Monthly Archives: May 2010

by | May 31, 2010 · 12:26 pm

Mariners Weekend Recap — 5/29-5/30

Some games feel bigger than the one W or L that they represent on the schedule. When the M’s win in dramatic fashion on a Saturday night in front of 40,000 at Safeco, it seems odd that that win means just as much as a 10 am weekday win against Kansas City, in front of 11,000 fans. Likewise, a loss like yesterday kind of feels like 10 losses, rather than just one. The fashion in which the Mariners blew a 7-2 lead in the 5th inning yesterday, although not surprising based on how this year has gone, left me feeling frustration that should be reserved for only the most painful, playoff losses; not a regular season game in May.

I should be talking about a Mariners team that is miraculously just 5 games out of first place today. The M’s should have won yesterday, and should have won Saturday. The streak of horrible weekend games should have come to a halt, but alas, the M’s lost on Saturday and Sunday, providing further proof that while good teams find ways to win games, Seattle finds ways to lose them. Thus, they are not a good team. I have so many thoughts, opinions and observations from this weekend series because I saw every inning, and both games had so many layers. Rather than recap both games in typical style, I think I will just bullet point the good and bad that stood out.

The Depressing Stuff:

  • Ian Snell pitched well through 3 innings, but then I jinxed him by noticing this, and his control went haywire. I’m sure Snell will be gone at the end of the season, if not before then, and with Jack Wilson on the shelf and probably never returning to his old form, it’s probably accurate to say we lost that trade with the Pirates. I would have done it myself, and the trade won’t set the organization back much, but Jeff Clement at least has some potential, whereas Snell and Wilson don’t appear to.
  • Felix pitched well enough to win on Saturday, 8+ innings of 1 run ball, but the M’s offense was MIA and Brandon League showed again an inability to keep the ball in the park when it matters most.
  • On Sunday, Jesus Colome and Kanekoa Texeira pitched the 5th and 6th innings, and despite yielding just 2 hits, neither pitcher had much control. Of the 40 pitches they threw, 25 were balls. 4 walks were issued, plus a catcher’s interference, and suddenly the Angels had scratched out 3 runs off 2 singles, and the score was 7-5 heading into the 7th. This felt like the turning point in the game.
  • Yesterday, David Aardsma entered the 9th with a 1 run lead. The odds of winning may have been 75%, but in reality, it felt like a 50/50 game at this point. Aardsma had Matsui struck out on a full count, but the ump called it a ball, which was a horrible call. Once Matsui walked, I felt things slipping away. Rivera proceeded to crush a ball that somehow stayed in the yard, but it felt like a foreshadow of things to come. A fluke infield hit followed, and the wheels were coming off. Kendrick then blasted a fastball (of course) the other way and the game was over. But back to why things never feel safe when David Aardsma enters the game…

    The fact is, Aardsma usually has decent control, but everyone knows he will throw a 93-96 mph fastball about 90% of the time. If that pitch is not located perfectly, it’s a meatball. There really isn’t any deception to Aardsma’s pitching. The hitters just have to sit dead red, make a nice swing, and hope the ball lands in a good spot. Effective closers need not have 3 great pitches, but if he chooses to throw 1 pitch 90% of the time, it had better be a great pitch. Aardsma’s fast ball is not a great pitch, especially if it is not properly located. Aardsma will continue to get hit well for this reason, and sometimes the ball stays in the park or he gets lucky with a ball hit right at someone, but a lot of time the outcome is what we witnessed yesterday. It’s just really frustrating, but really, who didn’t expect him to regress this year? His true colors are showing. Aardsma depends on location and luck, and often one or the other fails him. He seems like a really cool guy though, for what it’s worth.

  • Our 3rd base coach is awful. I talk to Andrew about this often, and yesterday’s send of Wilson was his worst of the year. Base coaches are like referees in that if no one is talking about him, he is probably doing a good job. We have talked about Mike Brumley way too much this year, thus, he is doing a bad job.
  • Saturday and Sunday has not been kind to the Mariners this year. Seattle is 3-13 in weekend games, including 6 straight Saturday losses, and currently the team has won just once in its past 13 weekend games. In their 13 losses, 6 have been walk-offs, and 9 have been the crushing loss type, whereby the M’s were either tied or leading in the 8th inning.
  • 9 times the M’s have given up a walk-off hit. Conversely, Seattle has just 1 walk-off hit this season.
  • The Mariners are 0-6 in extra inning games this year.
  • Only 3 teams in baseball have a worst record than the M’s.

