| MARINERS (10-10) | Δ Ms | BLUE JAYS (10-9) | EDGE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HITTING (wOBA) | -16.4 (28th) | 8.0 | -5.3 (19th) | Toronto |
| FIELDING | 6.4 (9th) | 3.0 | 18.2 (1st) | Toronto |
| ROTATION (tRA) | 4.7 (9th) | -1.7 | -16.8 (29th) | Seattle |
| BULLPEN (tRA) | -3.4 (24th) | 2.4 | -3.8 (25th) | Seattle |
| OVERALL(RAA) | -8.7 (19th) | 11.7 | -7.8 (16th) | TORONTO |
| Explainer |
Sweeping another team is a good way to shake off being swept yourself and the Mariners find themselves not just with a .500 record, but also with a perfectly even 81-81 run differential. I'm sure the Mariners are happy to have swept the Tigers, but I might be even happier as coming off being perfect game'd, swept and seeing the team at 7-10 and with the same lifeless-looking offense, I was undergoing flashbacks to the past two seasons and wanted no more part in that.
We'll see -- oh will we ever see -- if the 2012 Mariners end up looking more like the against Tigers version, the against White Sox version or the middle ground between that their 2012 season has comprised to date. It's important to me and presumably important to you, both as a fan and possibly also as a reader. When the Mariners are boring to watch, they're boring to write about. When they're interesting then even if they lose or make baffling decisions, at least we like to cover them. I assume that's why you're here, reading this.
Fri 27 Apr 16:07 |
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| BLAKE BEAVAN | RICKY ROMERO* | |
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The Blue Jays pitching has been atrocious so far this year, thanks in part to allowing a whole lot of dingdongers. However, the pitching has been saved by the defense which has turned almost 76% of balls in play into outs. The MLB average is just 71%. Writing it that way strikes me as a lot less impressive than this way:
MLB BABIP against: .288
TOR BABIP against: .242
But I was trying to find a new way of conveying those two lines. Writing about baseball can get repetitive because mostly we highlight and focus on the same limited number of numbers. I don't like being repetitive and don't like it when others are repetitive so I constantly fret about finding new ways to say mostly the same things. In this case, I think I just made it more confusing and harder to comprehend. So it's new, but suckier, language. Go me.
Sat 28 Apr 16:07 |
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| KEVIN MILLWOOD | BRANDON MORROW | |
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Jeff wrote a detailed look at Brandon Morrow's curious season to date. Morrow built, or was assigned, a bit of a reputation for having great core numbers, but an ERA that wouldn't follow suit. Now his core stats have gotten worse, but his ERA is all shiny*. Brandon Morrow might just be really determined to be inconsistent. Or maybe he's inconsistently determined?
*"thanks, defense" he should be saying but probably isn't
Snap poll: you have more faith right now in Kevin Millwood or Hector Noesi?
Sun 29 Apr 10:07 |
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| JASON VARGAS* | HENDERSON ALVAREZ | |
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The Rogers Centre is home run friendly and the Blue Jays have been home run surrender happy, but both Ricky Romero and Henderson Alvarez are extreme ground ball pitchers. Blake Beavan, Kevin Millwood and Jason Vargas are not so much extreme ground ball pitchers or even mildly ground ball pitchers. Soooo uh oh.
Series Beer: Victory Baltic Thunder
I love love love baltic porters. Almost as much as I assume that I love the entire Baltic region of the world (I haven't been outside a brief stay in Stockholm [love you Stockholm!]). Baltic porters are more malty and toffee inspired than coffee-dominated like many other porters. Victory, being a Pennsylvania-based brewery, is far more accessible here than getting baltic-style porters from the actual Baltic. For now, since I currently do not reside there. Yet.