U.S.S. Mariner

Dave may have some more insightful commentary, but I thought I’d talk about the callups. Several sources, including the broadcast today, report the M’s callups as:
Saturday:
OF-R Mike Morse
OF-R Charleton Jimerson
C-R Rob Johnson
LHP Ryan Feierabend
LHP John Parrish
with RHP Sean White coming off the DL
Then after the Pacific Coast League season ends:
OF-L Jeremy Reed
OF-R Wladimir Balentien
2B-R Nick [...]

Washburn vs Marcum, 4:07 pm on the West Coast.
In what I expect to become something like the new standard line-up for a little while, at least, we have the following:
1. Ichiro, CF
2. Vidro, 2B
3. Guillen, RF
4. Ibanez, DH
5. Beltre, 3B
6. Broussard, 1B
7. Johjima, C
8. Jones, LF
9. Betancourt, SS
Jones essentially replaces Jose Lopez. The outfield [...]

No real analysis required, so here’s some numbers instead. During the losing streak:
Offense: 216 PA, .262/.298/.332, .630 OPS, 19 runs scored (3.16 Runs per game)
Ichiro:.238/.273/.333
Vidro: .250/.308/.292 (.278/.328/.389 over 61 PA in his last 13 games - is he still on fire?)
Guillen: .208/.240/.250
Ibanez: .273/.360/.273
Beltre: .304/.320/.435
Sexson: .167/.214/.167
Johjima: .500/.500/.550 (9 singles, 1 double, no walks in 20 [...]

Scheduling Note: No KJR gig with Groz today..
The Mariners quest for a veteran relief pitcher has led them through a series of arms this year.

Last ERA IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA+
Reitsma 7.61 23.7 37 22 20 3 9 11 56
Parrish 8.44 5.3 12 5 5 0 2 1 50
White 5.79 4.7 9 4 3 0 3 3 74

Total 7.48 33.7 58 31 28 3 14 15 58

34 innings, 58 hits, 31 runs, 14 walks, 15 strikeouts, and a combined ERA that is 42 percent below the league average for all pitchers (significantly worse when compared to [...]

Some losing streaks are a collection of tough breaks - a blooper here, a blown call there, and all of the sudden, you’ve lost a few games in a row.
This is not that. The Mariners have earned this six game losing streak - the one that’s essentially taken their playoff chances and [...]

LHP Ramirez vs. LHP Aaron Laffey, 4:05pm, radio only?
Ramirez, 2007 road: 8 G, 38.1 IP, 61 H, 45 R, 6 HR, 20 BB, 17 K, .363 BAA. That’s almost an unfathomably bad line.
Laffey, making his fourth major league start, is a groundball machine. First time out, he was 11:5 GB:FB. Second start, 14:2. Last start, [...]

After talking to Dave about our disagreement, I realized something else: one of the things the M’s player development has become much, much better at in the last few years under Bavasi/Fontaine is determining which of their players are ready to play in the majors, and what their roles might be. We’ve seen most of [...]

Because flammable cargo’s prohibited on I-5 under the Convention Center.

That went about as poorly as humanly possible. Swept at home, despite throwing the three arms you’d choose against LAA, while missing out on having to face Kelvim Escobar - the M’s are now five games back of the Angels, and the chances for taking the division are plunging towards slim and none. [...]

Felix day! Felix versus the currently-better of the two Weavers! With Broussard at first!
1:35, FSN
Get ‘em! Get ‘em Mr. B!