Game 124, Mariners at Twins
Dave · August 22, 2007 at 9:55 am · Filed Under Mariners
Batista vs Silva, 10:10 am.
As promised, a couple of changes in the line-up today. Bloomquist at second in favor of Lopez and Broussard DH’s for Vidro, so Beltre moves up to the #2 hole. The good news – Vidro and Lopez’s simultaneous days off means that we’re probably done with the Turbo as an infielder experiment. Thank God.
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And Jones in at bullpen catcher.
My bad. Jones is DHing for the Twins. The pen can pick up there own balls.
Why not Jamie Burke? That seems Odd.
Wow, a rare Will-Blo sighting. At least no one can complain that he’s been overused this season.
And that outfield grass supposedly takes its toll on the fielders….so no AJ appearance?
But Joh doesn’t get a day off in day-after-night. I hope that’s because Burke is going to see some time in the games in Texas — that heat and humidity is murder.
BTW, Rizzs picked Bloomie as his “pick to click”…. no surprise. (Dave N picked Broussard thanks to his small-sample record vs Silva. As questionable as it is, at least Dave relies on facts as a basis for his mancrush. Oh, but Rizzs praised WFB’s average…)
They said Burke’s back isn’t feeling great and they didn’t want to take any chances.
McLaren said on the radio that Burke is a little sore from something or other.
Adam Jones = Jason Ellison
At least he’s “learning”…
McLaren was interviewed on KJR this morning. He said that Jones was a future star but it was pretty clear he’s not planning on using AJ as anything more than a spot starter and late inning replacement this year. Sorry guys.
I know that Ibanez is “on fire,” but wouldn’t DHing him on the turf help his knees and legs. The radio pre-game reported that Vidro said his legs could use a day off on the turf, but I still think that Mac could have done a few things to give one of his regulars some rest. Broussard could have played the field and given either Sexson, Guillen, or Ibanez a chance to DH. And there is always this Jones kid.
Screw using a “future star” in a pennant race…
BTW, you can add Ian Stewart to the list of young studs brought up to help a team in the pennant race because the talent is too good to ignore.
mlb.tv sucks. This game is only available on MLB.tv, but its still blacked out because I’m in Spokane. how does that even make sense
i like that AJ is being used the way he is… he can continue to develop with a hot team around him… i can only see this as being a good thing.
-Ti
On the radio they said Burke’s back is hurting which is why he didn’t play today…
Develop what, exactly? His pine-riding skills?
Continuing to allow Ibanez to shamble around the outfield on a daily basis is just poor management.
Free Adam Jones.
As rsrobinson said in #11, McLaren, on both KJR and KOMO this AM,said he doesn’t plan to use AJ except as a spot starter, pinch runner, defensive player. McLaren also said he will give some of the regulars a rest in the heat of Texas, we may see AJ then. Perhaps Burke also if his sore back is okay. Looks like AJ won’t be in competition for a regular berth until at least next year.
QFT.
(Um, doesn’t Ibanez ALSO have a sore hammy and shoulder that could use some rest every now and then?)
develop his glove a little more would a good start
Hrm.
I predict the Ms will have TWO streaks in September: one winning, one losing.
One of these streaks will be in the latter part of September when the regulars break down after being ridden so hard in August and September.
Would help if he played a bit more, right?
Who’s that Jones fellow DHing for the Twins and why aren’t they using Joe Mauer as DH when he isn’t catching?
It’s not just Ibanez who could use a rest from the turf. Guillen has at least two bad ankles, maybe more.
Mauer got beat up a bit last night behind the dish.
“They said Burke’s back isn’t feeling great and they didn’t want to take any chances.”
This isn’t the first time our vaunted backup has been unavailable on a classic “backup plays” day.
There’s something funny going on here.
Crap – way to come out firing, Miguel…
If we can sneak into the playoffs I still wouldn’t be shocked if Jones had a major playoff impact. If he can sneak in the lineup against a lefty and has a big day I think at that point McLaren would be forced to keep him out there.
That is a long way away, but I can see that happening for sure.
Oh, great. Payback is a bitch. Now the M’s know how that feels. Hopefully the M’s brought their bats too again today.
Well, the good news is the bullpen is well-rested. The bad news is that you wanted to keep them that way for Texas.
Looks like the Twinkies are getting some payback.
obviously it would help…
nice HR Bautisa (Salami)
Well that sucks…why couldn’t a 4-0 deficit from a grand slam in the 1st have happened to Horacio “Bring The O” Ramirez so we wouldn’t have to tolerate him anymore as a major league pitcher?
