Game 74, Mariners at Dodgers
DMZ · June 22, 2006 at 6:23 pm · Filed Under Game Threads
Felix v Lowe!
I wonder how much of the team’s interleague success is due to losing the DH.
Standard lineup of the last couple weeks: Ichiro/Beltre/Lopez/Ibanez/Sexson/Johjima/Reed/Betancourt
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263 Responses to “Game 74, Mariners at Dodgers”
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C-Rex hits well enough to stay in the bigs but not well enough to be worth what he is paid. I called and email the M’s that if they hired him I would not pay to see him play. So far, I’ve done that (although I cheated a little when I got given tickets, thankfully, Morse DH’d) Lou loved Everett and kept trying to get him. I loved Lou but he was not a great evaluator of talent sometimes. Going back to yesterday’s posts, I think this run to the All Star Break is important to the M’s. IF this team is unchanged after the break, it will not catch anyone. Playing .500 would be a blessing.
At what point does Rivera become Felix’s personal catcher? Why are the Mariners being so stubborn with starting Jojima when Felix pitches even thought it is clear that he pitches better to Rivera. Kenji is already tops in innings played as a catcher so they have a built in excuse to sit him during Felix’s starts.
There’s no evidence Felix pitches better with one or the other catcher.
C-Rex hits well enough to stay in the bigs
The Mariner DH performance so far, compared to AL average:
BA: .243 (10th)
SLG: .376 (13th) (Minnesota DH’s are dead last, with a SLG of .333. Ouch. Nobody else is below .400)
OBP: .316 (11th)
2B: 11 (T-9th)
HR: 8 (T-11th, Minnesota’s DH’s have ONE for dead last)
R: 34 (9th)
RBI: 33 (11th)
There is not a single major category in which Mariner designated hitters are better than league-average.
Also, time for Player A/B/C Theatre:
Player A: .263/.342/.385
Player B: .245/.354/.360
Player C: .246/.321/.388
Player A is our DH in 2004, Edgar Martinez, who retired after a disappointing year at age 42.
Player B is our 1B in 2004, John Olerud, who was waived in midseason after a disappointing year at age 36.
Player C is Carl Everett in 2006.
As far as I’m concerned, we can waive C-Rex any time we want.
EC Don’t disagree a bit, would be nice to get out to the Safe this year, however, he still gets big league contracts so he does hit well enough to stay, at least in the Mariners eyes. I wish they would dump him and Eddie and clear two spots for some legit help, especially OF starter or utility guy. I am not down on WB like many on this site but he is just an infield UT, we need the same for the OF or better.
I don’t know how many on this board would defend Everett’s hitting, but the one’s that need convincing aer the Manager and GM of the team. Its exactly why I posted about finding another LF/1B/DH type player for this team, so that Everett can be shown the door. However, some of the options are not pretty. The few mentioned don’t actually save the team any money, even if Everett’s contract next year is picked up. And the team doesn’t have much they can trade, as most of the spare parts have little to no value.
Whats left? Doyle being healthy? Bite the bullet and bring up Clement to DH? Jones? Not very good in house options right now.
Well, there rarely are options for any team but in any event, C Rex was never the answer. The answer might be rotting down at the end of the bench. Why not put Petegine in there for a month. If he sucks, the cost of DFA is not high, if he hits like his overseas history says he did, hey, an improvement.
Oh yeah, that would require a change. Want to know the secret to Grover? Go watch a film clip of his at bats. The Human Rain Delay. Exhaustive, repetitious, pointless little routines that even Nomar shuns. Every pitch, never a change, always 15 to 20 seconds of readjusting.
What would we consider evidence? Obviously there will be a small sample size with any catcher we look at. However, based on my calculations Felix has averaged:
The least amount of IP per start
The second least amount of K per start
The most walks per start
The most hits per start
The most ER and R per start
When pitching to Jojima. When he pitcher do Rivera, Tolleraba and W. Gonzalez his numbers are lower than pitching to Jojima. Doesn’t that at lesat make you question the logic behind always having him pitch to Jojima?
Isn’t the great game he pitched against Anaheim evidence to give it more of a try?
It’s certainly not fair to compare Felix’ numbers pitching to catchers last year to those pitching to Johjima this year. (there is an “h” in Johjima; spell it right). So far Felix has been a different pitcher this year. Unless you think it’s Johjima’s fault that he’s lost velocity on the fastball…
I would think Felix is smart enough to realize that if he pitches to Johjima he’s likely to get more run support than with the gaping hole that is Rivera’s spot in the lineup.
Blaming pitching performance on the catcher is a copout. The flawed pitch selection Felix is using this year is obviously an organizational decision and not Johjima’s, and the ultimate decision on what pitch to throw is always the catcher’s.
Ralph…while I agree with basic contentions, I do think there is the issue of confidence. Felix on at least 2 occassions now has talked about what a “good game” that Rivera calls. Now, do I want Rivera catching a lot – NOOO!!!, but since Johjima leads the league in innings and starts, Rivera needs to play more than he is now. Why not with Felix. If Felix pitches the way he did in Anaheim, he does not need Johjima’s bat in the line-up.
I don’t disagree with any of that, Cheetah…Johjima needs days off, and if he has confidence in Rivera I’m OK with that. Though the day game after night game rest days are the first place for him to get them.
My primary beef with the earlier post was with including Wiki and Torrealba in the analysis. If you’re comparing his results with Johjima this year with those of guys from last year you’re comparing apples and oranges and the comparison is of no use. I would like to see some statistical analysis of Felix’ performance with Rivera and Johjima catching him this year.
Agreed. Further, before other posters grill me…I totally admit I have no idea if Felix has more confidence in either catcher…but I do not recall him ever saying anything about Johjima. I just can not believe Grover keeps running Johjima out there… unless the goal is to make sure Johjima is worthless in August / September, so we are forced to bring up Quiroz or Clement.