6/27/19: Open Game Thread

Merry Sweepsmas! It’s been so long since we last gathered together for this auspicious celebration, but the magic never dies. The Mariners have a shot at sneaking back under 10 games below .500 as their lineup continues to click, led by a suddenly dynamic 1-2 punch of Mallex Smith and J.P. Crawford. Today they’ll get an extra boost from Mike Leake, who has been one of the best hitting pitchers in the league throughout his career. With the bullpen shorthanded - neither Austin Adams nor Roenis Elias are likely to be available - Leake should get at least three plate appearances to add to his titanic career 35 wRC+ thru 525 PAs.

Laugh all you want, but that makes Leake the fifth-best hitting pitcher in the past decade, trailing only Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner, Yovani Gallardo, and Travis Wood. His Brewers counterpart, Chase “Inexplicably Not Left-Handed” Anderson has reached base just 26 times in 272 opportunities. If Mike Leake is to make a dramatic escape via trade from the Mariners, showcasing this NL-specific facet of his value would be great.

Game Time: 11:10 AM PT
TV: ROOT
Radio: 710 AM ESPN
Online: MLB.TV

While you wait for your hot mug of morning baseball to cool, we’ve got a few little somethings for everyone on the site recently...

• For the lover of history, memorabilia, and magnificent storytelling, Amanda Lane has a LLongform piece on the final game in the history of the Kingdome that is worth carving out your lunchtime for.
• For those enjoying the present, I wrote about J.P. Crawford and what he’s doing right during this delightful breakout.
• For you dreamers on the future, we’ve got our weekly State of the Farm from Ben Thoen out today. Courtesy of Kate Preusser, we also have as a two-part series on top catching prospect Cal Raleigh that goes in depth on his defense and his offense. The switch-hitting Cal was considerate enough to hit homers from both sides of the plate yesterday to promote this and we thank him for his savvy guerrilla marketing ploy.