And we give up our ML worse 8th grand slam of the year…
My guess is that Mauer is resting because the Twins are out of it and he is their future.
right down the middle for a slam….smoke and mirrors can only last so long
Arrgh, this be blowed! Bautista sounds like circa-April Jeff Weaver out there.
is it parrish time?
I think Adam Jones’ nickname should be either Bigfoot or Sasquatch, since sightings of him are rare and hard to prove.
wow…..5-0, 1st and 3rd and 1 out…God I hope we don’t have to tolerate a Parrish appearance today…
Batista’s given up 7 straight baserunners. Anyone watching the game live? What’s happening? Is anyone up in the bullpen?
7-0, 2 outs…Batista is getting rocked!!!
Thank goodness this one’s not on TV. Eugh.
And McLaren’s should be Grinch, since he seems so determined to ruin the team’s season.
and finally Rowland-Smith is warming up in the pen…
well this is fun
Wow, this one’s over early.
Ouch.
People’s negativity absolutely amazes me…
Wah.
Still, I wouldn’t move for Parrish yet. We had what, 18 hits yesterday? And there are eight innings left.
Did Batista and HoRam switch uniforms this series?
payback for gloating on the 18 runs the Yanks gave up.
Batista didn’t give up a double, so NO CYCLE FOR YOU, TWINS.
with the kind of runs the mariners have been putting up its not over yet.
eh.. nevermind.
Touchdown. Agreed, this game isn’t over.
There’s still a lot of time left. With the M’s offense lately–who knows what’ll happen?
Wow. That was an ugly, ugly inning. I’d like to just chalk it up to Batista not having any stuff and move on until tomorrow, but every loss is tough this time of year. I was really feeling a sweep coming — oh, about half an hour ago.
Well…we’ll see how our hot offense does when they are down a touchdown…
37 pitches, 11 batters, that’s a fairly economical 3.4 pitches per batter!
Over!?!?!?
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor???
well…that’s two quick outs…not a good start to a huge comeback…
Germans?
59 – Germans? Tell me that was deliberate.
BTW – is Batista pitching left-handed or something?
#61 You obviously don’t get the reference to “Animal House”…
When did the Germans bomb Pearl Harbor?
That was nice. What, did we see 6 pitches that inning? Can anyone say “Getaway day”?
Seriously, history lessons are in order.
well….assuming we don’t give up any more 7 run innings…we’ll be getting away fast down to Texas…
At least we can’t lose ground on LAA and NYY. That’s my positve comment for the day.
Fangraphs gives the Mariners a 3% chance of winning the game at this point.
Seriously, some commenters need to get a sense of humor and watch a classic movie or two.
#66, if by “history lessons” you mean “movie history lessons”, then yes, you are right.
Is Animal House too old a reference these days? Nobody seemed to get that, which I find sadder than Batista’s performance today… or almost.
I know some will say it was the Japanese, but we all know Pearl Harbor was orchestrated by Halliburton.
it’s spelled Batista. I think it is because Dave N. spent a lot of the pregame talking about how untouchable Miguel was in the Dome.
all bench riders in the game now…. rest the starting lineup … we dont have many days off the rest of the season!!
WOW PEOPLE…The “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor” is a quote from Animal House…
whoever didn’t get
Over!?!?!?
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor???
should be banned from the site!!!!
No, it’s not over. But win Expectancy is 97%
Oh wait, Twinkies got another hit.
Seriously, pop culture lessons are in order. Man.
My bad on the Animal House quote…is John Belushi related to Jim Belushi?
Okay, just kidding…but I *am* young enuf to ask that.
77 – I agree. I guess the age ranges on this site just showed up. I’m only 36, but the people who didn;t get it just made me feel 60!
#79 I agree…I knew the quote immediately…
Woohoo…two consecutive outs!!
#81 I’m only 24 and I got the quote…
“Germans?”
“Forget it, he’s rolling…”
For Christ’sake get him the fuck off the mound!
wow…8-0…
Especially when they show the firkcin’ clip at Safeco all the time…
For the undereducated, here you go…
27 and i got it.
Here’s the clip, for the (sadly) uninitiated (some foul language):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K92OVFeGgIE
They used to play an edited version of this speech in the Kingdome when the M’s were down going into the bottom of the ninth.