    Do I enjoy digging up these stats? Actually, no. I don’t drink alcohol, but this team brings me closer each weekend!

    Positive notes, plus hero and goat after the jump Continue reading →

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    by | May 29, 2010 · 10:10 am

    Mariners Recap – 5-28-10

    Three in a row!

    The Amazing Cliff Lee. That sums up how I feel about him. I simply cannot, as a baseball fan, miss one of his starts. I realize there is a possibility he won’t be with the Mariners all year, so I enjoy each inning he takes the mound. Last night verses the Angels, Lee showed why is a bulldog winner and someone I really hope the Mariners can convince to stay for the long term.

    In the first inning, home plate umpire Brian Knight decided to squeeze Lee. Cliff walked only his second batter of the year, and he was visually annoyed on the mound, and I was visually annoyed from my couch. Lee was clearly throwing strikes. The small strike zone forced Lee to throw more down the middle, therefore allowing Angles hitters to get decent wood on the ball. Lee then committed an odd throwing error. Before we knew it, 2-0 Angels. That, though, is the end of the Angels success.

    Over the next 7 innings, Lee proceeded to strike out 10 batters. Mixing his fastball with a devastating change, the Angels were so off balance it was embarrassing. Lee made legit big-league hitters like Abreu, Matsui and Hunter look like fools. One thing the Angels have is a solid lineup, there really are no slouches in there, and Lee worked with a break-neck pace mowing down one after another. There were a lot of heroes, Lee is one of them. Lee’s 14:1 K/BB still leads MLB. 42 K’s, 3 BB’s. Amazing.

    At the plate, I was impressed with the Mariners hitters yet again. They stayed aggressive against Kazmir, who had control problems from the get go. They were selective, sitting on his very average fastball. Gutierrez, Bradley, and Lopez (yes, JOSE LOPEZ) all looked great at the plate. Sweeney was the only goat of the night, going 0-5 with 3LOB. Other than that, the Mariners kept the pressure on the Angels pitchers. Even Figgins and Robo Rob had good AB’s, staying patient and drawing walks or getting their pitches for RBI doubles.

    Hero(s): Cliff Lee, Franklin Gutierrez
    Goat: Mike Sweeney

    Overall, impressive victory by the Mariners! Felix on the mound today!!

    -Joe

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    by | May 27, 2010 · 10:54 pm

    First Quarter Report Cards: Starting Rotation

    As Matthew looks ahead to next year in his series, I’m going to look back at the first quarter of the season.  We’re a few games past the quarter point but this seems to be an appropriate time to look back on who has done what.  We’ll start with the starting rotation because that’s the least depressing thing.  Grades after the jump!

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    by | May 27, 2010 · 4:04 pm

    My 2 cents on T-Jones

    A week has passed since Husky hearts were broken over the news that Terrance Jones is headed to Kentucky, and not Washington. My initial reaction of frustration has subsided some now, so rather than vent, I think I can convey some thoughts.

    In hindsight, this had a bit more drama than most recruiting battles, but similar scenarios play out in college recruiting every year, and Washington has been in the middle multiple times. Consider these recent episodes:

    1- Lorenzo Wade verbally committed to Washington, but ended up at San Diego State. This left an open scholarship. That scholarship went to Quincy Pondexter. That kinda worked out.
    2- Venoy Overton verbally committed to USC, but ended up at Washington. I can’t imagine having to watch Venoyance make life hell for UW guards twice a year.
    3- Abdul Gaddy verbally committed to Arizona, then de-committed, then re-committed, then finally de-committed once again and ended up at Washington. Gaddy has not lived up to the hype of being a top recruit, but his sophomore year could be a big one.
    4- Enes Kanter verbally committed to Washington, but ended up at Kentucky. Kanter had not taken the required tests to be able to make an official visit to UW, thus the school was never able to showcase itself to Kanter. As his stock began to rise, his options increased and similar to Jones, Kanter couldn’t pass up Kentucky. Boo Kentucky.

    The bottom line is that 17-18 year old guys change their minds all the time, sometime it benefits Washington, sometimes it doesn’t. Would Washington have been better off with both Terrances heading into 2010? We can speculate that yes, the team would have been better. Certainly they would have had more talent, but one can only hypothesize whether Jones would have been the difference maker in UW making a deep tourney run. Consider 2006, when everyone thought the Huskies would be major players with Brockman and the 2nd rated center in the country coming in, Spencer Hawes. That team failed to make the NCAA tourney.

