Bloomquist as a CF
A lot of people have brought up issues with Mike Hargrove so far. Personally, I haven’t found any of their points overwhelming, and by and large, I think he’s done fine. He’s been exactly what we expected: a manager who doesn’t get in the way of the talent he has. He’s not Earl Weaver, but he’s not Bill Plummer, either.
But, playing Willie Bloomquist in center field… that’s just stupid. Randy Winn, despite public opinion, is a pretty decent center fielder. Ichiro would almost certainly be one of the best defensive center fielders in the game. Using Bloomquist in CF simply for the purpose of leaving Winn and Ichiro in their “regular” positions is just a poor decision. Bloomquist is an inferior player being put in a premium defensive position because… well, there’s no real good reason for it. The longer this goes on, the more it hurts the M’s.
Reichert tossed
Well, we wrote a ton about the gamble the M’s took on him, here at USSM and at the PI, and it’s over. The Rainiers released Dan Reichert. It seems… hasty? To punt a guy this early seems needless. I mean, they just brought back Andrew Lorraine. It’s not as if there’s a lot of pressure to create a spot in the Rainiers’ rotation.
On the other hand, I’m having trouble getting that worked up about this. The Mariners brought him in for spring training, and he didn’t make the team, as they chose to make a weird couple of decisions at the back of the bullpen and didn’t give him a shot as a starter.
Meetup Wrap-up
About a dozen of us gathered to eat, drink and make merry last night before heading to the yard to cheer on King Felix, Justin Leone and the rest of the Rainiers. The weather was perfect, and the night would have been perfect, too, if we’d had a Rainier win and a Doyle sighting. Sadly, these latter two qualities were lacking.
Felix looked a little jittery in the first inning, giving up two quick runs, but settled down to pitch well. Dan Meyer didn’t dominate, but wriggled out of several jams. Though I think there’s something to the “Meyer is hurt” theory — his velocity did not seem to be what it should — he also impressed me as a mature guy who knows how to pitch. If he stays healthy, I think he’s got a great future.
It was great meeting and talking with everybody who came out. Thanks for coming!
Other highlights for me included:
— A Justin Leone home run, witnessed by Devin of the blog formerly known as Leone For Third.
— The 25 beers on tap and 25 additional bottled beers available at Engine House 9.
— Debates over what exactly Rhubarb, the Rainiers mascot, is supposed to be. The prevailing theory is “jackalope,” and no one can tell me different. Of course, I also think Webbly looks like a Sleestak.
— Zumsteg booing the four-year-olds trying to shag balls in the outfield for prizes.
— Wiki Gonzalez living up to his reputation as the laziest man in baseball on at least two separate occasions. First, Wiki failed to move a foot or so — or even attempt a goalie-style “skate save” — to catch a throw to the plate, forcing an alert Felix to back up.
Then, he failed to score from first on a double scorched off the left field wall hit by Mike Morse, because Wiki apparently decided it was time to take a leisurely jog and check out the hotties sitting behind home plate. He ran the bases with all the intensity of Manny Ramirez, and half as fast. Also, as my friend’s grandfather would say, it looks like he likes the groceries, too.
— Doing Rick Rizzs impersonations with Devin, Christian and Tim Ferguson in the bleachers along the third base side.
— Just as I was telling my uncle what the “Three True Outcomes” were, Jack Cust hit a ball off the light standard in right field. “Case in point,” I said, glumly.
Despite the loss, a good time was had by me (and, I hope, all) on what Tim Ferguson’s favorite announcer would call “a beautiful night for baseball.” Before he went over the unhappy totals, of course.
Pictures to come, hopefully!
David Cameron Photography
Okay, its a non-baseball note, and its total self-promotion, but forgive my indulgence for one post.
I launched my new photography site at davecameron.net this afternoon. It’s 100 % flash, so if you’re on dialup, well, practice patience or check it from work or something. But for those of you with broadband connections, check it out. And feel free to leave comments, critiques, and opinions in the responses below. The site isn’t completely done, but I felt like I had enough up to make it public.