Yeah…very true…they do show that clip at Safeco ALOT…well atleast alot the last few years…not as much this year since we’ve been winning…
I am ashamed at the vast number of you missing the “Animal House” reference. They used that clip 9 millions times in the 90’s at the Kingdome. What kind of Mariner fans are you?
Dave Paisley’s right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.
Hopefully Batista can go 6 innings. Save us some arms for the Texas series
this is sadly a lot like that first game he pitched this season, where he couldn’t get an A out.
re: Animal House, even if they hadn’t seen the movie, anyone in attendence at a losing game at Safeco that last few years should have seen the annoying and useless Rally Clip of the scene
20., are you having trouble finding the ESPN message board? Or the comments on Geoff Baker’s blog? It seems like you’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.
In other news, who let HoRam sneak into a Miggy mask and jersey and start this game? It’s never good when you check the ESPN scoreboard and they already have three Twins across the top of it.
I once met someone at a toga party who hadn’t seen Animal House and didn’t get the reference.
time of game : 25 minutes
C’mon guys. They used to show that old Animal House scene on the Safeco big screen a couple of years ago when the M’s needed a rally in the ninth. Which was virtually every game back then.
I thought EVERYONE had seen Animal House atleast once if they are atleast 18 years old…
the GIDPs seem much uglier today than yesterday.
“We’re gonna go inside, we’re gonna go outside, inside and outside. We’re gonna get ‘em on the run boys and once we get ‘em on the run we’re gonna keep ‘em on the run. And then we’re gonna go go go go go go and we’re not gonna stop til we get across that goalline. This is a team they say is… is good, well I think we’re better than them. They can’t lick us, so what do you say men?”
Sounds great, except that that’s what the Twins used… dagnabbit.
WOW…ANOTHER double play…we have to be close to the worst team in the league in grounding into double plays…
Ummm. I hate to expose myself to all the contempt, but I’ve never seen it.
Luckily I didn’t attempt to correct the Germans thing either…
All the Mariners need to do is put a stinkbomb
in Dean Wormer’s office. And send the entire
Twins dugout some rancid rally fries. And
pray for a rare indoor rainstorm before the 5th
inning. Then victory — or at very least a Sept
30 Mariner/Cleveland + Mariner/Twins doubleheader –
will be in hand!
so, have the Ms won any of these crack of dawn no tv games?
#102– you should, it’s pretty entertaining
Three comedies everyone must see in their lifetime:
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
This is Spinal Tap
Animal House
50, beat me to it.
59 & 61, hilarious.
Let’s see. Two runs an inning. That’s doable. Right?
Rowland-Smith to the rescue!!
err…should we call Rowland-Smith the medic here to stop the bleeding???
Now, here’s a clip they could have used today.
is Miggy hurt?
RRS looks pretty good today
#112 Hopefully just his pride…
In homage to the positively positive thread, I’ve got to say:
Rowland-Smith has almost no chance of losing this game!
112 – No, those are just tears of shame.
This is the point in the game where Mac puts in a few pitchers who’ll give up another baker’s dozen or so, right? I mean, he wouldn’t use *quality* relievers, would he?
#102- We’re actually right in the middle of the AL for GIDPs at 113 (tied with Minnesota). Kansas City is the worst at 124, but it’s not exactly a telling stat—the next two worst are Boston and New York at 115 a piece.
#115 LMAO…well…we could score 8 runs in the next two innings and then he would have a chance to lose….
I hope suckatitus isn’t contagious
MBat’s line for the game: IP 2.0, ERA 36.00
121: almost his age!
Today might be the day the Parrish trade starts paying dividends.
It seems the M’s have given up.
well…the announcing for the rest of this game could get interesting to say the least…
RRS get to stretch out and lay a claim on the 5th starter spot (not that he has the stuff for it, of course, but hey whatever works). I suspect those two strikeouts were the Twins waiting on the meatball. “Wait, you mean we have to start batting against pseudo-major league pitching again?”
Animal House is easily the most famous movie ever made at the University of Oregon (and, after “Rambo” probably the most famous movie made anywhere near Eugene). It hasn’t aged especially well (in part because so many other movies have appropriated its best bits) but if you’re interested in movies you really should see it simply because so many other movies reference it.
119 — such a scenario is just brimming with positively positivity!
The Animal House quote (and following head scratching by half the people) is the only thing amusing about this game.
What’s the over-under on an AJ sighting now?
#105–so, at a glance, they’ve played about 9 mid-week day games so far.
