Game 17, Rangers at Mariners
Joel Pineiro brings his 88 MPH fastball to face Vicente Padilla and the Rangers. While we’ve said our peace about Pineiro and his new junkballing ways, it is worth noting that he’s posted a 1.79 G/F rate during his first three starts, a 40 percent improvement over his 1.29 G/F last year. The three keys to pitching success are throw strikes, miss bats, and keep the ball on the ground. If you can do two of those three, you’re probably okay. Right now, Pineiro’s throwing strikes and keeping the ball on the ground, offsetting his inability to make anyone swing and miss at the crap he’s throwing up there.
For the Rangers, Padilla is pretty much the opposite; recently, his strikeout rates have gone up a bit, while his control and G/F rates have gotten worse.
This is a battle of pretty mediocre pitchers whose reputations outweigh their abilities. So, after slagging them both, expect a pair of perfect games.
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Correra?
Anyone think Guardado is injured?
yeah, i think i’m getting bored of seeing beltre fail.
maybe we can work out a deal with the league where beltre bats on a timeshare basis with a real hitter. like he plays the whole game but someone who knows how to hit takes most of his at bats.
329: LOL
That was a freaky scene and I just hope that wasn’t Carl’s “adjustment” hand if you know what I mean. Night all.
It isn’t just tonight but all April so far: Guapo’s location has been very poooor. He depends upon working pitches in from the corners, particularly sinker and slider, but he has no consistency at all, misses as much as more as he picks up the zone. No rhythm on the mound. Presumably, he’ll get in more of a groove later, but it’s No Fun At All watching him on the mound at present.
On a more satisfying subject, Soriano seems to have added a third pitch; anyone have the lowdown on what it is, exactly?? He’s got the fastball sitting at 92-3 (but up to 95 when he goes upstairs out of the zone). There’s the slider at ~84, not a big biter like I remember, but he works the corners with it with fair location. Then there’s a third pitch at 82 with a different break, straight down; looks like a change, but he wasn’t using one in the game the last I heard. Any solid info on that?
How did Beltre hit 48 homeruns a couple of years ago? Is it really that difficult to adjust to pitchers from a different league or is it Safeco effect?
353 – Was that “fail” or “flail?”
Bucket-foot Beltre does it again . . . way to pull the outside breaking ball, chump.
.352 – Eddie does look like he’s holding back . . . it’s either that or his mechanics are a complete mess.
#354 LMAO
They’re giving away Ichiro bobbleheads on the post game show. Do they think 25,000 is too many for tomorrow night? I suppose it’s expected attendance-everyone who saw THIS game.
WHEN did the Geico frog turn into a Cockney?
Of course Hargrove still stands by Guardado . . . at the urinal.
#360 Yeah you used to be able to sell those on ebay for big bucks, now they look like they might end up going the way of cabbage patch kids.
eh, it’s not a frog, it’s a gekco. lol
Eddie’s been pitching with a fucking torn rotater cuff for like 3 years…its a miracle that he made it past last year
Monday morning in Boston… out with a bang (Loretta HR).
Tonight… out with a whimper (4 BB’s).
But Hargrove will stick with him just like he’ll stick with Everyday Everett as his DH.
It’s not a gecko, it’s a crime against humanity.
#356 – in the context of his entire career – small sample size. If you look at his entire body of work – it’s pretty lousy.
oh, w/r/t donations — I’m probably going to have a post on the state of USSM in the next… week or so.
Last year in Boston, Alan Embree stopped being able to get guys out and his manager stuck with him anyway until his GM DFA’d him.
What are the chances Seattle’s GM steps up here in similar fashion at any point this season (now that his trade value is nil)? Or do we count on seeing this version of Eddie for the next five months?
It’s not often you mistake a cockney for a frog.
38 pitches in the 9th inning, and he missed bats only 3 times. 3 swinging strikes. He says Mark Loretta’s not in his head. Who knows?
Re: #357, I think the word was “frail.”
Bela, Soriano is indeed throwing a change, which has been hit and miss so far.
Re: #356,
Soriano’s new pitch that he’s working on is a splitter. That’s what Blalock hit for a basehit…I don’t know if that is necessarily the pitch that you’re referring too. He does also throw a change from time to time.
Piniero’s game is all but forgotten given Eddie’s unsteadiness, but Joel actually had a decent game, and is dead on Dave’s remarks to open this thread: 9 groundballs, 4 groundballs, 3 Ks, 1 big HR when he began to run out of gas. Joel the Finesser is now a refined product; the downside is that he he’s pitch-_in_efficient in this modality, so that with a high pitchcount he’s done early. The other key, to me, is consistency, all of Joel’s starts have been pretty much the same, same game, same location, same results. I never had that much faith in Piniero, Power Pitcher, but he’s made the conversion to a useful finesse guy. If he’s able to sharpen up his control just a little bit over this year and next, he can stay in the game for years.
And #374, thanks for the info: splitter. I’d been hoping to hear that (I love the split). The ones I’ve seen have had a consistent break, but he’s not locked into the lower part of the strikezone with it, more looking off the plate a little for a swing-and-a-miss. Given the location, I’m not that surprised that Blalock got a basehit off one (I’m at work = no TV). Still, I like this repertoire for Soriano. Rafael had never previously mastered a solid change-up, so maybe Chaves put him onto the split. (Price it was who taught Putz the split in the summer of ’04.) Hmmmm . . . interesting.
[Or Gomez, what’s your follow-up opinion, was he throwing the split or the change??]
I’m a good friend of Soriano’s. I talked to him after the game… He said it was a split.
Wilymo, thanks for the inside on it, then. Tell Rafe “I love him, and he’s gonna be a BIG star!”
9 groundballs, 4 flyballs
Okay, so usually I think Hendu’s pretty worthless, but his reply to Niehaus feeling sorry for the Royals was hilarious. To paraphrase a bit, “No, I don’t feel sorry for them, that’s not how baseball works. The best time to kick a man is when he’s down–that’s when he’s closest to your foot.”
That alone was worth watching the game tonight. I’m putting it in a novel some day.
And for all the growling and howling about Grover’s supposed flailings in bullpen usage, let’s stop and review the issue: a) Putz and Soriano have the best stuff in the pen, and they have consistently been deployed in the 7th and 8th innings when the threat of opponents scoring has been at the max; b) Sherrill _is_ being used as a LOOGY (which is not a bad thing since he kills lefties), but he has also been used for an inning plus when availability issues in the pen implied that this was best; c) Mateo isn’t throwing that well, but he’s coming in at the right times, early but not to put out fires, while Woods has been used more as the long man than anyone, and generally pitched OK; d) Eddie has been brought in for cushy bases-empty ninth innings, but tonight he was brought in—as recent arguments suggest—for a ‘save’ in the 8th, to hold the fort for a comeback, with Putz ready to go a couple if the game went into extras (Guapo’s poor performances have undermined the result, but the intent has been obvious and sound). I’m not saying this to defend Hargrove, of whom I don’t think all that much. Maybe the mind behind all of this is Chaves, and Grover is swallowing his long-term tendencies, shown last year also, to different purposes. All that notwithstanding, there’s nothing at all to gripe about personnel usage in the pen: it’s been quite good.
a ‘save in the [top of the] 9th [with the score tied]
I didn’t get the watch the game last night…did Eddie’s left arm simply fall off and he tossed right handed?
I’m sure that Grover would feel much better about a proven vetran tossing regardless of his physical condition over a young pup so that must explain this.