18-33, Some Stuff
by Jeff on May 25, 2008 7:22 PM PDT
in Game Recaps
104 comments
- The obvious analogy right now is that watching the Mariners is akin to watching a horror film. But while that worked well enough for the recent string of embarrassing blowouts, today was something special requiring greater detail. Let's say you have a friend. You go over to his place to hang out pretty often, and every time you go he pulls a movie out of his collection that he wants you to see. You like movies, so you open a few beers and go along with it, but lately you've started to notice that he's picking everything out of the horror genre and you start to think to yourself "hey this kid's a little messed up." Then one day you go over and he puts in a movie and it's actually quite pleasant, and it puts you at ease. The hot brown-haired protagonist is overcome with grief when she loses her dog in the big city, but after relying on intuition and the kindness of strangers, she and Puppy Chow Chow are reunited in a scene so touching that you find yourself on the verge of tears. You glance over at your friend and think "oh this is so wonderful." Then a man in a mask jumps out of the bushes and grabs the dog and clubs its little legs to powder with a crimson-stained cinder block and the girl screams and the crazy man laughs all crazy-like and the dog is on the ground whimpering and the crazy man shouts at the girl to run away as fast as she can and the girl runs away in heartbroken disbelief with tears flowing down her cheeks and after a few minutes she sits down on a park bench with her head in her hands and a street vendor asks her what's wrong and she sobs "oh my dog my dog-" and the street vendor punches her in the face and your friend falls over laughing. That's kind of what today was like.
- With Raul and Beltre each going hitless today, we officially don't have a single batter with an OPS of .800 or above. There are 140 such batters in the Majors at the moment. Think about the people we look to to drive in runs right now. Look at the middle of our lineup. It's embarrassing. Even the Giants have it better. Compared to 2007, our only offensive bright spot right now is Jose Lopez. Jose Lopez has a .710 OPS. Good teams wouldn't stand for this, and it's only because our standards have been lowered more than you might realize that we're not all uniformly incensed. I hate player labels, but we need a slugging cleanup bat something terrible.
- JJ's still not right. I'm not going to pretend like he was hit all over the park, because he wasn't - he generated two weak grounders, two fly balls, a walk, and a "strikeout" - but the pinpoint command and high-90s velocity remain absent, leaving him a shell of what he was. I don't know if he's still hurt or if this is just because he's not getting regular work, but watching him is a struggle. He doesn't have anything even close to that air of invincibility that we're so used to him carrying. I hope he's able to work his way back to stardom before long, although given how quickly he rose to prominence, I suppose it would be appropriate if his demise also took place overnight.
- I put strikeout in quotes because uh
Yeah, that's a called strike three on a pitch well off the plate. Giambi obviously didn't think much of it, but then, this isn't a new phenomenon - umpires just have a crazy different strike zone for left-handed hitters. Check out this article by John Walsh, and, if you want to skip the meat, scroll down to the bottom. Hello, outside strikes. I don't know how or why this is the way it is, but a smart pitcher - that is, someone who's aware of PITCHf/x - that is, Brian Bannister - - should absolutely be using this to his advantage. Unfair or not, that's the reality, and it would be silly not to exploit it. - Also on JJ, he never should've even attempted that throw to try and get Matsui at first. JJ still had the ball in his hand when Matsui was two steps from the bag. I know infield singles are frustrating, but that's a textbook example of making a bad situation much much worse. It's like a quarterback scrambling out of the pocket and forcing a bad pass. Smart QB's eat the ball and take the sack. Take the sack next time, JJ.
- Rays!
- The Molina double. First things first: I don't blame the outfield for playing shallow, because (A) Molina is bad, and (B) you need to make sure you can either prevent a single or keep Matsui on third base in the event that a ball drops in front of you. So that's forgiven. Anyway, I've been fighting myself for a little while about Ichiro's effort on that play. On the one hand, that's a difficult play to make when you're running with your back to the infield and the ball is splitting the gap, but on the other, Ichiro really should've taken charge, it looked catchable, and it seemed like he gave up when the ball hit the ground. It's happened a few times these last several days, and it didn't look good to the naked eye.
After thinking about it for a while, I've shifted away from the idea that Ichiro gave less than 100% and I've arrived at the following truth: teams look worse when they're losing. It sounds really simple, but think about it. If Team A faces off against Team B in a four-game series, and Team B gets swept, the casual observer will see Team A make plays that Team B doesn't. That's because those plays lead to runs, and those runs lead to final scores. If Team B were actually making those plays, they would be less likely to fall short at the end. Not making those plays is kind of a necessary component of the losing.
I don't think I'm explaining this very well. Think about it as a hindsight issue. Fans of Team A will look back on the series and see a lot of tough plays that they made, whereas fans of Team B will look back on the series and see a lot of tough plays that they didn't. That's because winning teams win in part because they turned balls into outs, while losing teams lose in part because they turned balls into hits. That's just how it is. You'll never reflect on a slump and think the team played well because teams don't play well and lose very often.
