Author Archives: Matthew

by | May 4, 2010 · 5:11 pm

Series Preview- M’s vs. Tampa 5/4-5/6

So, fun season so far, right?  While we wait for the Mariners to score a run, we get to watch Tampa Bay, owners of baseball’s best record and possibly most exciting team.  Most people would be worried about facing the best team in baseball, but can it really get any worse than that series against Texas?  If we get blown out, we don’t have the pain of losing in extra innings on passed balls.  If we lose in extra innings on passed balls, at least it was to a good team.  If we win, hey, we won!  I see nothing but good things coming!

Who Would You Rather Have?

(Picks in bold. Line-ups from tonight’s game.)

C:  M’s Adam Moore  vs. Ray’s Dionar Navarro.  Navarro hasn’t been anything great the last year or so, but does it matter?

1B: M’s Kotchman vs. Ray’s Carlos Pena

2B: M’s Figgins vs. Ray’s Sean Rodriguez

3B: M’s Lopez vs. Ray’s Evan Longoria.  He’s pretty good, if you haven’t heard.

SS: M’s Jack Wilson vs. Ray’s Reid Brignac.  Brignac’s a top prospect who was the object of many Seattle blog-desires last year.  We got Jack Wilson instead.

LF:  M’s Bradley vs. Ray’s Carl Crawford

CF:  M’s Gutierrez vs. Ray’s Ben Zobrist

RF:  M’s Ichiro vs. Ray’s Gabe Kapler

DH:  M’s Griffey vs. Ray’s Pat Burrell.  Is it that hard to find a good DH?  Burrell wins easily over Griffey, but he’s not too scary anymore.

That’s 6-3 Rays.  They aren’t quite as scary a line-up as I anticipated.  Longoria, Pena, and Crawford would probably put the Mariners in the World Series, but overall they’re not the Yankees.  Minus those big bats, they’re in some ways what the Mariners hoped to be: a fast team who presses the issue, with some moderately talented younger guys and older guys who they’re hoping will contribute enough.   The only problem is that the Rays are getting production and the Mariners are getting anti-production.  And they have Longoria, Crawford and Pena, anyone of whom is a thousand times scarier than our non-Ichiro hitters.  Pena’s not even as scary anymore, and I’ll still stand by that statement.

Pitching Match-ups

Tuesday:  M’s Vargas vs. Ray’s James Shields

Wednesday:  M’s Cliff Lee! vs. Ray’s Matt Garza.  Can I have Garza too, though?

Thursday:  M’s Rowland-Smith vs. Ray’s Jeff Niemann.  Neither one of these guys are too exciting, but both have a tiny bit of potential. 

Closer:  M’s Aardsma vs. Ray’s Rafael Soriano.  Hey, Rafael Soriano!  I remember you.  Kind of similar pitchers.  Aardsma’s been a touch better so far, giving up more home runs but striking out about 3 more per 9 innings. 

That’s even on the pitching.  The first two could be pretty good match-ups.  We’ll see how Vargas does against a good offense, and whether the team can score any runs off two good pitchers and one mediocre pitcher.  It’s never too late to get started!

-Matthew

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by | May 1, 2010 · 2:51 pm

5/1 Game Recap — Texas 6, M’s 3

Well, that was depressing.  A classic everything went wrong, nothing went right game, I don’t think it would have been so discouraging if not for last night.  As it is, that missed squeeze last night now has the danger of feeling like a turning point for the season, and not the good kind of turning point. 

Today, Felix was as bad as we’re likely to see him all year, the offense was bad and everything they did hit hard was right at someone, and the defense had some mistakes and more importantly didn’t make many of the huge plays we’ve come to expect from them.  That’s not going to happen often.  The offense will get better at some point, but I’m increasingly sure that it’s not going to be good enough to win the division without any roster changes.  If Bradley, Figgins, and Lopez hit to their averages, and they add another bat in left or DH, losing the current designated non-hitters, that’s a solid offense.  Without an addition, that’s at least 3 spots in the line-up where it’s an upset every time there’s a hit, and that’s not going to cut it. 

There’s not much else to say, so I won’t say much else.  Again, this team isn’t as bad as these last two nights, but right now it’s certainly not the best team in a currently weak division.  We’ll hope our ace Doug Fister can salvage the series tomorrow.

