Fourth Box Score Of The Year
by Jeff Sullivan on Mar 6, 2010 4:24 PM PST
in Seattle Mariners Game Recaps
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PrintFeatured in this box score: three guys whose careers have fallen short of what was hoped, and Cory Luebke.
Mike Sweeney is hitting .857/.857/.1.429 so far this spring. Last spring he hit .408 and won a job on the bench, so his numbers this time around put him on pace to win a job on the board of directors.
In all honesty, since this is bound to come up - unless someone gets hurt, there's really no way for Sweeney to make this team. It doesn't matter if he goes 4-4 against bad pitchers from a bad league. The Mariners acquired Casey Kotchman and Ryan Garko for a reason, and they're not going to be swayed by a strong showing in Arizona. This isn't to say Sweeney should just up and stop trying; someone could very well get hurt here, and some other teams will be paying attention. It's just that Sweeney's immediate future with Seattle is pretty much out of his control, unless he takes that axe-chop swing to Garko's knees, which may cast doubt on assertions that he's a positive in the clubhouse.
Beamer Weems and Lance F. Zawadzki. The Padres don't draft shortstops; they sign civilians in Witness Protection.
Ian Snell didn't walk anyone over two innings, which is impressive considering early last season he walked 44 as a Pirate, later last season he walked 39 as a Mariner, and just yesterday afternoon he walked his lunch.
Not that one inning on March 6th means much, but Sean White's 12 fastballs averaged 91.4mph, far closer to his mark in '07 than his mark in '09. We'll see how this progresses over the course of the spring as he gets a little more loose. It's no secret that the team isn't real confident in the health of his shoulder.
Dan Cortes touched 96mph, once.
If you, like me, are all about following along with Mike Koplove, then you will be delighted to hear that he was throwing his 87mph sidearm two-seamer with an absolutely ridiculous amount of tail and sink. In addition, I'm not quite sure what to make of a 69mph sidearmed curveball, but I know I'd pay to see it. Koplove, as an ML-quality righty specialist, doesn't have a place on this team, but I'd love to see him make it somewhere else, because I like guys that throw weird and have a K in their name.
O'fer for Dustin Ackley. I don't mean to cause alarm but I'm pretty sure big league pitchers have figured him out.
Last year, Ezequiel Carrera led his league (and also the minors?) with a .441 OBP. Today he drew the team's only two walks. This is the Reggie Willits skillset right here, so in case you were worried that the Mariners didn't have much depth to their annoyingness, you can sleep easy. There are roots.
By the way, Drayer says Snell's foot was pointing towards third again. I hope this means the team wanted him to make different adjustments over the offseason, because otherwise this reflects really poorly on him. "What we want is for you to turn your foot like 30 degrees." "I don't know coach, that seems like a tall order."
Shortstop was manned today by Josh Wilson and Chris Woodward, a couple of guys here on minor league contracts who are better than the starter Kansas City will pay two million dollars.
Greg Halman didn't make a dog's breakfast of anything, or at least anything evident in the box score, which is a nice reminder of the limitations of the format of the box score.
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There are a few shortstop prospects that have been witnesses to some illegal things.
2 in the witness protection program in San Diego? Dang!
by seattle_since_81 on Mar 6, 2010 5:16 PM PST reply actions
HAHA!
Chi Cubs IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Silva, C (L, 0-1) 2.0 7 6 6 0 2 2 27.00
FUCK ERIC BYRNES FUCK ERIC BYRNES!
by Goose on Mar 6, 2010 5:37 PM PST reply actions 7 recs
I think it was around the third inning, but Dave and Rick started talking about Silva's outing.
Dave said something like “Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”. They don’t seem to miss him one bit.
Fans are typically idiots.
by The Typical Idiot Fan on Mar 6, 2010 11:37 PM PST up reply actions
Watching those two homeruns by Carlos Quentin
It appears that his sinker was actually sinking again, which it never seemed to do here. But both of those pitches were located pretty much at the heart of the plate, which is not where you want your sinker to end up at all.
More good stuff...
``Of course, I want to win the spot in the rotation, but right now I have to just worry about getting my stuff back,‘’ [Silva] said, ``because no matter if I’m a starter or a reliever, if I don’t have my stuff, I’m going to lose a job either way. So I’ve got to keep working and keep learning, and right now I’m trying a lot of different things.‘’
….
Next for him: trying to forget today. ``I have to. If these games stay with me, I’m going to be a mess.’’
So what's the deal with Sweeney?
Is he a guaranteed DFA at the end of spring training, no matter what he does? Is the idea that we’re just giving him some exposure so someone can sign him after we cut him? What is the thinking? I agree that he’s got no place on the team, but what his best case scenario?
Best case scenario
is that he gets a roster spot on another team that needs his skillset. Erm, well, no one really needs his skillset, but you get what I mean.
It had crossed my mind that the Ms could stash him in Tacoma as injury insurance, but I doubt they want to take playing time away from any of the young guys, and who knows if he would want to play AAA at his age anyway.
