2/27: Spring Training Open Game Thread

On Wednesday, February 27, at Goodyear Ballpark in somewhere, Arizona, there will be a Cactus League baseball game. On one side will be the Seattle Mariners. On the other side will be the Cleveland Indians. As the game progresses, members of the two teams will leave their respective sides and interact and mingle within the field of play. Starting for the Indians on the mound will be Brett Myers, whose greatest offense is a history of domestic abuse, as witnesses observed him punching his wife. Starting for the Mariners on the mound will be Danny Hultzen, whose greatest offense is vaguely resembling a young David Cameron when he smiles. As if it weren't already clear who you ought to root for, you ought to root for the Mariners. Myers' domestic abuse incident inarguably represents his entire life and being, and Myers inarguably represents the entire Cleveland Indians organization. Do the Cleveland Indians support domestic abuse? Based on the Myers acquisition, you can't prove they don't! Based on their name and logo, you also can't prove they don't. In some ways it would follow.

And also, yeah, there are marbles at stake, here. Lots of them. The Mariners are an incredible 4-1. The Indians are an obnoxious 5-1. They lost their most recent game, though, and perhaps they've developed a taste for defeat.

Details:

• MARINERS
• AGAINST INDIANS
• NOT AT HOME
• 12:05pm Pacific
• Gameday link
• audio streamed online and broadcast on radio on a tape delay
  

The Mariners' starting lineup:

Dustin Ackley, 2B
Casper Wells, LF
Kyle Seager, 3B
Kendrys Morales, 1B
Raul Ibanez, DH
Michael Saunders, CF
Ronny Paulino, C
Carlos Peguero, RF
Brendan Ryan, SS

Today is Carlos Triunfel's birthday -- his 23rd -- and still he hasn't been rewarded with a spot in the lineup. He is, at least, on the gameday active roster, so he should show up sometime in the later innings, perhaps with an opportunity to feast on whoever the hell are the pitchers who aren't good enough to be the Indians' better pitchers. The Mariners' lineup looks not abnormal until the Ronny Paulino/Carlos Peguero part, and even there, Peguero sadly doesn't look abnormal enough. Peguero, right now, has two walks and one strikeout in the spring. A year ago he had two and 18. The year before that he had zero and six. The year before that he had zero and one. Based on Carlos Peguero's first seven plate appearances of 2013 spring training, can it be concluded that Peguero has turned a corner and is now a disciplined extra-base-hitting machine? It can be concluded that that's what he's been through seven plate appearances. And seven plate appearances are almost ten plate appearances! Ten plate appearances are almost 15 plate appearances! 15 plate appearances are almost 20 plate appearances! Eventually you can work the numbers such that this isn't a small sample size at all!

I wonder what it would take for Brendan Ryan to not bat ninth. Ryan is a career .255 hitter in spring training, with four home runs in something like 250 plate appearances. Maybe the numbers don't not mean anything, after a while.

As mentioned, Hultzen will start, and he'll be followed by Taijuan Walker. That's the good news, with the bad news being that Goodyear Ballpark isn't equipped with PITCHf/x cameras, and the game of course isn't broadcast on TV. But then it's also still February so chances are we'd just see their velocity readings and freak out like idiots. The story right now is that Hultzen has been super impressive so far in camp. Hultzen has thrown seven live game pitches. So. On the other hand, seven pitches are almost ten pitches! Ten pitches are almost 15 pitches! And so on! Hultzen has been amazing!

After the prospects could and should come Charlie Furbush, Hector Noesi, Lucas Luetge, Stephen Pryor, Josh Kinney, and Jhonny Nunez. What I know about Jhonny Nunez is his name, and what I presume to know about Jhonny Nunez is his profession. Nunez has seven games of big-league experience, according to Baseball-Reference, all in relief with the White Sox in 2009. On September 16 of that year he faced the Mariners once, retiring Adrian Beltre and Kenji Johjima. On that basis alone, he's all right. On most other bases, you should be able to forget about him shortly. I don't know who's pitching after Myers for the Indians but I know they'll probably get their shit kicked in. Go Seattle!