3 in April were ones postponed for weather, the record in the other 6 were 5 L, 1 W.
L14-3
W4-2
L7-3
L13-12
L5-4
L6-1
Beltre to the rescue. Only 11 more of those in a row and it’s tied!
GIDP is kind of a bogus stat, particularly at the team level, because to GIDP you have to have a baserunner. So teams that get a lot of baserunners tend to get a lot of GIDP. They also tend to score a lot of runs.
well…this could be A FAST game if nothing else…
Allright now…a basehit should cut the lead by 1/4 here…
That must of been a long fly ball to advance the runner from first.
too bad Richie Sexson is up
Does Richie Sexs-Ent pop out or strike out here?
OK, also in honor of the positivity off-day post (especially as the M’s seem to have called in sick today):
After four innings, McLaren gives up hope, puts in AJ and the rest of the bench. Oh, wait, that IS the rest of the bench, what with Vidro, Lopez and Burke all being down at the pub.
Anyway, AJ comes on and hits two salamis, then scores the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth by getting on via HBP then stealing 2nd, 3rd and home.
anyone check to see if the Twins have pulled out the old air conditioning trick today?
#137 wrong on both counts…ground out to third…
#138 — Dreamer!
Hurried back from class to catch the game, guess Batista wanted my homework to get done right away.
Fangraphs has the Ms win projection at about zero.
the All-Time Rawlings Gold Glove team has been named.
surprisingly, Palmiero isn’t on it
RRS is humming along nicely, at least!
ok mariners offense… you can kick into high gear any time now…
allright…two runs an inning from here on out…
The radio team is reduced to interviewing Blowers. I think Rizzs is off looking for a “Junior Broadcaster” to rope into the booth. Alas, all the kids with rally fries signs have fled in shame…
we look to be in need of a LARGE DOSE of dem rally fries
No TV, no Rally Fries I believe.
FYI-
ESPN Game Case is infanately better than MLB Gameday
doh.. game case = game cast
Based on today, you know who should be up for
the Cy Young Award?
YEP, good ole Ryan Rowland-Malcolm Peter Brian Telescope Adrian Blackpool Rock Stoatgobbler John Raw Vegetable Brrroooo Norman Michael (rings bell) (blows whistle) Edward (sounds car horn) (does train impersonation) (sounds buzzer) Thomas Moo… (sings) “We’ll keep a welcome in the…” (fires gun) William (makes silly noise) “Raindrops keep falling on my” (weird noise) “Don’t sleep in the subway” (cuckoo cuckoo) Naaoooo… Smith
Bonus points to first one to get the reference!
Monty Python, of course
Remember folks, even at the darkest hour, keep in mind that this happened once:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores101/101217/101217313.htm
153: (Silly Party)
Was dreaming the Mariners were down 14-0, finally staggered out of bed…they’re actually doing better!
Maybe I’m like one of those cancer sniffing dogs; after last night’s game, I smelled a blow-out.
Turned on audio, only to hear this lllloooonnnnngggg, painful recounting of Valle’s (?) move through the minors. Someday, we’re going to be hearing that from Wee Willie during lulls in blowouts. Something to look forward to.
151… Doh, infanately=infinitly
#151-152
infanately = infinitely
#157– that was Blowers.
The fact that RRS has set down every batter he’s faced makes the probable loss of this game frustrating. What the heck was up with Batista?
yeah… im sorry… sometimes multi-taking @ work (and hoding from bossman) makes me faulter a little.
one could also join the Official Monster Raving Loony Party….
ok im done.. i cant type today
Ryan Rowland-Santana?????
If RRS had started today… we wouldn’t be in this hole
Well, there goes RRS’s perfect game.
160. Thanks. Can’t tell any of the Talking Heads apart, except Rizz. He’s the voice in my nightmares.
This is all I can manage to retain: there’s the drunk-sounding old man, Dave, Sims is sort of making an impact on my memory–but that comes and goes, and then the dull-sounding, dreary, clung to the majors by their fingernails until their careers were mercifully over, guys.
RRS is the best lefty from Down Under since Graeme Lloyd!
Daaaaamn struck out the side!
Did you know Rowland-Smith is one word hyphenated?? Thanks for the gobs of knowledge…
Let’s get it going Ichiro
6 Ks so far for RRS…All swinging..
149 – what we really need are rally FIRES – many of them, set at strategic parts around the stadium, but… DOH! Too late, official game.
