Sanchez, Mabry, Wilson, and Bloomquist in the same starting line-up? I’m predicting Kelvim Escobar to have the game of his life. Matt Stairs, please. I’d settle for John Vander Wal. Just please, no more John Mabry.
Of course, he’s now one for one, and will likely have a career night. And I’m sure people will send me nasty emails telling me how stupid I am. John Mabry could go 4-4 with 4 homers, and you know what, he’d still be having a bad year.
Ron Fairly on Carlos Delgado: “This guy doesn’t walk very much. Some teams will try to pitch around him, but he’s a free swinger up there.”
Uh, Ron? Assuming Delgado’s current pace continues the rest of the season, this will be the fourth straight year he’s walked at least 100 times, and he’s averaged 94 walks per 162 games over the course of his career.
This is only sort-of Mariner related, but I find it interesting, so here you go.
Eric Byrnes, Oakland outfielder, splits by month:
Month AB BA OBP SLG OPS
April 38 0.316 0.395 0.421 0.816
May 104 0.356 0.405 0.625 1.030
June 115 0.322 0.395 0.583 0.978
July 74 0.095 0.152 0.176 0.328
August 13 0.077 0.077 0.077 0.154
His dropoff from June to July has to be one of the biggest declines in history. And, amazingly, he’s followed that up by getting worse in August. Oh, and those August stats don’t include his start today, where he went 0-4. He’s now 8 for his last 91.
How does something like this happen? For the first 3 months of the year, he was an all-star, the A’s MVP, and the only reason they had any chace of scoring. Then, inexplicably, he turns impotent at the plate. This has to be more than a slump, doesn’t it? Can someone really be that good for three months and then, overnight, turn into the most horrendous player on the planet for no apparent reason?
Breaking news from Tacoma: rehabbing 3B Jeff Cirillo was a late scratch from this afternoon’s Rainiers game. Apparently he hurt himself in the batting cage this morning. And for those of you wondering, no, that’s not a joke.
Also: Chris Snelling was sent to Seattle today for an MRI on his knee. Rett Johnson will have an MRI tomorrow on his shoulder. Cross your fingers, folks. These are two players who could be pretty big contributors next season.
Baseball Prospectus has a cool new report, the “Postseason Odds Report” based on some cool stuff Nate Silver did. The Mariners right now are projected to win their division 86.5% of the time and the Wild Card another 6.8% of the time, for a total post-season chance of 93.3%
So as you consider whether to plunk down the money for the playoff tickets, which includes the non-refundable charge, remember that barring disaster, they’re a good bet.
Oakland wins the division: 13.5% Oakland wins the WC: 37.2%
There’s a transcript of last night’s appearance on the Abrams Report.
You have to imagine me in a suit talking. Or, if you want, I can call you up and read you the transcript. For an additional fee, I’ll wear the suit and come by your home or place of business and perform my lines for you.
Bad news from the minors: Both Rett Johnson and Chris Snelling left last night’s Rainiers game with injuries. Johnson left after three innings with a sore right shoulder (uh-oh) and Snelling left after his first at-bat, in which he apparently injured his knee while running out a grounder. Not good.
In happier news, King Felix rolls on. His line from Everett last night: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K.