| MARINERS (1-1) | Δ Ms | ATHLETICS (1-1) | EDGE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HITTING (wOBA) | -3.2 (29th) | -3.2 | 0.6 (7th) | Oakland |
| FIELDING | 1.8 (4th) | 1.8 | 0.8 (7th) | Seattle |
| ROTATION (tRA) | -0.2 (26th) | -0.2 | 0.6 (6th) | Oakland |
| BULLPEN (tRA) | -2.0 (28th) | -2.0 | 1.2 (3rd) | Oakland |
| OVERALL(RAA) | -3.6 (27th) | -3.6 | 3.2 (7th) | OAKLAND |
| Explainer |
After a smash run in Tokyo, the one and only Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics will be taking their unique brand of entertainment here to the United States. They'll begin with a couple dates in Oakland as part of a community giveback initiative. Then after a brief layover, the two will arrive in glorious Seattle for a series of performances not to be missed.
Unless you miss them. I can only assume that there will be a huge demand for many encore performances. Haven't people had enough of this show yet? It's been running for what feels like decades. It's like Phantom of the Opera but with fewer catchy tunes.
Fri 06 Apr 19:05 |
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| JASON VARGAS* | BRANDON MCCARTHY | |
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Jason Vargas put together an absolutely typical Jason Vargas start against Oakland in Japan. All he needed to do to match his 2010-1 averages was find a way to allow 0.6 of a home run.
Both McCarthy and Colon are very good strike throwers so do not be surprised or alarmed if the Mariners head to Texas, after four games played against those two starters, with a very low walk rate. They're probably not a team that will draw a lot of walks anyways, but these first few games will be skewed. How they interact against Yu Darvish might be a better measure.
Sat 07 Apr 18:05 |
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| FELIX HERNANDEZ | BARTOLO COLON | |
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The pitch speed watch for Felix Hernandez continues. I am not concerned about Felix's effectiveness as a pitcher being irreparably diminished with him missing a mile or two per hour. I am a bit concerned of what such a drop usually foretells. Felix himself has appeared to have not noticed, which is a positive sign. There's all manner of reasonable, non-frightening possible explanations for the current decline. Panicking now would be premature and bad for you. Have you read any of the literature on how stress affects your system? It's not pretty, and neither will you be.
What I will take from this current fascination with Felix hitting 91 or 93 is as a reminder not to get complacent about taking him for granted. Felix is special and I'm glad he's here and I'm glad for what he's already brought. The future is just more awesome whipped cream on the strawberry shortcake of delight that we've already had.
Series Beer: Epic Ales Terra-Saurus.
With Monday's little flirtation toward actual Spring weather, I got all excited for a shift in my beer drinking styles. I've been craving good Bavarian-style hefe's (hint hint, Washington brewers), but then the weather returned to oh yeah, Cascadia, and I got the blues and so here, a stout. Kind of. This is a stout with shiitake mushrooms added and I really like what they impart to the brew. It's more earthy and has some distinction from other stouts. Plus they're hyper local and the brewmaster is a good guy.