    I wish Terrance Jones would have stuck to his word, and signed on to be a Husky. I don’t like that he was in Montlake the day before changing his commitment, and he basically embarrassed himself with the whole press conference thing. But in the end, I can hardly blame him. Kentucky gives Jones top exposure, and in the past 2 years, Calipari’s star player, Derrick Rose and John Wall, have gone on to be the #1 pick in the NBA (assuming Wall is picked #1). T-Jones is a 1 and done player in all likelihood, so you can understand why this would appeal to him.

    UW would have loved to have had Jones for the 6 months or so that he plays college hoops. There is still an outside chance, if Calipari goes to the NBA, that Jones ends up back at UW. But I highly doubt it, and at this point, Romar may just say no thanks. He indicated as much in an interview last week with Kevin Calabro. The Huskies will be good next year, and upperclassmen will lead the team. My prediction is the Huskies come out just fine from all this. Given how everything played out, Washington might even be better off without Jones. Time will tell. And besides Husky fans, would you rather have Locker or Terrance Jones this coming year? You can’t win them all, but we haven’t lost them all either.

    -Dan

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    by | May 26, 2010 · 2:39 pm

    M’s Win! M’s Win!

    Hey Now!!

    Great comeback victory today by the Mariners. They take two in a row from the Tigers, a very good team. Doug Fister and Jason Vargas, yet again, bulldog through innings and help the M’s stay in the games. Mike Sweeney at 1B? Hey, whatever works to get his bat in there, a home run today. Saunders and Wilson come through with clutch hits as well, and The DA slams the door. I feel really good about these wins, let’s get something going fellas!

    Break up the Mariners!! Hugs all around!! Shaving cream pies!! The fans demand a winner, they get a winner!!*

    -Joe

    *In reference to the discussion yesterday on KJR regarding Mariner fans being too soft and not demanding a winner. Well, immediately after that verbal tirade, the M’s play two of their better games all year. I see a connection…

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    by | May 25, 2010 · 6:23 pm

    The Lost Mariners

    A couple of nights ago one of my favorite TV shows of all time, Lost, ended.  Over the past 6 years, I’ve spent countless hours trying to decifer plots and come up with theories to crack this ridiculously confusing show.  Last week, a friend asked me how many hours a week I spend watching sports.  I came up with the estimate of 25 hours a week.  I then went on to question my life but that’s not relevant to this post.  When combining the hours I’ve spent on Lost and sports, it’s safe to say that I’ve done little else. 

    But now Lost is over and in honor of the series finale (and in honor of the Sports Guy, who is also a Lost lover) I’m playing the match the “Mariner With the Lost Character” game.  If you don’t know what this game is then read the title again and it should explain it.  If you’re still lost (no pun intended) the game simply goes as this:  I pick a character from Lost and then find the Seattle Mariner who fits the bill of that character.  Here we go!

    Jack Shepard – Franklin Gutierrez

    When Oceanic flight 815 crashed on the mysterious island, Jack became the leader of the survivors.  He didn’t do this by choice, he did this because it was the role assigned to him.  He was younger than a good share of the survivors and probably wasn’t as wise as some, but when he did things people followed.  We find that Jack is a lost man before and after he’s on the island; he feels empty, worthless as a spinal surgeon, and can never truly find peace.  I disliked Jack because he was annoying a good share of the time and sometimes jumped the gun on decisions but in the end he did what was best for his friends on the island and was a good leader. 

    This one is difficult because the Mariners’ don’t have a clear cut leader that fits the demeanor of Jack Shepard.  With that being said Franklin makes sense.  Before Guti came to the Mariners’ he was a no-name right fielder who couldn’t really hit.  He wasn’t given a starting position in Cleveland and was a fantastic defensive outfielder before defense became cool.  Then he came here.  He was given a chance and found himself to be one of the best players on the team.  What we don’t realize is how much of a leader Franklin is.  Sure, he’s not one of the outspoken guys in the clubhouse but on the field the team goes as he goes.  When Guti was on his hot-streak early in the season the team was playing a ton better than they are right now (they were actually winning).  Franklin is in the middle of the order because that’s where the team needs him to be.  Like Jack, he’s young, still learning and makes mistakes from time to time but we’re sure glad he’s on our side.  Guti is a lot less annoying than Jack.  He’s the leader of the team on the field, and it wasn’t his choice to take that role.  It just kind of happened much like a certain doctor became leader of the Lost cast.

