Series Preview: Philadelphia Phillies @ Dustin Ackley

And for the third consecutive series preview, the fielding row changes. I will now use the process outlined in this post and I have passed the threshold where I believe in it enough, despite some reservations, to include it above the naughty black line.

The Mariners get to miss Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay and that's all well and good and yet still have to face Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. The Phillies rotation is like the sort of pitching staff you assemble a year into playing a MLB video game on franchise mode and have grown bored with trying to stay realistic.

Fri 17 Jun 19:10
MICHAEL PINEDA	ROY OSWALT

I refactored the pitch grading code again so that now the grade cutoffs will get updated daily instead of once per year. I felt it necessary since offense continues to decline and so the overall baseline for pitching success has risen. Also, some of the fastball categories have now been split more accurately into four-seam and two-seam (labeled 'SI" for sinker) buckets. Mostly this is interesting only to myself and even that's mainly because I got to write some nifty code.

The whole day is being built up as the debut of Dustin Ackley. Fans and the media have had two days now to focus on this game. I think it would be quite funny if Eric Wedge threw them all for a loop and didn't start Ackley under the guise of easing him in against someone not as difficult to face as Roy Oswalt. Michael Pineda, meanwhile, could stand to throw a knockout start both to help the Mariners as a team and to assist those of us noticing that his last outings weren't otherworldly. This is what happens when you blaze on to the scene, Michael, high expectations.

Sat 18 Jun 19:10
FELIX HERNANDEZ	VANCE WORLEY

Vance Worley is a young starter trying his earnest best to break into the Phillies rotation despite having a name more befitting of a utility outfielder. Should he accomplish this worthy task, Worley will thereafter be the answer to a trivia question. He spent most of the past two years in Double-A and has done well in Triple-A this season, but in limited service split between a couple levels so take his grade above with a modicum of interest and focus more on the pitch types that he throws. 

This is Felix Hernandez knit cap night, and a home Felix start so the King's Court will out in force. I was looking at the tickets page and it seems like this will be a popular series and this the most popular of games. It might be weird seeing Safeco Field all full of people. We've gotten used to her wearing those sweatpants and old t-shirts. It's not all that alluring, but we haven't exactly been worth the effort so it's hard to complain. It's nice to know she's still willing to doll up when the occasion arrives though.

Sun 19 Jun 13:10
JASON VARGAS*	COLE HAMELS*

Having Cole Hamels come up lame from his sore back would be a break for the Mariners because aside from his independent awesomeness is that the Mariners lineup against southpaws is potentially qualified for disaster assistance even when it doesn't come on a day game following a night game. The horrors. The horrors.