Game Twenty-Two Recap
Yay, 11-11.
Pretty interesting game today. I’ll see if I can cram it all in without being too wordy.
The most encouraging sign of the day had to be the way Kotchman and Figgins were stinging the baseball. The triple by Figgins was as hard as he can hit a ball, and Kotchman was hitter lasers the entire day. Toss in Bradley’s double to the opposite field, and the new guy bats were providing some needed power. Now, if we can just get Wak to hit them closer together, so there aren’t some lousy hitters coming in between those three, that’d be nice.
Ryan Rowland-Smith didn’t pitch great, but he was better than the final line indicates. He used his breaking ball a lot more, and with success, and got a decent amount of swinging strikes by burying the change-up down and away from right-handers. The 6th inning rally was made possible by a high sun that gave outfielders fits the entire game – Kendall’s bases loaded pop fly is an easy out on most days, and without that ball dropping in, Hyphen probably goes six innings and only allows one run. There were encouraging signs today, even if he still wasn’t as sharp as we’ve seen him before.
Nice to see Brandon League be the first guy out of the bullpen and just slam the door on the Royals to keep the game winnable. That’s the guy the Mariners traded for right there.
Jose Lopez saw 13 pitches in five trips to the plate. It is way beyond time to move him down in the order. He’s not swinging the bat well, having good at-bats, or generally doing anything to help the team score runs. He should hit no higher than 6th or 7th in this line-up.
In the 8th inning, Jason Kendall hit a groundball into the hole between SS and 3B. Jack Wilson did his best Derek Jeter impression, only he added actual range to the formula as well. It was, quite simply, an incredible play, and the kind of play that is easy to point to and say “yeah, that’s why he’s on the team.” You will see hundreds of replays of Wilson’s play, and deservedly so.
Yuniesky Betancourt ended the game by swinging at a pitch that was nowhere close to the strike zone. While we’ve all seen this 100 times, it was nice to be the beneficiary of his ridiculous approach, rather than the victim. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I don’t have to watch him anymore.
Another walk today for Rob Johnson. This deserves its own post, but the drastic change in approach that he’s taken on so far this year is nothing short of shocking.
The next time the Mariners play, Cliff Lee will be on the mound. With a .500 record, Friday night will feel like Opening Day 2.0. The first 22 games didn’t really change too many things, as the Mariners survived a depleted roster and head into the next five months with a pretty decent shot at the playoffs.
He’s earned some well-deserved praise. I looked at Fangraphs during the game today, and he’s dropped his O-Swing% from 26% to 21%. (Before today’s game, I think.) That’s huge. He’s swinging less at stuff in the strike zone, too.
Basically, Rob Johnson went out and did what Mariner management had pleaded for Yuniesky Betancourt to do.
An interesting question: Erik Bedard’s starting to get close to coming back. The M’s have three weeks or so to figure out whose rotation spot he takes. Who goes when Bedard shows up? Doesn’t RRS have to be in that conversation?
Dave before the season started you hoped we’d “hang in there” until Lee is back. I think the M’s have done that. Is Cliff “Freakin'” Lee really pitching for the M’s on Friday?
I was hoping M’s would be at or near .500 by the time Lee got back.
Hate to say this, but Nelson Cruz and Brett Anderson injuries also brought an evil grin to my face.
I am so excited for Cliff Lee. Also nice to see the M’s end the road trip 2-4 even though it could have easily been 4-2. But we are still in this thing. Hope the lineup will get worked out I think we need MB and Kotch moved up for sure.
Good to also see Johnson get props for when he does things right. Sometimes it seems like people are still negative on him even when he does good. Hope he can keep this trend up.
There were two outs. No “probably” about it.
Yes, that might be the most surprising thing of all so far this season. I was/am among the Rob Johnson haters, but those are eyebrow-raising stats, and badly needed given how many weak hitters are in the Ms’ lineup. But, we have the usual caveats about small sample size and “results-based analysis” so I am curious to see what the early-season scouting report is on him.
I had thought that we Mariner fans would be singing “Where have you gone Kenji Johjima, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you” this season, but no so. Offensively at least … I’m also curious about how Johnson’s defense has looked.
Johnson got the winning run in from third, too.
We do, but only when it doesn’t hurt us, but helps us. His .364 average is the epitome of SSS.
Well, as robbbbb mentioned, reducing O-Swing% from 26% to 21% is not “results-based.” My problem is that Johnson bothers me so much when he’s behind the plate that I’d much rather watch Adam Moore improve with the bat than watch Johnson do it. Adam hasn’t yet kicked Felix Hernandez in the face…and until he does he’s above Johnson on my imaginary depth-chart at catcher.
Not fair, perhaps, but the heart wants what the heart wants.
Anybody notice that Kevin Frandsen is now available (DFA’d by the Red Sox)? Might be a good avenue to look into.