And, if you know anyone in the southeast who is looking for a photographer, or if you want to fly me out to Seattle to do your wedding, just drop me a line. I’ll even throw in the baseball talk for free.
Game 14, Mariners at Angels
Sexson with a three run bomb early in the top of the first. Kevin Gregg doesn’t look to be in for the long haul.
Red Sox yank moron’s tickets
I’m happy to see the Red Sox have revoked the tickets of the guy who took a swing at Sheffield and the other guy who poured beer on him. That’s totally awesome.
Of course, the fan, House, denies any kind of wrongdoing (“It is ridiculous for anyone to even suggest that I punched him or even attempted to,” his statement said. I’d like to be ridiculous for a second and suggest that he either punched Sheffield or took a good shot at it.). As if he’d fess up (“The Red Sox are entirely justified in yanking my tickets, and I am a doofus.”).
I’m not sure if this is going to be some big thing where the fan base splits between support for this poor, victimized fellow and running away from being associated with that kind of behavior. I hope not.
The Red Sox aren’t dumb, and they’re fully aware that this kind of thing could expose them to legal action, all kinds of criticism, and yet they probably also felt like they needed to do something. And while it’s easy for me to watch it replay on Tivo and say “boy, it looks like a swing but it’s not conclusive” I’m sure the Sox spent the last week arguing this and looking at all the footage and photos they could get before making a decision.
I hope this is the start of something, though: if you can’t behave reasonably in seats where your behavior is so important, you don’t get to sit there any more.
Around the Internet today
— Alan Schwarz looks at 833 current major leaguers for a broad look at farm system success. The Mariners do very well in most of these quick-and-dirty calculations, though you’ll be sure to note that all of the “notable signees” are no longer M’s. It’s kind of cool to see Jamie Moyer singlehandedly put St. Joseph’s on the baseball draft map, though. You’ll see what I mean.
Double meaning department: Schwarz notes that the Brewers have performed miserably in a Win Shares analysis of their draft picks, despite having Ben Sheets. “Then again,” he writes, “that happens when you demonstrate almost no ability to keep your minor league pitching prospects healthy.” Ouch. Did anybody else feel that?
— The TNT tries to put the hex on Doyle.
— Did George Steinbrenner’s tantrum inspire the Yankees to destroy their natural enemy and hated rival, the Devil Rays? What do you think, Joe Torre?
“Ask the players. I’d like to believe we try all the time.”
How about you, Tino Martinez?
“He (Steinbrenner) has every right to say what he said,” said Martinez. “We know we have to pick it up. It motivated us.”
Yankee dissension: smell the long knives as they come out.
— Try reading this story about how versatile Ron Villone is in this way: first, replace all references to pitching with references to hitting or playing the field. Then, replace the name “Ron Villone” with the name “Willie Bloomquist.”
You’d get results like this:
Bloomquist’s response to the duty?
“OK,†he said. “Whatever.â€Â
That’s not a complaint, it’s just that Bloomquist is one of those throwback players who will do whatever is asked of him, without complaint – as long as he feels he’s helping the team win.
Ah, versatility. Say what you will about Greg Dobbs; at least he’s only trying to play two or three positions poorly instead of all nine.
Out of curiosity, what happens when a throwback player feels he’s no longer helping the team win? Does he step across the foul line and transform into an elderly doctor? Take up a career in musical theater? Get on the boat to the Undying Lands with Frodo and Gandalf?
USSM gathering: Felix v. Dan Meyer tonight
Don’t forget: tonight is King Felix Hernandez’ first home start for the Rainiers. We’ll be there, and we invite you to join us.
You’ll be seeing more than one top pitching prospect. Opposing Felix is Dan Meyer, the highly regarded young arm received by the A’s in the Tim Hudson trade. Meyer is off to a rough start this year, and hopefully the Rainiers can continue that trend — but this guy has a terrific future. In over 350 minor league innings, he’s struck out almost 10 batters per nine, posting a strikeout-to-walk ratio of more than four to one.