Hero: Uh, Jesus Colome?  A couple of solid innings of relief when they needed them badly.

Goat: No one stood out, which is good and bad, because it means the whole team played badly.  Bradley had the ball he missed for whatever reason, but he also had some nice at-bats.  Franklin had a terrible at-bat again in the ninth.  I’ll give it to him, although it’s not totally justified.

-Matthew

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by | April 30, 2010 · 8:13 am

Happy Walter Jones Day!

If you haven’t heard, Seahawk great Walter Jones announced his retirement yesterday.  It was certainly not unexpected after he missed all of last year after surgery.  He was one of the best left tackles to ever play in the NFL, legitimately in the discussion with just two or three others as the greatest ever.  It’s incredibly doubtful we’ll ever see anyone on the Seahawks offensive line come close to the dominance Jones showed.  I heard this morning that he gave up nine sacks in his career, which is just one sack every season and a quarter, and happened to be the same amount of quarterbacks that he blocked for.  The Seahawks were just as likely to have a new quarterback as Jones was to give up a sack.  His #71 jersey will be retired immediately.  Good luck to Walt in the future and thanks for the memories!

The governor has declared today to be Walter Jones day.  I don’t really know what you do with that, other than reminisce and listen to sports radio, but I guess you could try to eat 71 hot dogs or something.  Luckily, there are plenty of other sports things going on today, so if you’re not into hot dogs, watch for these instead:

3:30 Terrence Jones and Terrance Ross Announce Their Commitments

Jones and Ross are probably the two best remaining basketball recruits on the west coast, and they are both considering the Huskies along with a host of other schools.  Classmates at Portland’s Jefferson High, they will announce their choices at a 3:30 press conference with two other teammates.

Ross is rumored to have committed to the UW Monday on a visit, but is delaying the announcement so he can do it with his friends.  That’s not for sure, but I’m about 90% positive he’ll be a Dawg at this point.  He’s a 6′ 5″ wing with great athleticism and an excellent shot.  He wasn’t able to play at Jefferson this past year due to transfer rules, but as a sophomore in 2008 he was the Oregon player of the year, and now can be found as high as the top 30 in recruiting rankings.  He’d be a huge add, with his size and offensive talent playing in nice contrast to Isaiah Thomas’ small and slashing game.  There are concerns with both players about getting into school, but Ross himself has said that he’ll qualify, so there’s no reason to doubt him until he doesn’t get in.

Jones is not as clear of a lock for UW as is Ross, but he’s an even higher ranked prospect and arguably a better fit for next year’s team.  A 6′ 9″ forward, Jones is an inside-out type player who reportedly can do a little of everything offensively with good defensive to boot.  Honestly, I’ve heard a little of everything about Jones skills, including that he does or doesn’t have a low post game, shot, or premium athleticism.  It’s clear he’s more of a three four swing guy than a true post-up four, though.  Think a bigger Pondexter rather than Brockman, I guess.  Whatever the case, he’d be a huge get and would likely step right into Pondexter’s starting spot.  Kentucky and now Kansas seem to be his most likely landing spots if not UW, but I’d say there’s a better than even chance he’s a Husky.

Keep your fingers crossed.  Getting both guys could mean the Huskies are Pac-10 favorites (if they’re not already) and a big threat to go to the Final Four.

6:30 Husky Spring Game Under the Lights

This is the first time the spring game is being played at night, and I’m really looking forward to it.   The spring game is always a little weird to watch since it’s all Huskies (see Andrew’s post below), but it’s a lot of fun if for no other reason than it’s a chance to watch some football again.  Plus, it can give an idea of how the team and individual players have progressed, especially the non-linemen.  Look for Deontae Cooper to put on a show, and hope that the back-up quarterbacks show anything.  I think parking’s $7 but the game’s free, so come on out!

7:00 Cliff Lee!

Lee finally makes his Mariner debut against the Rangers tonight, and there’s a definite sense that the season is finally starting for real.  He won’t help the offense, but if they start to come around, this team could come together quickly.  This is also the first series where the opponent has to face both Felix and Cliff, which will be a lot more fun for us fans than it will for the Rangers.  Snell goes to the bullpen, but I haven’t heard who is being taken off the roster yet.  Candidates would be Colome or maybe Kelley or Texeira.  The Mariners are just a game back of the division lead, and a sweep could really get momentum going in their direction.