When Wilson got to that ball, I was impressed, but not amazed. When Wilson managed to get off a mid air throw that was that strong and that accurate, I was just stunned. That was pretty remarkable.
Apropos nothing except this recent sojourn in woeful Kansas City (where old M’s players go to join the Witness Protection system), but I think Posnanski may be right: the Royals and Pirates should swap leagues.
Only bad part about the game was that Guti had a horrible day. However, he has to come down sooner or later, so better he do poorly in a game we win than a game we lose.
Now let’s hope he gets back up to .380
joser – I prefer this idea for realignment. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-alignment042010
I’m glad to see Rob Johnson getting some props for his approach this year. He is only hitting .207, but his wOBA is .358, that is second on the team behind Gutierrez. Sure it’s a small sample size and he is not going to keep it up all year, but reading the game thread you’d think all the people ripping him are only paying attention to his batting average.
One issue with moving Lopez down might be that the line-up is stacked with #7 hitters. I guess you move Kotchman and Bradley up but……. Maybe the answer is Kotchman at clean up?
The five best hitters on this team are Ichiro, Figgins, Gutierrez, Bradley, and Kotchman, not in that order, and then there’s a drop off. Those should be the first 5 in any reasonable order.
We aren’t going to get much offense from SS or C so that’s 8th and 9th. Griffey Jr. and Lopez hit in the middle until the everyday lineup changes.
I did not see the game today, but certainly didn’t need to to appreciate the point about Lopez.
But this raises a question for me about ‘belief systems’. Is part of Wak’s ‘belief system’ inherent in keeping people in the lineup…or lineup slots…too long? In other words, is part of his reticence explained by him implying to a player, ‘don’t worry–I still believe in you’?
If so, where does that intersect in doing what’s best for the team? And when Wak makes that call, how does he explain that his ‘belief’ in an individual player is not as strong as it once was?
I’m loving diderot’s question here. And belief systems or not, Wak was all over the place with his lineup last year. What changed? Are we really that much more stable offensively? I’m surprised to hear little discussion of Wak’s complete turnaround from how he ran things in 2009 with regard to lineups.
And on another note, there’s still a part of me that believes this whole Cliff Lee pitching for us thing is some awful practical joke. I can’t wait to actually see him on the mound!
I heard something about Kotchman being more comfortable lower in the order, but I am sick of seeing this bass ackwards lineup. It needs to be about like Adam S said agianst RHP, with Kotchman no lower than 5th, and Lopez and Griffey 6th and 7th. Maybe drop Kotchman and raise Lopez against southpaws.
Des71: I don’t want to depart from the intent of this thread, so see here.
I’d consider that a positive attribute if the alternative is panicking too soon. If Wakamatsu was managing Colorado then Chris Ianetta would not be in the minors and Miguel Olivo would not be the starting catcher. Maybe both situations are extremes but I would prefer a patience over panic.
Gutierrez could use some protection against a RH starting pitcher. Maybe Kotchman does make the most sense for #4? Good win today for the bullpen and yes CLIFF LEE STARTS ON FRIDAY.(For those who still cannot believe it)
I doubt they would go this route with Dustin Ackley still in the system although personally I think Frandsen wouldn’t be a bad pick-up. I can’t help but think they are grooming Ackley for either 2B or 3B and Lopez will be become trade bait. Wishful thinking maybe but…seems like a fairly likely scenario.
The “belief system” seems to have some flexible tenets when it comes to handling hitters. Some (Kotchman and Bradley at season’s start) get dropped in the order under the belief that they will do better without the perceived pressure to perform. Others stay where they are under the belief that they will do better without the perceived pressure of the manager losing faith in them.
Meanwhile, my belief system tells me that a mystical figure named Cliff Lee will be pitching for the M’s Friday. I will have to go to Safeco to confirm.
Let’s see.
Yuni Betancourt was 0-4.
Willie Bloomquist was 0-4.
And Gil Meche gave up 5 runs.
Thanks ex-Mariners!
After being a longtime reader, I decided to sign up here after getting fed up with people who “like” the Mariners on facebook. A lot of them seem to really hate Ryan Rowland-Smith and think he isn’t very good. While he isn’t lighting the world on fire, I’d say he’s an above average #4 type guy, and will continue to produce at that level (whereas guys like Fister and Vargas may falter from their current lofty pedestal, at least to those people on facebook). Anyway, first post and all. I liked what I saw with RR-S today. Too bad about that sun, though!
Well I just took a look at the M’s official website and it said “Start at Kauffman could be Sweeney’s last”. I got my hopes up, but it just meant that it could be his last game in Kansas City. Not as a Mariner, unfortunantly….
Although a DFA of Sweeney and a pick up of Frandsen wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.
FWIW (which is not much) Wilson got the top Web Gem for that “tutu” play. Also receiving a Web Gem: Alex Rodriguez, for making the same barehand pick/throw that Beltre does every single game.