It's kind of confusing, and I'm twisting my own brain into knots trying to explain it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, if you put any sequence of standard losses together in a row, there will be plays in there that could've made a difference. But those plays won't have been made, and while you might be inclined to accuse the players of dogging it and giving up, the fact of the matter is that every slump will have plays like this by necessity, and unless you believe that every slump involves players who throw in the towel, I think it's a lot safer to err on the side of caution and write it off as bad luck. Most of the time Ichiro probably makes that catch. This time he didn't. Shit happens, and after everything he's been through with this team, I don't think it's right to accuse him of sinister or unsportsmanlike motives. - I don't know why MLB.tv airs ads encouraging people to use MLB.tv exclusively to people who're already signed up for MLB.tv, but I hope that decision got somebody fired.
- There's talk that the organization may consider stretching Brandon Morrow out to give him a shot at starting. I think at this point that plan is pretty much mandatory. Morrow is with the big club as a reliever because they thought they needed him in order to further their efforts to win now. Since they're not winning now, does that idea not go straight out the window? With the team playing for nothing but Strasburg, he's no longer serving any critical purpose. They have to stretch him out. They have to. This is the perfect opportunity to at least get some hope out of a miserable season. I don't know that he'd actually make a good starter and I'm kind of skeptical that he has the ability, but if the team leaves him in the bullpen all year without ever giving him a shot at more innings, then that'll be strike...what, twenty? thirty? against a front office that hasn't learned a damn thing since the day it came to power. How could a team be so aggressive in so many areas and yet refuse to give Morrow so much as a trial? It wouldn't make any sense. This needs to happen.
- Boston tomorrow. Fuck Boston.
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Look on the bright side
Our season might be over, but we can at least help out the Rays by winning this series.
Now if only we could think of some way to cheat to be able to do that….
by OlSalty on May 25, 2008 7:52 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Kind of impressive to not have one hitter over .800 in OPS..
Also, definitely need to give Morrow a shot.
The two times the team had him pitch 3 innings or more he hasn’t allowed a run. He could be a bright spot if it ends up working out. It would certainly be more exiting to watch him develop his pitches and stretch out than it will be to watch Silva/Wash/Batista struggle through starts.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Morrow should definitely be in the rotation
Based on his draft status alone you would think he’d get a nudge over Washburn.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
At least
There’s a decent chance that Ibanez will be replaced by a competent LFer next year.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe. I think the chances are higher we replace Sexson with a competent 1B.
Ibanez is a “Mariner for life” so hes going to be hanging around in some capacity. It would be nice if it was as a DH vs RHP, but who knows with this group, he might get stuck out there in LF a bit longer..
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Even that would help.
Things look bad, but just look at the Rays last year. Worst bullpen and worst defense to amongst the tops in both. Addition by subtraction is only second to pure addition.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, very true. Anything would help at this point.
Kind of nice that you guys have managed this turn around and still get the no 1 pick in June to lock up some Tim Beckham action. Or Buster Posey. Either way.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, it's kinda odd.
If we keep this up the best record in the ML will have the first overall pick this year. That seems unfair.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just be grateful
I think the last time that happened, the Padres drafted Matt Bush in 2004. That went well.
Speaking of Morrow’s pick status, even after people here have bitched about skipping Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw was picked after Morrow for the Dodgers, and look at him now. No doubt in my mind that Morrow needs to become a starter before its too late.
by Fin on May 25, 2008 10:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Beckham put on a nice show for our scouting director
HR, 3B, two singles, and a great defensive play apparently.
Some say he’s Chris Nelson 2.0, but some also said Longoria was Joe Randa, so…
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 26, 2008 8:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Funny (not really) how many winters in a row we've been saying some form of
“You know, just by removing the black of holes of [insert just completed year], we could be really good in [insert upcoming year].”
The problem is that we seem to have an unending ability to find worse solutions to problems.
winter 2005: “Well, Jarrod Washburn won’t be as bad as Aaron Sele was.” – Joel Pineiro happens.
winter 2006: “Well, Horacio Ramirez may be bad, but he’s no Joel Pineiro.” – Horacio Ramirez happens.
winter 2007: “Well, at least Erik Bedard is actually really good.” – Erik Bedard gets hurt. Washburn and Batista fall off cliff.
by Matthew on May 25, 2008 10:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Pretty much
Sexson’s collapse is mixed in there as well.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 11:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Okay.
Well then, at least Chuck LaMar drafts well.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 26, 2008 9:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
If only skill trumped the amount of money the player made in this org.
Yesterday's Pants
A blog-thingy about the Mariners and stuff.
by BrettJMiller on May 25, 2008 8:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hey, it was the same way down here last year.