It should be a fun day and weekend.  Hope you enjoy it!

-Matthew

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by | April 26, 2010 · 4:07 pm

Series Preview- M’s vs. Royals 4/26-4/28

The baseball gods reward the Mariners for a difficult weekend in Chicago with a trip to Kansas City.  The Royals are 7-11 on the year and are being carried offensively by Jose Guillen and Scott Podsednik, which can’t last.  The pitching match-ups aren’t great, but this is a series the Mariners should win.

Who’d You Rather Have

C:  M’s Rob Johnson    KC Kendall

1B:  M’s Kotchman    KC Billy Butler.  This one is tough.  Kotchman is having the better season so far and is better with the glove, but Butler hasn’t been terrible, was better last year, and will likely be better going forward.  I usually pick the guy I’d rather have for the series, so I’ll go with Kotchman, but if I had the chance to trade Kotch for Butler, I’d do it real fast.

2B:  M’s Figgins    KC Alberto Callaspo.  It’d be really nice if Figgins would start hitting, though.

3B:  M’s Lopez    KC Alex Gordon.  Lopez finally started hitting a tiny bit.  Gordon is getting on base some but not hitting much.  From my distant vantage point, he’s looking more and more like a huge bust.

SS:  M’s Wilson    KC Yuniesky Betancourt.  Hehe.

LF:  M’s Bradley    KC Podsednik.  Here’s where I’m going to be a homer and go against what I said about the first basemen above.  Podsednik is hitting like crazy, but I’ll still take Bradley.

CF:  M’s Guti    KC Mitch Maier.  This one’s really close though.

RF:  M’s Ichiro    KC David DeJesus

DH:  M’s Griffey    KC Jose Guillen.  Guillen’s bat is exactly what we could use right now: a guy on an incredible hot streak who’s hitting home runs.   Extremely unlikely to last, but I’d be happy with a series like that from anyone on the Mariners.

That’s 8-1 Mariners, but three spots are close due to either two guys playing pretty well (first), one guy hitting incredibly and his counterpart slumping (left), or a huge battle of suckiness (catcher).  Know what doesn’t suck?  The Beach House album I’m listening to.

Pitching Match-ups

Monday:  M’s Felix  vs. KC Kyle Davies.  Unless Halladay gets traded back into the AL, I won’t be picking against Felix all year.  For the only guy close, see below.

Tuesday:  M’s Snell  vs. KC Zach Greinke.  Greinke hasn’t been quite as dominating yet as he was last year, but that doesn’t mean much.  Bad match-up here.  Snell needs to be pretty excellent to avoid the bullpen, from the sounds of it.

Wednesday:  M’s RRS  vs. KC Gil Meche.  Meche has been pretty bad so far, so hopefully he’ll keep that up, but I don’t feel good about RRS at all.

Closer:  M’s Aardsma  vs. KC Joakim Soria

That’s 3-1 Royals.  Two of the starting match-ups look as lopsided as they could get, and anything could happen in the third.  I’m hoping for two out of three, and if we somehow beat Greinke, that’ll be pretty alright. 

In other news, Lee apparently was great in his rehab start in Tacoma yesterday, and will make his M’s debut Friday.  Also, the Phillies signed Ryan Howard for 5 years and $125 million today.  I’m no expert, but that doesn’t seem like it’ll end well. 

Enjoy the series!

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by | April 25, 2010 · 3:33 pm

Game Recap 4/25 — White Sox 3 M’s 2

Those were three tough losses in a row.  It’s easy to panic and over-react after a series like that, but the series told us nothing about the Mariner’s we didn’t know already.  The defense was good to excellent, even with Tui at short most of the series.  RRS was okay but not great.  Fister and Vargas were better than expected but not dominant.  The bullpen had a rough series, taking the loss in each game, but they’re not any different than what we thought they were: a group of sometimes dominant guys who occasionally get lit up or lose their command.  That’s pretty much every good but not incredible bullpen.  If they blow every lead the next two series too, then it’s trouble.

Unless the Mariners decide they don’t like the team they’ve assembled all of a sudden, those pieces are going to remain.  They were the focal point of the rebuild: excellent defense, solid starting pitching designed to take advantage of Safeco and the defense, and a potentially shut-down bullpen.  So far, so good, the bullpen’s last three games not withstanding.