Mariners/D Broncos/BSU Broncos fan in Seattle
Yep, he's already stated that he won't go to the minors
His plan is to retire if he can’t get a team to bite on major league playing time.
I knew Ackley wasn't ready
It’s obviously the stress of the position switch. The big leagues just aren’t the same thing and he’ll probably need to start the season in A+ just to make sure that his ability to hit isn’t ruined as he tries to focus on second base. I heard that he has ADD, so it will be impossible for him to focus on defense and hitting at the same time.
Yeah, he's doomed
He’ll never make it. After all, a couple of PA tells you everything you need to know.
Another M’s first round draft pick with a secret fatal flaw (ADD, diabetes; it’ll be gout with the next one).
WAIT!
He turned a double play at second yesterday. He’s obviously a natural for the position and will become a gold glover by 2013.
True....
but it was a very sketchy looking play on his part. I talked to him before the game at the training fields, seems like a cool kid, would like to see him adapt to the majors. He was about to hit up the batting cages where Rob Johnson was hitting balls off the tee, would have rather seen him practicing catching….
by mariseanerhawk on Mar 8, 2010 1:58 AM PST up reply actions
I know it was only once, but Cortes' 96 MPH pitch looks decent
compared to Aardsma’s peak velocity of 91, of Shawn Kelley’s 91.4, Heath Bell’s 90.8 (!), Brandon League’s, Mat Latos’s 94.5, Mark Lowe’s 95.2, Denny Bautista’s 94.9, Tim Lincecum’s 92.1, etc.
Fastest pitch in spring training so far? Well, yeah, Neftali fucking Feliz. But after that? To work 93-95 at this stage is impressive, even though I know it was probably just adrenaline. (But seriously, Robles and Cortes were impressive by pitch fx).
I'm kind of excited about Cortes' potential
Should I be? Also holy crap we traded the worst player in baseball for this.
Yes, you should be excited about his potential.
The at-bat to Aaron Cunningham wasn’t fair. Mind you, he didn’t have another one like it, but that at-bat is something very few in the system have the talent to do. Consistency isn’t there, but his raw stuff looked better (on a computer monitor, looking at it purely through pitch fx) than I expected.
And yeah – even if he doesn’t pan out at all….. Yuni.
I picture him as a pretty good breakout candidate this year
Wow, if he pans out….That’s the steal of a lifetime, and he seems to be improving constantly.
If he pans out
The citizenry of KC need to gather up torches and pitchforks to hunt down and kill “The Process”
Though, given they’ve put up with it through so many insults already, I suspect they’re past caring.
I really like Mike Sweeney
Sure he’s old, and he isn’t a great player, but he’s a really nice guy. I hope he retires and becomes a coach for the M’s. Although if he keeps putting up numbers like these…
By the way, is there a limit to how many coaches you can have on a team?
Right now I'm dreaming of Carl Crawford. Maybe next year...(or this year at the trade deadline)...
Not an option
Sweeney said he there will be only three outcomes for him this spring. He will either make the team, he would accept a trade or he will retire and return to his wife and three children in San Diego. He doesn’t want to coach, as the Mariners have offered, and he won’t return to the minor leagues.
— source
darn...
hes not going to make the roster, which sucks, hes a very optimistic player and a cool guy. I wouldnt mind seeing him get traded, he shows in spring training that his tanks not empty yet. Maybe the M’s could get something for him.
by mariseanerhawk on Mar 8, 2010 2:01 AM PST up reply actions
Sweeney doesn't have to take an axe-chop to Garko's knees
He can get someone else to do it. (I imagine Tonya Harding’s ex-husband is out of prison and available). Being a positive clubhouse influence is not incompatible with being an evil genius. Just look at Raul Ibañez.
More seriously, how impossible is it that the M’s get to the end of March and decide to take Sweeney north instead of Garko? Maybe Garko is the guy who should be worried about auditioning for other teams? I’m not saying that’s my preference or that that would work out best statistically for the team, but Wak apparently wants Rob Johnson in a lot of games (as Felix’ personal catcher, and more besides) and that doesn’t exactly add up either. I think we need to be prepared for that possibility, especially if we get story after story out of Arizona about how Sweeney is “finally healthy” and “seeing the ball better than ever” and “back to his old form.”
Garko can play 1B every day if necessary,
and could play C, 3B, and LF in an emergency. Sweeney at best can play 1B once in a while. Garko’s relative versatility defensively pretty much guarantees him a spot on the team barring injury.
by I Lick Squirrels on Mar 7, 2010 1:56 PM PST up reply actions
Who's Number 97?
Numbers in the 90’s are non roster invitees right? This guy hit a triple at this game and looked pretty good, just curious who he is? Also Byrnes totally proved he is still the same guy the Dbacks dropped. I live here in AZ and have been to a few Diamondback games and this guy is the most overrated fan favorite ever. He was treated like a celeb here, to include his own tv show on FSN. But he is worthless. He had a scoring oppritunity and he consistantly thinks he should try for a home run over the simple base hit to produce runs. Not a fan of him at all. I would rather see Saunders or Langerhans get their shots.
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