Gotta love a hit on a groundball to the shortstop…
Did Mike Blowers leave the booth? We haven’t heard about his early childhood yet.
#176 yeah…I was looking forward to it…and more commentary on “Wild Bill” Hickok, Calamity Jane and the “Deadman’s Hand” A-8…
official RRS theme song:
I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Anybody watchin on mlb.tv The Twins announcers don’t exactly have glowing things to say about the Mariners or Ichiro. Gotta love listening to another teams announcers
Ichiro! is selfish talk by the Twins announcers. They claim he doesn’t run out doubles just so he can steal 2nd base. I have never seen nor heard about that one about Ich.
I know sample size gets thrown around a lot here, so here is an easy sample size calculator.
Sample Size Calculator
Heard him talking about Sexton carrying the team, so I switched the radio off.
180: they wanted him to stretch his single into an infield double?
I’m telling you, they are switching on the fans when the Ms are up to bat
If that were true then Ichiro would have 100 steals.
That selfish Ichiro, not running out those
potential infield double grounders to short.
#180…Uhhhh…that sounds retarded…he runs hard at all times from what I’ve seen…And it’s not like he just can’t steal third too….
#182…They actually said something about Sexson carrying the team….THEY MUST BE DAMN RETARDED…
So Ichiro didn’t run out that double to the shortstop?
Why is Ichiro out of the game? “Because McLaren’s retarded” is a valid response.
186 – same reason Ichiro! doesn’t hit home runs.
Valle is the one with the remnants of the Queens accent, and a few slurred sibilants. Simms still has some Philly-accented words. Blowers has the flat voice, with no particular accent (he had the Army-brat upbringing, with Germany, Oklahoma and Washington State as vocal influences)
Good to see 4 scoreless innings with 6 Ks from RRS
Can McLaren request a “do-over” with Ryan Rowland-
Si-Young starting instead of the Mig?
So, what, 3 runs an inning now?
Saw that coming.
Heh, heh. And so it begins….
Bye bye Benny…8-1
BRUCE!
And so it begins.
Take away about 40 pitches and Batista pitched pretty well
Allright now…HR from Yuni and we get our 3 runs for this inning…COME ON! Come on!
Woohoo…triple by Yuni! 8-2…Come on Adam Jones…
YUNI: Is a triple okay?
Hey, Jones gets an at-bat with a chance to bat in a run!
Table is set for AJ.
NIEDERMAYER!!!
Well…now 3 runs an inning will put us at a tie…Maybe this inning will wake up our bats and we’ll see the offense we’ve diplayed of late…
Wow AJ is terrible. What a bust.
/snark
Oh god…here we go…Parrish is in…
Hey, I just looked out the window. There’s this painfully bright, flaming thing in the sky! What the hell!? And yet I feel oddly drawn to go out to it, and leave this game behind…
I have to admit that I am no longer excited about AJ AB’s.
Ok, can we stop letting Parrish pitch now? Pretty much…ever?
PParrish isn’t very good.
Great, Jones makes a fine catch (apparently) and nobody gets to see it.
It was a good catch, any CF makes it.
WHY did we trade for this guy? He blew balls in Baltimore too…Did we really need a 4th left hander in the pen???
Woohoo…thank you Adam Jones…
Neshak is in for Silva…lets hope the offense can get to the pen…I believe we touched up Neshak pretty good yesterday…
Man, this game is triple-rific.
Anyone else watching MLB.tv?? A ball popped out no where!
Triple by Guillen after a double by Beltre…8-3, no outs…Guillen on 3rd..Thank you Gardenhire for taking Hunter out for Tyner…
Sack fly by Ibanez, 8-4…The impossible suddenly seems possible…
Refuse to lose, baby!!
Twins took out Hunter and it already bit them in the ass. Too bad, they might’ve sat some others too. But now Gardy will be a little worried about doing that.
Broussard has homered in every game after August 21. He’s the hottest hitter on the team. He should get more at bats.
A nice ralleyette but too little too late I’m afraid.
Let’s get out there and score some runs for Pythagoras!
Despite Batista’s start, the pen is rather intact
Batista was just on a cold streak. They should have left him in…..
Seriously, speaking of hot/cold streaks, wasn’t there a study done in one of the journals that pitchers who got shelled in the first few innings would likely revert to their normal performance level from then on, meaning (essentially) that it’s silly to pull a starter after one or two bad innings and use up your bullpen?
(with Nelson pointing)
Hah-hah!