The offense has been the concern, and continues to be.  The team is scoring runs better than it did the first week, but it’s short on threats.  A quick scan through the roster:  two guys are producing better than expected, Guti and Kotchman.  Two guys are hitting decently, within shouting distance of what was expected, Ichiro and Wilson.  The catching duo is about where we feared they would be, which isn’t good.  Figgins and Lopez are below what was expected, but show no real reason to worry yet.  Bradley’s in the same boat, with a little more worry, given his combination of age and injuries on top of his 2009 season and low contact rates this year.  Not much was expected of Griffey (and Sweeney) by those not with the team, but they’ve done even less.  The bench has done nothing.

So, we have mostly a bunch of guys who aren’t performing as expected, with Franklin and Kotchman carrying the team (with occasional help from Ichiro and Lopez).  They should still get better, but I’m not sure they’ll be good enough even then.  I already made my case this week for what they should do: lose Sweeney and/or the seventh reliever, find a righty left fielder/1B to play the majority of the time, shift Bradley to DH the majority of the time.  That’s not likely to happen for a bit still, if at all.  Getting Jack Hannahan back will help with the versatility issues, so that we can use a pinch-hitter or -runner for someone other than the catcher on nights like tonight.  That’s not a difference maker, though.

On the bright side, this team is one game below .500 and 2 and a half out of first.  They play the Royals next and get Cliff Lee back on Friday.  Things could be worse.  If they win this series, they’re back at .500 or better when Lee comes back, which is all we were hoping for at the start of the month.

Hero: Franklin, because home runs are great.  Vargas was good too.

Goat: League.  Holding them without a run in the 8th would have been huge.  Or they might have just lost it in the 9th.

-Matthew

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by | April 23, 2010 · 3:46 pm

Series Preview- M’s vs. White Sox 4/23-4/25

While picked by some to win the AL Central, the White Sox are struggling so far, at 5-11.  They’re not hitting, and not pitching terribly well either.  With Mariners teams of old, this would be the time when our starters would fall apart and the White Sox would get hot all at the same time, and we’d get swept.  I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I guess we’ll consider this a minor litmus test.

Who’d You Rather Have

(As usual, tonight’s line-ups, with my pick between the two players in BOLD)

C:  M’s Rob Johnson    CWS Donny Lucy.  I have never heard of Donny Lucy in my life.  Pierzynski is the usual guy, but I’m not sure I’d even take him over Ro-Jo, which is saying something.

1B:  M’s  Casey Kotchman    CWS Paul Konerko.  I guess this one’s kind of close, right this second.  Konerko has 5 home runs, which is nice, but Kotchman has 3 and is hitting a little better overall.  Actually, they’re both decent so far, but I’ll take Kotchy for his glove and left-handedness.  Check again in two months.

2B:  M’s Chone Figgins    CWS Gordon Beckham.  Ooh boy.  This is tough.  Love Beckham, but he’s off to a slow start.  Sophomore slump?

3B:  M’s Jose Lopez    CWS Jayson Nix

SS:  M’s Jack Wilson    CWS Alexei Ramirez.  Going past this series, I’d think about Ramirez, but right now I love Jack’s glove and he somehow has a hot bat.

LF:  M’s Eric Byrnes    CWS Andruw Jones. Good year so far for Jones.  I’d take Bradley over him though.  Hopefully he’s back tomorrow.

CF:  M’s Franklin Gutierrez    CWS Alexis Rios

RF:  M’s Ichiro    CWS Carlos Quentin

DH:  M’s Griffey    CWS Juan Pierre.  Wow.  I mean, really, wow.  This has to be the worst DH matchup ever. 

I feel like a homer but that’s 8-1 Mariners.  Catcher and short are close to toss-ups, but Chicago has a mediocre line up that’s not hitting at all yet.  I like Quentin and Beckham, but not better than Figgy and Ichi. 

Pitching Match-ups

Friday:  M’s RRS    CWS Gavin Floyd.  I’m not actually crazy about either of these guys.  RRS is throwing a little better so far.

Saturday:  M’s Doug Fister   CWS Freddy Garcia.  I have no idea what to expect out of Freddy, but oh, the memories!

Sunday:  M’s Jason Vargas    CWS John Danks.  Matchup of young lefties.  Unfortunately, there’s is a lot better than ours.