Fossum/Seo made the most money in the rotation (like six million combined) and despite sucking were kept around past their stay.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes, FUCK BOSTON!
If we can win this series, or sweep (oh god please) that would make the season for me.
by Smegmalicious on May 25, 2008 8:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Fuck Boston like hella
At least we don't have Zito's contract.
by ColeFitz on May 25, 2008 8:12 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
This is a dilemma
Strasburg or make asshole Red Sox fans cry? Both are so very appealing…
Oh yeah, Fuck Boston.
by discovolante on May 25, 2008 8:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
The Strasburg Seven
Team / W / L / PCT / GB
1) Seattle…..............18 33 .353
2) San Diego…........19 33 .365 0.5
3) San Francisco….20 31 .392 2.0
4) Colorado…..........20 30 .400 2.5
5) Kansas City….....21 29 .420 3.5
6) Detroit…...............21 29 .420 3.5
7) Washington….....22 29 .431 4.0
by ThundaPC on May 25, 2008 8:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
How confident are people that Strasburg will go number one?
by vkut79 on May 25, 2008 8:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Graham told me it's pretty much a 100% chance he'll go #1
Yesterday's Pants
A blog-thingy about the Mariners and stuff.
by BrettJMiller on May 25, 2008 8:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Nothing is 100% in MLB draft, especially a year off - the kid could get hurt..
but at this point he is the top choice. He is pitching out of his mind. 128ks, pretty amazing.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I've always liked Mike Minor
But he’s not first overall material .
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oh definitely.
I’m interested to see how much helium he can get though.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Keith Law said it was possible
But it’s still up in the air at this point. A lot can happen in the following months, especially with pitchers.
Coldly devouring reason as if it were a delectable snack
by Frosty Raptor on May 25, 2008 8:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Pedro Alvarez was supposed to be the 1/1 this time last year, now the consensus is prep star Tim Beckham. Just as an example.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
But that’s because Boras is going to ask for 10+ million.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe. Not just that though. He hurt his wrist and his power has faded some this season.
Strasburg could always become a Boras client too.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
He very well could.
Which stinks. Boras is great at what he does, but after his tactics during the Pena extension talks I’m not his biggest fan.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I did not read about that, what did he do?
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Boras didn’t let Pena know about a deal that met their requirements and a middle man actually had to let Carlos know. When Pena found out he signed it on his own.
This of course followed rumors that Pena had rejected a 3/30 offer and he laughed it off saying there’s no way he’d turn that down. Makes you wonder.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 8:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wow. Sounds almost exactly the same as the Yankees/A-Rod/Boras
debacle.
Sleazy.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
After the A-Rod thing I don't need much more to think the guy is a scumbag though.
He is bad for the game.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Boras is a totally commie
Fleecing those poor altruistic owners. What is he thinking?
Coldly devouring reason as if it were a delectable snack
by Frosty Raptor on May 25, 2008 8:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Right....
No, because he lies to teams and his clients to get what is best for him not best for the players or the clubs.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 8:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, what an asshole
Trying to maximize his profit like that.
by Matthew on May 25, 2008 10:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wow, are you seriously defending Boras' practices?
You seriously think it is ok to lie to your clients? That is funny since they do not seem to be the biggest fans of it.
Ethics doesn’t matter at all, just profits ? Sad.
by ASUBoyd on May 25, 2008 11:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Players hire Boras to get them the biggest contract possible.
And he does that better than any baseball agent out there. It’s been known for years that he will sometimes use underhand methods to meet that end.
by Matthew on May 26, 2008 12:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
lol, so you are just being a contrarian then?
Considering I never disparaged his “skills” as an agent, and you don’t dispute that he uses dirty tactics I think we can let it lie.
I think we can agree to disagree on whether his ethics, or lackthereof, are a big deal or not.
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 12:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
You implied he's a scumbag for caring more about himself than players or owners.
That is what I was picking issue with.
by Matthew on May 26, 2008 12:24 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah. That's my opinion dude.
I have every right to think it is scummy to tell A-Rod the Yankees didn’t want him back when they did the whole time, just so he could try and play the Angels and Yankees off each other. A-Rod obviously did not think it was a good move because he did not talk to his agent of over 12 years for months because of that.
You do not need to agree, and thats fine, I respect that.
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 12:26 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that
abject greed is not a virtue.
by Milendriel on May 26, 2008 3:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
His clients recently seem to blow him off.
A-Rod and Pena makes two
by Susheel Ramasahayam on May 25, 2008 8:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Teixeira won't.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 25, 2008 9:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Do you know what he throws?
I haven’t had a chance to watch him.
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 12:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes
96-98 4 seamer with pinpoint control and late movement, touches 101.
1-7 ‘slider’ which looks more like a curve, but he’s calling it a slider; looked high 80s but I don’t have a gun reading, control is a lot shakier than the fastball but still quite good.