229-Yeah it was published in “Nature Baseball”
#229 Does is really matter? They got 4 innings of scoreless relief from RRS with 6 Ks and two more scoreless innings from Parrish…
We lose, back to work!
8 pitch 9th inning for Nathan. Guess we put the wood to that guy.
http://seattlest.com/2007/08/22/the_greatest_mu.php
Well the good news is that we managed to get six innings out of the bullpen while only using up one quality reliever.
I know Dave said RRS starting wasn’t a possibility, but look at the line:
4.0 ip
0 runs
0 hits
2 BB
6 K
How does giving him a shot at the back of the rotation not make sense?
Yeah, great job by RRS. Who would have guessed in the third this would be a day off for most of the bullpen?
Good news? We will only lose ground to one team today. Bad news? We will lose ground to one team today.
as far as losses go, with RRS stepping up, this one was pretty easy on the team. We could have easily wasted our whole bullpen on the stinker this started out to be. Still hate to lose though.
237 – Possibly because RRS doesn’t yet have the stamina to go 6-7 innings. I believe it takes quite a bit of time/work for a pitcher to be able to safely tolerate a high pitch count.
positive thought:
Road losses are only 8 innings of pitching!
hey, the Moose is at the new Bremerton Burger King, if anyone has an ATV they want to drive over there–
241,
Understood and good point. Still can’t help but think that a good 4 innings is more than we usually get out of a HoRam start.
On a different topic,
In anticipation of an update to the Future Forty, can we get Felix, Yuni, and Jose Lopez taken off the list. None have seen the minors in 2 yrs, one made an All-Star appearance. It would just be nice to hear about some new blood. Maybe we can have a “Past 40″ where Jeremy Reed and Mike Morse can join the likes Mickey Brantley, Darren Bragg, Dave Fleming, and Ryan Anderson on the list of guys who never quite as good as we hoped.
Go Mariners!
Why is Parrish on this roster? Five hits in two innings with no runs….that is beyond luck. If they can’t trust him to pitch other than in mop up situations, and he sucks at that, then why have him on the major league roster at all.
231-
Hilarious.
RRS could be a starter, he went 4 innings and 57 pitches, so he looks to be stretched out enough for an abreviated first start. I was at the park when RRS made his major league debut against Jr. striking him out. The crowd rewarded him with a cascade of boos. Great way to break into the majors.
I’ve been calling for RRS starting for a while, now. His stuff is pretty good and he looks comfortable on the mound. Even if he can only give us 4-5 innings as a starter, he could split the start with Green/O’Flaherty.
RRS could be a starter, he went 4 innings and 57 pitches, so he looks to be stretched out enough for an abreviated first start.
For a pitcher of Rowland-Smith’s modest abilities, it’s going to be very rare to see him get through four innings. On most days, he’s got two or three innings in him. He’s not built to be a starter.
Hey, just because 57 pitches means 2-3 innings for Miggy, HoRam, and Wash, doesn’t mean that RRS has to live up to that standard.
oh, that wacky Derek.
Just when you are sure you know what he will do, he swerves and selects a different “Face of the Franchise”
250,
A 6-3 205lb lefthander that throws low 90s to low 70’s, and has good control with a 27/8 k/BB. Nope nothing there to like. Jamie Moyer never had the tools to be starter either. When you’ve got a young pitcher that seems to be able to get major league hitters out, don’t try to build a ceiling for them until they reach it. We’ve seen HoRam’s ceiling, RRS doesn’t seem to have hit his yet. His skill set seems pretty similar to Washburn’s, that obviously is short of allstar caliber, but good enough for the 5 slot.
As a starter, when he cannot throw at max effort every pitch, RRS throws in the high 80s. Even today, he started by sitting 90-92 but was down to 88-89 by his fourth inning. As a starter in the minors, he struggled, walking too many and striking out too few. It was not until he moved to the pen that his K/9 shot up to 10.0 and was good enough to compensate for his mediocre BB/9 ratio.
Based on his track record, his major league K rate may be for real, but his BB rate is going to rise. If he is Washburn, he is Washburn minus the command, which equals useful reliever, not a starter.
A 6-3 205lb lefthander that throws low 90s to low 70’s, and has good control with a 27/8 k/BB. Nope nothing there to like.
First, I never said there’s nothing there to like. The kid’s got some talent.