Closer:  M’s David Aardsma    CWS J. J. Putz.  Both have been okay this year.  Aardsma’s been a little better, and was better last year. Again, oh, the memories!

3-1 M’s on the pitching, but our starters are a bad outing away from changing that in a hurry. 

I’m not totally confident in this team yet, but the White Sox don’t really scare me either.  I think the M’s win the series, but don’t sweep.  Everybody have a good weekend!

-Matthew

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by | April 23, 2010 · 12:24 pm

The 24-Man Roster

The Mariners come out of a 7-2 home stand tied for the division lead.  The pitching looks excellent and gets Cliff Lee in a week, and the offense has been better.  Still this team just doesn’t look right.  Everyone agrees it could use another big bat or two or three.  Most people agree that Mike Sweeney at this point isn’t a good fit.  Some agree that going back to the 6-man bullpen seems like a good move now. 

No one likes roster analysis more than a Seattle-area sports blogger, so let’s see if we can figure out the mess and find room for some more offense not named Adrian Gonzalez or Prince Fielder!

The Definites

  1. In the lineup, 2B, SS, 3B, CF, and RF are not going to be changing soon.  Hanley Ramirez instead of Jack Wilson at short would be great, but it’s not going to happen.  There are incredibly few shortstops around, and it’s incredibly unlikely the Mariners would try to get one when there are easier places to upgrade.  It’s possible Lopez could still be traded, especially in a deal for a big bat, but that’s not likely to happen for at least another month or two, if at all.  The rest of these spots are manned by definite assets.
  2. One pitcher will leave the rotation when Cliff Lee comes back on (hopefully) April 30th.  It’s possible they juggle things around and wait to make the move until a few days later, so they can see everyone throw again, but one pitcher out of Fister, Vargas, Snell, and RRS will be out of the rotation sooner than later.
  3. Milton Bradley will play somewhere, preferably more at DH to help hold off minor injuries like the one with which he is currently out.
  4. There’s not much, if any, offensive help ready in the minors.  Michael Saunders might come up later, but from what I’ve heard he’s still working on his swing and not looking too great right now.  Someone else could certainly make an appearance at some point, but there’s no one likely to provide the offensive spark this team will likely need at some point.
  5. Jack Hannahan will almost surely rejoin the team once he’s done with some rehab time in Tacoma. Continue reading →

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by | April 20, 2010 · 10:25 pm

Game Recap 4/20 – M’s 3, Orioles 1

I said I’d take the recap on this one, and then ended up not being able to watch most of it, so this recap will be short.  As much as any game is in a 162 game season, this is the type of game that the Mariners need to win if they want to challenge for the playoffs.  Facing an incredibly struggling team with an inexperienced and mediocre pitcher, a good team has to take advantage.  Will they always?  No, and if they hadn’t it wouldn’t have been the end of the season or anything.  But with the chance to go above .500, a loss would have been more frustrating than a win is satisfying.

Not to say that this win isn’t satisfying.  The offense, while not scoring a lot tonight, did enough and has a lot of guys locked in pretty well.  I remember being told by a coach when I pitched that the most important inning you’ll throw is right after your offense has scored some runs.  It’s the pitcher’s job to maintain the momentum to some degree.  Tonight in the first, the Orioles couldn’t hold a one run lead, and the Mariners could.  Vargas, from what I could tell, did everything you could want from him.  The Orioles are a terrible team right now, but they have enough guys who could hurt you if you don’t execute your pitches.  I’m anxious to see what Snell will do in his next start.  He’s not showing more than Fister or Vargas right now, better stuff or not.  Fister and Vargas will get hit more than they have when they face better teams, but they’ll minimize some damage through lack of walks.  Right now, I’m not confident Snell can limit walks or hits.  I’d love for him more than anyone to prove me wrong, though.

The offense is doing about what we hoped it would, with Ichiro and Figgins on base and a few guys hot behind them.  I’m still not convinced that Kotchman will keep this up or ever hit lefties, but he looks excellent right now.  Bradley swings harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.  He’s a little more contact away from a monster year.  Hopefully he’s alright after leaving the game tonight.  I haven’t heard yet what the injury was.  Franklin is looking like a legitimate MVP candidate.  Once Figgy starts getting a few more hits to go with his walks, they could really have something.  The little hot streak from Wilson is nice too.

Hero, goat, and a few quick notes (after the jump): Continue reading →

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