Details again:
— The game is slated to begin at 6:05 p.m. Map to Cheney Stadium.
— We will be gathering at Engine House 9 for dinner beforehand. We should be there by 4 p.m. [Warning: embedded sound on the website, but you can find directions there.]
— Many thanks are due to Mike Curto for his assistance, and for scoring us five pairs of tickets for five lucky readers.
Two Weeks In
Opening Day was two weeks ago, and the team has played 13 games. The samples are still too small to make any definitive judgments, but there are some things we can glean from the first 10 percent of the season. So, here’s some observations I’ve made over the first couple of weeks.
Our defense is really good. We said before the year started that the gloves would be the strength of the team, and this has been confirmed so far. The M’s are turning 72.5 percent of all balls in play into outs, compared to the American League average of 70.4 percent. Our defensive efficiency is tied with the White Sox for the fourth best in baseball, behind only Florida, Oakland, and the Dodgers. At the other end of the spectrum, by the way, is the Yankees. They are only converting 63 percent of balls in play into outs. That’s awful.
Bret Boone is done. Forget the Lasik. We can stop calling 2004 a down year. Boone is finished as anything more than an average second baseman.
Jeremy Reed is going to go on a prolonged hot streak very soon. His .205 average hides the fact that he’s swinging the bat very well. Half of his hits have gone for extra bases and he has five walks to just three strikeouts. Guys with his skillset are much more prone to streaks and slumps, and I’d guess that a 15 for 30 stretch is just around the corner.
The offense has scored 11 more runs than you’d expect, given their performance. Most of that is their ridiculous hitting with runners on base.
I’m not worried about Adrian Beltre. He’s stinging the baseball and has had several 400 foot outs in the past few days, plus the double off the wall last night. He’s still having problems with breaking balls away, but he hasn’t looked overmatched at the plate. He’s going to start putting up numbers real soon.
This bench is abysmal. Just awful.
The 12 man pitching staff is just a waste of roster spots. By having way too many arms sitting around, we have things like this: Ron Villone, 6 appearances, 2 1/3 innings. Using Villone as a situational lefty one out guy is not a wise use of resources. The M’s would be better off using Villone for an inning or more at a time, and paring the pitching staff back to 11–or gasp, even 10!–pitchers. The extra roster spot(s) could be used to accomodate an actual major league player to backup our regular nine starters.
Aaron Sele still sucks. He’s pitching exactly like he has the past three years. Badly. More walks than strikeouts. Only 2.81 strikeouts per nine innings, a number that makes Kirk Rueter look like Nolan Ryan. Going just over 5 innings per start. There’s no reason to have him on the team.
Ryan Franklin is going to get torched in one of his next two starts. You simply can’t put the ball in play as often as he is and get away with it.
Julio Mateo and J.J. Putz should switch roles. I’m not sure why Putz gets to pitch in tough situations, where his lack of command can be a serious problem, while Mateo is relegated to mop up work.
And, to cap it off, evidence that two weeks of statistics still aren’t all that meaningful; the three best hitters in the American League to date have been Brian Roberts, Dmitri Young, and Shea Hillenbrand.
Game 13, Mariners at Angels
Aaron Sele v Paul Byrd (what, really… yup). 7:05, FSN for TV.
Mariners and Angels are both 6-6.
As I type this, the Rainiers are playing the last game of their homestand against Fresno. Listen to it now on the net or at KHHO 850 radio and enjoy the fine play by play of Mike Curto. If you want, you can keep listening as the Mariners game comes on, and enjoy two broadcasts, rather than be annoyed at the audio of the M’s .
Look for today’s ready-made commentary from the press notes, in order of probability:
– Sele was with the Angels after he was with the Mariners. Stats, so forth.
– Boone and the 1,000th RBI (who’s around him)
– Mariners hitting much better with runners in scoring position compared to last year
– Ichiro and the multi-hit games (after Ichiro gets one hit)
– Don Baylor’s return
– Alan Schwarz’s article on teams drafting has the Mariners producing the 4th-highest number of current players in the majors
Please, no wagering