Second, if Rowland-Smith had the capabilities to be a big-league starter, why was he converted into a reliever at a young age? My guess: The organization looked at his stuff and determined that the only chance he had at helping the big-league club was out of the bullpen, where he could throw harder for a limited pitch count. You say we shouldn’t build a ceiling for him, but it appears that he built his own ceiling in the minors. This decision was made long ago, and the organization’s opinions of him aren’t going to change based on four innings of garbage time.
Turning this kid into a starter is not an experiment you try out at the top level. If he’s going to be a starter, it’s going to be through minor-league development. Unless that happens, he’s a reliever.
The Texas Rangers, who we play tomorrow, just scored 30 runs in the 1st game of a double header in Baltimore! I hope those guys will be dead tired from running around the bases tonight and have no legs tomorrow.
Wes Littleton just got a save in a game in which his team won by 27 runs. Saves are dumb.
A 6-3 205lb lefthander that throws low 90s to low 70’s, and has good control with a 27/8 k/BB. Nope nothing there to like.
You pick up 3-4 MPH out of the bullpen. Take away 3-4 MPH, and RRS becomes John Halama.
Jamie Moyer never had the tools to be starter either.
Um, Jamie Moyer WAS a starter when he came up first with Chicago and then Texas. There’s an argument to be made that his problem was that he was in some bad ballparks for his style of pitching (Wrigley and Arlington), plus that he’s the 1 case out of 100 where someone with very marginal stuff makes it- and even in Moyer’s case, he very nearly had his career end at age 29 after getting pounded out of the league.
Oh, and he came back… through the bullpen.
Just when you are sure you know what he will do, he swerves and selects a different “Face of the Franchise”
Did David Andriesen really say that Ichiro “speaks good English?” I need to stop trying to defend the P.I.
Wow, I wonder what happened to the team chemistry today. Must not have been too good.
Did David Andriesen really say that Ichiro “speaks good English?” I need to stop trying to defend the P.I.
I was under the impression that Ichiro does speak relativetly good English, but chooses not to use it with the media.
261: I, on the other hand, can’t spell relatively.
261 – I believe that the OP thinks that perhaps Ichiro speaks English well.
aaron–
What is so terrible about saying that Ichiro speaks good English? Have you ever talked with him?
263:
Not to pick a fight over language, but “speaks good English” and “speaks English well” are both perfectly fine gramatically. One is using an adjective and the other is using an adverb.
“speaks English good” is obviously not correct.
My quibble was not about Ichiro’s command of the English language. It was with the phrase “speaks good English.” Should have clarified.
Not to pick a fight over language, but “speaks good English” and “speaks English well” are both perfectly fine gramatically. One is using an adjective and the other is using an adverb.
I’ve always found “speaks good English” to sound really, really inelegant, especially in print. This might be one of those things I should have kept my big mouth shut about, though.
Perhaps Ichiro has been participating in the “Speak Good English Movement”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speak_Good_English_Movement
At least he doesn’t speak Engrish. http://www.engrish.com
Sorry, I don’t remember how to do url tags.
No one is on here, but the Rangers won 30-3! That O’s pen could have used Parrish. Yes 30-3, apparently they picked up Payton Manning over the weekend off waivers.
#33 – Haven’t five of our eight grand slams allowed occurred in the last two weeks? (Torii Hunter in the last Twins series, the ChiSox Kid, Whomever hit that one off of JJ, the one of Sherill, and the one Today)
I hate to use the ’statistical fluke’ argument, but it seems to be the case here.
Using Jamie Moyer when you’re trying to make a point about any random pitcher finding the ability to be a starter is just silly. You might as well use Ichiro as proof that anybody can get a lot of hits. Or Ruth as proof that all pitchers should be able to hit home runs. Moyer is a freak, an oddity, an outlier. He’s not proof of anything except the delightful diversity of human ability, and the amazing things you can find in the outer reaches of the bell curve.
Man, that Texas game is just epic. More than one hit per out. More than one run per out. The first time a team has scored 30 runs since the Chicago Colts set the major league mark in a 36-7 rout of Louisville in a National League game on June 28, 1897. Three-run homers in the 4th, the 8th, and the ninth; grandslams in the sixth and the eighth (the latter in the one and only AB by Travis Metcalf, of whom you’ve never heard because he was called up from AAA Oklahoma just this morning — welcome to the big leagues, kid! But before you get used to this whole winning thing, remember: you’re playing for the Texas Rangers). And yet nobody came close to Anderson’s 10 RBIs from last night: they had two guys with 7, a couple more with 4, a bunch with 2. And poor Nelson Cruz went 2 for 7 with no RBIs.
