| MARINERS (6-5) | Δ Ms | INDIANS (4-4) | EDGE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HITTING (wOBA) | -14.2 (27th) | -8.4 | 8.0 (5th) | Cleveland |
| FIELDING | 5.0 (6th) | 2.4 | -3.1 (20th) | Seattle |
| ROTATION (tRA) | 6.6 (5th) | 7.7 | 4.8 (8th) | Seattle |
| BULLPEN (tRA) | -8.1 (30th) | -1.9 | -3.8 (26th) | Cleveland |
| OVERALL(RAA) | -10.7 (25th) | -0.2 | 5.9 (9th) | CLEVELAND |
| Explainer |
Seriously, are they claiming to represent all Indians, everywhere? That's presumptuous. Haven't those peoples had enough of a tragic history without having to be associated with a city like Cleveland now? The baseball team should be renamed the Cleveland We're Sorry.
Ah, the Mariners' hitting is terrible, the bullpen is shaky, the rotation is solid and the fielding is good. That didn't take long. Welcome back, 2011 Mariners!
Tue 17 Apr 19:10 |
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| KEVIN MILLWOOD | JUSTIN MASTERSON | |
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Jeff made a point of mentioning how the Mariners have so far ranked very well in limiting their swings on pitches outside the strike zone. They've since improved from third-best to second-best in FanGraphs' O-Swing%. The team with the lowest rate of swinging at balls though is the Indians, at just 21%, compared to the Mariners at 25%. It's not just pitches outside the zone however. The Indians have taken the lowest percentage of swings in general of any team. And while the Mariner hitters have been peppered with strikes (2nd highest frequency), the Indians are more middle of the pack. It's early, but so far the pitchers Cleveland had faced tried to get them to chase pitches, and the hitters haven't cooperated in the slightest.
For Kevin Millwood, and the others below, that suggests that they could adopt a strategy of attacking Cleveland's hitters early in the count with strikes and working to get themselves into pitcher's counts. If so, we could see some very quick games as the Indians become unable to work counts and the Mariners are the Mariners.
Justin Masterson is a tough opponent, but he's also a bit of side-arming righty. As such, he does suffer from platoon splits much greater than average. In all of baseball last season, right-handed pitchers exhibited a difference of about 50 OPS points between facing right-handed and left-handed hitters. For his career, Masterson has a .601 OPS against versus righties and a whopping .787 versus lefties. The Mariners are a team well equipped to exploit that weakness.
Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso.
Wed 18 Apr 19:10 |
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| JASON VARGAS* | DEREK LOWE | |
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The Indians of Cleveland are a lefty-hitter heavy lineup. Michael Brantley, Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, Jack Hannahan and Casey Kotchman (gee, I know those guys!) are all lefties and Jason Vargas could see some real success in his start against so many of them.
Unless Manny Acta goes to his bench and uses some of his right-handed hitting substitutes such as... sqeeeeeeeeeeeeee JOSE LOPEZ!
Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso.
Thu 19 Apr 19:10 |
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| FELIX HERNANDEZ | JOSH TOMLIN | |
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Last season John Tomlin walked or plunked 24 batters and 24 batters (not the same ones at the same time, mind you) hit home runs off him. Tomlin will stay in the strike zone all day and night. He's a pitcher for whom "be aggressive" is a perfectly legitimate hitting strategy.
Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso. Start Jaso.
Series Beer: Deschutes Red Chair NWPA.
Deschutes makes great beers, but given their wide ubiquity here in the northwest, I've grown a little tired of their regular 6-pack releases. The stuff they do on site at their breweries are typically more interesting and I hope they bottle more of that in releases and of course their 22oz specials are usually quite good. One of their seasons, the Red Chair, is such a tasty IPA that it really makes me wonder why they don't nix the Inversion brand and just made Red Chair the year-round IPA release. Do it, Deschutes.