Mariners Moose Tracks, 5/4/23: Robbie Ray, Jonatan Clase, and Daniel Espino

Hello folks! Let’s dive into the latest.

In Mariners news...

• Robbie Ray officially underwent Tommy John surgery, which came as a surprise to many as it had previously been reported that he merely needed flexor tendon surgery. It might be more like the 2024 All-Star break that we can expect him to return to action, at this point.
• So even though he was facing the A’s, the numbers back up Bryce Miller being really freaking good at baseball. For context, a 100 Stuff+ is considered average, and having four pitches above-average is pretty rare.

• Wondered why hitters seemed to just swing through Miller’s fastballs in the zone? It’s because to hitters, the pitch appears to “rise” (in reality, it just drops so little that it creates an optical illusion from the batter’s box to that effect).

• Outfielder Jonatan Clase and reliever Ty Adcock have both been promoted to Double-A Arkansas after impressive starts to the season in Everett.

• Patrick Dubuque at Baseball Prospectus provided his take on the Mariners City Connect jerseys, noting that the team kind of accomplished its goal of melding the past, present, and future into one jersey. ($)

Around the league...

• There is some doubt that the A’s will be able to secure public funding for their new stadium in Las Vegas from the Nevada State Legislature. On top of that, the organization has yet to issue a formal proposal as a crucial deadline approaches. The Nevada Independent has the report.
• I had not realized that the CBA wasn’t actually signed yet, but it sounds like it will be soon.

• Top Guardians pitching prospect (yes, they have a lot of them but this guy is literally the top one) Daniel Espino will miss 12-14 months after undergoing shoulder surgery.
• Angels left-hander José Quijada will in fact undergo Tommy John surgery after receiving a second medical opinion.
• Former Astros backstop Robinson Chirinos announced that he has retired from baseball.
• The Negro Leagues Museum announced that it has made a $25 million investment in building a new campus for the museum.
• Shakeia Taylor at the Chicago Tribune spoke to former Mariner and current White Sox reliever Keynan Middleton about his unique story and rise to the big leagues.
• Jonathan Judge at Baseball Prospectus wonders where the newer Statcast metrics should fit into the overall conversation about a player’s performance. ($)
• My old stomping grounds of the West Coast League (go Bend Elks) have adopted new pace-of-play rules for the 2023 season.
• For those of you out there tracking our old friend Luis Torrens: he’s on the Orioles now.

• Not sure why this is so entertaining but...

Anders’ picks...

• Oh man, this is going to be good.