And then after absorbing that, Baltimore had to come back and play the second game in the double-header. Yikes. I don’t feel so bad about the today’s M’s game anymore.
(Heck, they’re even playing them tough — 6-5 Rangers in the 6th ATM. Here’s hoping for a tied game, extra innings into the late night, and a tired, tired Texas team tomorrow).
Looks like the Angels are going to lose tonight, they’re down 7-1 in the 8th. Which means we had a net gain of 1 game over the Yankees and no change in our position with LA over the course of this series, which is probably one of the better outcomes we could’ve hoped for.
You know the Rangers game was monumental when it was on NPR.
In the news summary.
The first two minutes of it.
Typical Mariners coverage on NPR: “And today, the Seattle Mariners played…baseball!”
First things first
Sweet Melinda
The peasants call her the goddess of gloom
She speaks good English
And she invites you up into her room
- Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues
If its good enough for Dylan, then it should be plenty good enough for the likes of us.
271,
Jamie Moyer is just one example, Washburn was another, and more apt, they have similar volocities, RRS is more of a flyball pitcher. But the majors are full of guys that can throw 95 and can’t get anybody out, and guys who can’t get the ball up over 90 but have successful careers. One of the keys to a pitcher being successful without a lot of volicity is control, and that seems be something the RRS has.
And then after absorbing that, Baltimore had to come back and play the second game in the double-header.
Apparently, Texas set the record for most runs in a double header. Before the first game was even over.
271,
Jamie Moyer is just one example, Washburn was another, and more apt, they have similar volocities, RRS is more of a flyball pitcher. But the majors are full of guys that can throw 95 and can’t get anybody out, and guys who can’t get the ball up over 90 but have successful careers. One of the keys to a pitcher being successful without a lot of volicity is control, and that seems be something the RRS has.
Washburn threw a bit harder earlier in his career, and honestly, he’s not as good as Jamie was. Ryan Feierabend is more similar to Washburn.
So, ace, your assertion is a Mariner organization that has had no issue with promoting soft-tossing lefties (John Halama, Travis Buckley, Feierabend), or even signing them to FA contracts (Washburn, Moyer) and has been desperate for starting pitching for years, converted RRS into a reliever because they don’t need starters or won’t use lefties who are control artists?
Do you see where I’m going here? Look, RRS might turn into Jamie Moyer. He might turn into Jarrod Washburn. Or, he might turn into John Halama or HoRam. I’m not convinced a pennant race is someplace to find out, especially since he hasn’t started in a while.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/08/22/poll0827/index.html
Found this kinna interesting. (Since its the players’ point of view). Wished they seperated SP / RP results.
They’re already dumping Parrish?
You know what I’m tired of? Bavasi trading for gambles like these. It seems like he’s obsessed with being able to flip a marginal minor leaguer for someone who could, maybe, if things broke right, would be an incredible steal.
And while it’s not like he’s spending a ton on most of these deals (the HoRam-for-Soriano deal being the exception), it’s really getting bothersome. It’s like he’s the guy in the fantasy league who drafts Mo Vaughn on the off-chance he might stage a comeback.
the word at the end of the game yesterday was that they needed to make a pitching move going into 4 games in Arlington, partly because RRS’s 4 innings pitched. Hickey’s note just says they may be taking him off the 40 man, right? If he passes through waivers, he goes to Tacoma.
One of the keys to a pitcher being successful without a lot of volicity [sic] is control, and that seems be something the RRS has.
Rowland-Smith’s last year as a starter was 2005 in AA. His line was 122.3 IP, 3.75 BB/9, 7.50 K/9.
In AAA/AA in 2006, his line was 62.6 IP, 4.87 BB/9, 10.49 K/9.
In MLB/AAA this year, his line is 63 IP, 4.29 BB/9, 11.0 K/9.
He does not have good control, Washburn-level control, or even Feierabend-level control. If you take away his ability to throw at or near maximum effort in relief, you also take away his velocity, his strikeouts, and his usefulness.
If its good enough for Dylan, then it should be plenty good enough for the likes of us.
I have somewhat different standards regarding use of language for poets, musicians, etc. than I do for journalists and writers of non-fiction.
However, it is fairly apparent that I hold a minority opinion, while the majority opinion is held by some literate and intelligent folks, so I’ll chalk it up to difference of opinion and slink back under a rock.