    Hurley (Hugo Reyes) – Mike Sweeney

    This one is close to perfect.  Off the island, Hurley won the lottery and then became cursed by a set of numbers.  He had more bad luck than the bird I just watched my dog kill.  But once he crashes on the island we find that Hugo is the most caring survivor of them all.  He would do anything for any of his friends and he fills the role of caretaker of the island in the season finale.  Hurley is just the all around nice guy that it’s hard to root against.

    Mike Sweeney is the epitome of a nice guy.  He cares more about his teammates than any other guy on the Mariners and would do just about anything for them.  Sweeney isn’t without his bad luck though.  His career was disrupted by never-ending injuries and he played for the Royals.  Playing for the Royals is about as unlucky as you can get.  Hurley and Sweeney are the type of guys who would smile and say hello to you as you walked by on the street.  They care about their friends/teammates above everything else.  Thankfully, the one that is real is hitting the ball really well right now.

    To the jump and more comparisons!

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    by | May 25, 2010 · 11:29 am

    Wait ‘Til Next Year- Bullpen

    The bullpen is probably the hardest position to forecast because relievers tend to be pretty volatile in their perfomances.  Because they throw so few innings compared to starters, and because each outing is usually for a few innings at most, there can be a lot of luck in their numbers and perfomances.  Even if a guy’s not especially lucky in what happens when he throws the ball, it’s not uncommon to see a reliever have a great year followed up by a mediocre or worse season.  Most relievers are guys with positives (good stuff usually, maybe good command) but also glaring negatives (no command with the good stuff, etc.).  Sometimes they come out and everything is working, and sometimes it isn’t.  Sometimes that changes the next time out, sometimes it lasts all year.  Sometimes they’re just bad pitchers.

    For all those reasons and others, bullpens tend to turn over a lot, year to year.  Relievers, aside from established closers and occasionally set-up men, don’t generall make big contracts, and with good reason, as we’ve discussed above.  Teams who give big contracts to relievers don’t often come out on top.  In recent seasons, especially since Zduriencik took over, the Mariners have mostly taken the approach of finding as many guys with big arms and good stuff as they can and waiting to see which ones work out.  Brandon League probably cost the most, as the team gave up Brandon Morrow for him.  Everyone else that I can think of was either in the system or signed or traded for with little talent or money lost.  The results have been mixed, but we’ll get into whether the process is good another day.

    Roster breakdown after the jump!

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    by | May 22, 2010 · 12:40 pm

    A Cliff Lee-Jack Z Conversation

    Jack Zduriencik:  Hey Cliff, want to know something neat?

    Cliff Lee:  Yeah, sure.

    Z:  The first letter of my last name and your full last name rhyme.

    Lee:  Umm…. Yeah, that’s pretty cool.

    Z:  That’s just one of the reasons you should sign an extension with us.

    Lee:  How about a few more reasons?

    Z:  If you insist.  You could be a part of the best 1-2 punch in baseball with King Felix for the next few years.  We could even get you a sweet nickname if you stick around.  How’s ‘Prime Minister Lee’ sound?  Or ‘Cliff the Dictator’?  I’ve got a whole list of ideas in my office.

    Lee:  Sounds enticing.

    Z:  You could also have one of the best defenses in baseball at your back every time you take the mound.  Don’t forget about one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in baseball!  Your ERA could be under 2.50 for the next 4 years!

    Lee:  Cool, not as cool as the nicknames but still cool.

    Z:  We also have some people who you don’t want to leave here.  Cliff, you’ll never be able to get as many hugs as you do in this clubhouse.  And if you ever need someone to fight for you we’ve got this guy named Milton who’s been trying to find more constructive ways to unleash his frustrations.

    Lee:  Interesting….

    Z:  Seattle will grow to love you and you can become the hero that finally brings this city a world championship.

    Lee:  That’s important to everyone, including me.

    Z:  4 years for 75 million sound about right?

    Lee:  I’ll think about it.

    Z:  That’s all I ask.  Did I mention that our offense scores you 15 runs a game here?

    Lee:  Umm…. In my first 4 starts they only scored a combined 10 runs Jack.

    Z:  We’re pretending like we started the season two days ago.  It makes me feel much better.  Plus, you know the guy who hit 3 doubles off of you last night?  That Gonzalez fellow?  He’ll be a Mariner soon.

    Lee:  Oh, sounds good.  Let the good times roll!

    Andrew

    (I could never be as cool as Cliff Lee, or Jack for that matter.  Cliff would never say “let the good times roll” he would say something much cooler that I can’t even dream of right now.  He is that far superior to me and everyone else.)

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