Game 47, Indians at Mariners
James Paxton vs. Corey Kluber, 7:10pm
Corey Kluber’s FIP last year was better than King Felix’s career low. Thus far in 2015, Kluber has tossed an 18K, 1H game against the Cardinals and *lowered* his FIP to an unreal-for-anyone-but-Kershaw 2.17. His K/9 is 10.72 and his BB/9 is 1.55. For good measure, his HR rate is lower than average. These are video game numbers, but Kluber is 2-5 with a 3.49 ERA. As I discussed earlier, a big part of this is the Indians’ general inability to catch hit baseballs, which pushes Kluber’s BABIP to .348. In addition, his strand rate has fallen markedly this year from 78.6% to 68.1%. Finally, his platoon splits have been a bit wider this year. As a slider/cutter pitcher, this probably isn’t a big surprise.
The key for the M’s today is to get as many lefties in the line-up as possible, yes, even Ackley, and to get him early. Lefties see first-pitch fastballs nearly 70% of the time. They get a lot more breaking stuff as the count moves on, and they’ve done less with bendy stuff. Righties? Good luck. If he makes a mistake with a sinker, feel free to hit it hard, Nelson Cruz.
1: Jackson, CF
2: Smith, RF
3: Cruz, DH
4: Seager, 3B
5: Morrison, 1B
6: Miller, 2B
7: Ackley, LF
8: Taylor, SS
9: Zunino, C
SP: Paxton
Cano could use a break, and with Miller, they don’t have to lose a lefty in the process. Would’ve been nice to see him sit against a lefty, I suppose, given Kluber’s splits, but in the grand scheme of things, this is fine. I suppose you could argue there’s a knock-on effect because it gets Jackson’s bat back in the line-up, but that’s somewhat secondary, and seriously, Jackson just needs to produce right now. This is an awful match-up for him, but it’s time to show he’s not a platoon player.
The Rainiers dropped yesterday’s game in Omaha 5-2, as former Royals star prospect John Lamb got the win a day after former Royals star prospect Mike Montgomery pitched for Tacoma. Stephen Landazuri threw a decent 5 IP, and Danny Farquhar yielded a HR in his first AAA inning of the year. Justin Germano starts today for the Rainiers against Omaha’s Andy Ferguson.
Jackson destroyed Montgomery 12-4, as the bats finally came alive. Even DJ Peterson, who’s been in deep freeze thus far, hit a 3r HR the opposite way. Jabari Blash homered as well, and Felix’s brother Moises got the win in relief. Today, the Generals face Rays prospect and Seattle-native Blake Snell, who is having a rather solid year. He’s made 9 appearances and 7 starts on the year, throwing 52 innings. In that span, he’s K’d 66 and given up just 21 hits. Oh, and one run. He enters the game with an ERA of 0.17, which marred by the one run he gave up to Tennessee, which pushes his AA ERA way up to 0.29 in 5 starts.
Bakersfield lost at Visalia 10-5 despite HRs from Kyle Petty and Tyler Marlette. Today, Eddie Campbell tries to get his ERA out of the 30s. In better Bakersfield news, the guys from Cespedes Family BBQ have been journaling their road trip through California for Baseball Prospectus, and wrote about Bakersfield’s historic Sam Lynn ballpark here (no subscription needed).
Clinton beat Peoria 8-2 behind another strong Jefferson Medina start and 3 doubles from LF Chantz Mack. Kristian Brito had 2 doubles of his own. Tyler Herb takes the mound against the Chiefs tonight, and converted position player Fernando Baez.
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12 Responses to “Game 47, Indians at Mariners”
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Lloyd should have gone with Cano at 2nd, and Miller at SS, Kluber’s career whip against RH’s is 1.04, LH’s 1.34, over the course of a game that could mean an extra baserunner, or two.
Lloyd using Miller at 2nd speaks well for his future as a WFB type platooner. Its exciting to see.
It’d be a lot more exciting, however, if Taylor would produce a little in the batter’s box. All this strain on Miller to play out of position, and further and further away from his WAR usefulness at SS, rings pointless if we’re getting close to zero from Taylor at short on the offensive side of the equation.
Zunino is so stellar behind the plate his prolonged valleys and brief plateaus are easier to bear. Taylor isn’t anywhere near Zunino’s value defensively, so the clock is ticking on his chance to grab the brass ring. I see a AAA bus ticket sooner than later. He either needs to hit his weight or start filling Smith/Ruggiano/Jackson/Ackley ‘s gatorade cups with muscle relaxers… because their general apathy in the outfield is the sole reason he’s been allowed to suck this long and sent Miller into OF purgatory in the first place.
Cano is apparently sick so it looks like the M’s manager is actually looking out for a player with an injury/illness. Who knew?
Cano with “flu-like” symptoms.
Sooo bad, Ackley.
Well, Sims said Cano was put on an IV and lost some weight so that sounds more than just an excuse to sit him.
Feeling better about that Ackley comment in the preview right now.
It’s so rare that these things work out, you have to take joy in them when they do. F@$# yeah, Dustin Ackley.
Really, Ackley?
That last Zunino at bat was just so bad.
Despite this loss, I would like to point out that the Mariners are 23-0 in games they win.
That’s true, heyoka, but you can’t completely ignore the fact they’re 0-24 in games they lose. What’s with that?
They are tied for the league lead in both winning pct on wins and losing pct on losses. They also, year in year out either lead the league or in the top 32 for games played.