP will lead to some inevitable comments about the team not coming through with clutch hits and failing to “do their job” when they had men on base.
Ichiro, Griffey, Branyan: 3 for 9, 3 walks, .333/.500/.444 for the night
The six RHBs: 2 for 20, 1 walk, .100/.142/100 for the night
The three left handed bats in the line-up had no problems getting on base against Santana/Arredondo. The six right handed bats were useless.
I know it’s beating a dead horse, but if the Mariners want to score more runs, they have to replace one or two of Beltre/Lopez/Betancourt/Johjima/Gutierrez/Balentien with left-handed hitters. These guys can’t hit right handed pitching. Having six automatic outs in the line-up is going to lead to a lot of wasted rallies. Change the roster or change the expectations – there’s no reason to complain about these guys failing to do something they’re incapable of doing.
Game 41, Angels at Mariners
Santana v. Chris Jakubauskas.
Check this order out:
RF-L Ichiro!
3B-R Beltre
DH-L Griffey
LF-R Balentien
1B-L Branyan
C-R Johjima
2B-R Lopez
SS-R Betancourt
CF-R Gutierrez
Beltre’s hitting 0/0/0 and they’re moving him… up? He’s been 4th or 5th in the order all season. I have to hope they’re thinking batting him behind Ichiro will encourage him to be more selective and take pitches. But wow, that’s a gutsy move.
Dave On Radio Times Two
I’ve got two radio interviews today, starting off with Brock and Salk at 11:25. Then, at 4:20, I’ll be on with Sean Widmer. You can listen to both through their linked websites.
Speaking of Mike Salk, I have a feeling we’ll be talking about a piece he wrote on Brandon Morrow’s development. He compared how the M’s handled Morrow to how the Red Sox handled Daniel Bard, who is actually a very good comparison for Morrow, and how the Dodgers handled Clayton Kershaw. He also interviewed Morrow yesterday, and delved into the starter/reliever issue. Both his piece and the interview are worth checking out.
I Don’t Get It
Last week, Felix threw 22 change-ups against the Texas Rangers, and tossed seven shutout innings against an offense with a bunch of good left-handed hitters. His change was the difference maker in that game, and allowed him to shut down quality LH bats.
So, last night, fresh off the reminder of how good his change up can be, Felix threw it twice. The entire night, he threw two change-ups – the first one induced a ground out from Bobby Abreu in the third inning, and he missed out of the strike zone with the second one against Chone Figgins in the sixth. The rest of the night, it was mostly fastballs, some sliders, and a curve ball here or there.
Remember the conversation we had with Dave Allen the other day? The two seam fastball and the slider are the two pitches that have the largest platoon split. They work great against same handed hitters, and they’re meatballs against opposite handed hitters. So, facing a line-up where four of the first five hitters are lefties, Felix decided to go after them with his fastball and slider.
Predictably, it didn’t work. The left-handed hitters against Felix did the following:
1st inning: Single, walk, single, strikeout, groundout.
2nd inning: Single, strikeout
3rd inning: Groundout, double
4th inning: Walk, popout
5th inning: Single, single, walk, groundout
6th inning: Popout, single, double
That’s six singles, two doubles, three walks, two strikeouts, three groundouts, and two popouts. That’s a .533/.611/.555 line that lefties put up against him last night. Yea, the defense behind him was lousy, but this was the dumbest game plan we’ve seen in a long time. 16 straight fastballs to start the game (all against LH hitters), 71% fastballs against LH batters on the night, and two change-ups in the very next start after that pitch helped him shut down the Rangers in Texas? There’s nothing else to call that besides stupid.
The Mariners have a lot of problems. They don’t need their 23-year-old with a hall of fame arm to be one as well. Pitch smarter, Felix.
Game 40, Angels at Mariners
Felix Dayyyy!!!! Palmer v Felix. Hopefully Felix read Dave’s article. Or someone read it and told him about it. Or read it and told one of the coaches.
7:10.
M’s Sign Brad Nelson
Over the last year or so, I lobbied for the M’s to acquire Brad Nelson. Several times, in fact.
Well, today, the M’s signed Nelson to a minor league contract. He was DFA’d by the Brewers after starting the season 0-21 with 9 strikeouts – the Brewers wanted to give his roster spot to top prospect Mat Gamel, and Nelson didn’t have much of a future in Milwaukee with Prince Fielder around. He cleared waivers, declined his assignment to Triple-A and became a free agent. He reunites with Jack Zduriencik, the guy who originally drafted him, and has latched on to a team that could use some left-handed power.
The only problem is where on earth is he going to play. Tacoma currently has Clement, Carp, Shelton, and LaHair on the roster – Shelton is playing third base and LaHair is playing the outfield in order to get everyone in the line-up. I guess they could stick Nelson out in the outfield as well, with Saunders sliding over to center field, but that’s not really an ideal solution. There’s no easy way to find playing time for five 1B/DH types in Triple-A at the same time.
Simultaneously, Russell Branyan is making the M’s look like geniuses for giving him a full time job, so unless he’s traded before the deadline, first base isn’t really an open position on the team. Yea, there might be some DH at-bats available if Junior doesn’t find his power stroke again soon, but Clement’s probably first in line for those.
I like Brad Nelson, and I think he’s still got a shot at being a pretty useful major league player. I’m just not sure that the M’s were the best fit for him.
Branyan boast
I believe the last time a Mariner had 10 home runs by mid-May was Sexson’s 2005 when he got to ten on May 13th.
Game 39, Angels at Mariners
I’m just glad the Red Sox are gone. Anyway! It’s Lackey vs. New Improved Wasburn, who already faced the Angels twice and didn’t look all that new or improved, frankly.
Lackey… well, this will be Lackey’s first real start because of that getting-tossed thing. That’s kind of a weird situation for the team, right? All the pitchers are on set day-by-day routines, and suddenly there’s a starter worth putting out there a day off his schedule. Meanwhile, getting tossed so early hoses your bullpen plans… I’m hoping it all ends up working out for the M’s, obviously.
And if he plunks Ichiro! on two pitches, all rules of civilized conduct are nullified.