He throws a straight change to lefties occasionally but not enough for me to get a read on.
by Graham on May 26, 2008 12:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sounds pretty filthy.
That command of his fastball is really impressive.
133/16 K/BB ratio – that is unbelievable.
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 1:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
You really have to have watched the video I posted a couple weeks back to appreciate why I talk about him so much.
by Graham on May 26, 2008 1:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'll check it out. Is it his 23k game?
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 1:14 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Best college pitching performance I have ever seen.
Big kid too, 6’4 220. That projects well for his durability I would think.
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 1:18 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
He's David Price on speed.
"I've seen many, many blue skies turn gray, but the sun will eventually return, and so will I. So will I." - Carlos Pena
by R.J. Anderson on May 26, 2008 9:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The MLB.tv advert
I think it must be targeted at Seattle fans who are on the verge on cancelling their subscriptions.
Also, Victor Martinez introduces himself then prompty leaves the actual advertising to a bunch of people who aren’t Victor Martinez. What’s the point of him even being there?
by Alex B on May 25, 2008 9:09 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
The Molina double.
Thanks for making me feel less crazy. I’ve watched the replay five or six times, and I still see that ball dropping either to Ichiro’s right or behind him. If he didn’t get to the ball in time, it looks like a problem of tracking it. When that ball hits the grass, Ichiro is closer to the fence than the ball is. He made a terrible read, but I don’t see the loafing that others did. He wasn’t running at full speed, for sure, but at the speed he was going, it still looks like he got there in time. Just wasn’t in the right spot.
It was his fault that the ball wasn’t caught, but I can’t in good mind chalk it up to a lack of running hard.
by Teej on May 25, 2008 9:31 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
A lot of ink
spilled on what can basically be summed up as…
“fuck this team!”
by RollingWave on May 26, 2008 12:12 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Gotta say it is pretty impressive the amount of content you have been pumping out for such a stinky team.
It’s appreciated since it would be easy to just toss up short posts.
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 1:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
You're our Dave Niehaus. Writing about a losing team, I'd imagine, must suck big time.
But you do it any way and I have nothing but respect for you. Check your Paypal thingy.
by Susheel Ramasahayam on May 26, 2008 9:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Lopez hasn't homered since April 5th. :(
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 12:35 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
And yes, it's somewhat worrying that he hasn't homered
especially given that he was ripping the ball for a while
by seattlebruin on May 26, 2008 12:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not awesome :(
2006 pre-all star break: .316 OBP .454 SLG .770 OPS
2007 pre-all star break: .321 OBP .415 SLG .736 OPS
2008 pre-all star breaK: .307 OBP .403 SLG .710 OPS
And we all know what happens post-all star break.. yikes.
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 1:05 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'd say *whoosh* but I doubt it would have an effect
by seattlebruin on May 26, 2008 1:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Considering I have no idea what your tone is or how that applies go ahead and spell it out for me.
If you were being sarcastic, which I thought you were, I was agreeing with you.
If you were serious, then go ahead and explain how he is awesome because, yeah, I have no idea how you could think that.
If it is something else, you are a weirdo.
by ASUBoyd on May 26, 2008 1:23 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Jose Lopez is fucking the man
by Last Fan Of Jose Lopez on May 26, 2008 7:14 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Which man is he fucking?
Would he be the first openly gay baseball player? Or did you mean “the Man” as in the network of old money that controls the country?
by thewyrm on May 26, 2008 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Search thru the first three game threads of the season and familiarize yourself with this meme.
by Susheel Ramasahayam on May 26, 2008 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
You guys and your memes
I’ll never keep up
by thewyrm on May 26, 2008 9:39 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The wiki was a good primer for me
but it hasn’t been updated in a while.
by BrianL on May 26, 2008 9:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
We may have to
Trade Lopez at the deadline so another team gets to witness the collapse that is. The only problem is I don’t trust Bill to trade him for talent.
by uwbradley on May 26, 2008 9:25 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
San Francisco would give us Tim Lincecum for him, right?
amiright?
by BrianL on May 26, 2008 9:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
That is the worst fucking idea I have ever heard
by Last Fan Of Jose Lopez on May 26, 2008 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
That is by far the worst idea I've ever heard
Without Jose Lopez, this team probably wouldn’t have won a game yet
by seattlebruin on May 26, 2008 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm not trying to rec myself I was trying to reply to LFoJL
Clearly, I failed
by seattlebruin on May 26, 2008 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ichiro has lost one eighth of a step.
Infield hits down, doubles that get over his head up.
by mw3 on May 26, 2008 10:08 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
He's running more...
...and hitting better, because he knows he’s lost a tiny bit of speed and has to start becoming a little different player. I predict by the end of the season he has a career year in extra base hits and walks.
by mw3 on May 26, 2008 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
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