Cactus League Game Thread 3/12/10
M’s vs. Royals, so you know what that means…. pitch fx is back! This is a great opportunity to see what Ryan Rowland-Smith’s new cutter looks like in pure, raw Cartesian coordinates. I know I just got joser’s attention.
Line-ups have been posted – here for example (hat tip Kirby Arnold at the Everett Herald)
1: Ichiro!
2: Chone Figgins (2b)
3: Milton Bradley (LF)
4: Ken Griffey Jr. (DH)
5: Ryan Garko (1b)
6: Franklin Gutierrez
7: Matt Tuiasosopo (3b)
8: Josh Bard
9: Jack Wilson
SP: Ryan Rowland-Smith. Aardsma looks like he’ll get back onto the mound today as well.
Also in Kirby Arnold’s story linked above is the news that Jack Hannahan suffered a groin pull and will be out another week-10 days (he hasn’t played since 3/4). Arnold thinks Josh Wilson might benefit, but Geoff Baker mentions Tui as another guy who might make the roster as the utility infielder if Hannahan doesn’t heal quickly. Personally, I think Tui’s got the inside track. Wilson may be the better defender, but his bat is bad enough that it’s tough to justify giving him 100-150 ABs.
Luke Hochevar starts for the Royals, who I think is fascinating. I know his xFIP is much, much better than his results, but as the #1 overall pick in a pitching-heavy draft, his pure stuff has always seemed fairly pedestrian. The fascinating part? He’ll still uncork a game like this just to tease Royals fans, who need no additional teasing, thank you (they’re starting Yuni at SS today and Mike Aviles at 2B. I’m so sorry, Royals fans). Here’s a fangraphs article on Hochevar’s strange results in 2009.
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Tui as Jack Wilson’s backup (and boy, does he need a backup)? I have to wonder if that’s going to work very well.
In fact, given that Hannahan and Wilson have BOTH missed significant time 2 weeks into March, I have to wonder if maybe there’ll be something like one of Vargas/Olson/French flipped for a veteran who can play reasonable SS defense without killing the team on offense, as long as Lee and King Felix look like they’ll be ready for the opening bell.
I love Tui as an offensive player, but I saw him at Tacoma two(?)years ago (didn’t see him at all last year) and not to be overly critical, but his D was pretty close to brutal. IIRC he was leading the PCL in errors at that point by a significant margin. I think he could provide adequate play at first or third, but I would be uncomfortable seeing him get significant innings at ss or second.
Two years is a long time, and Tui’s almost certainly put in serious work on his defense since.
If the defense-conscious M’s are willing to put him out at shortstop, even on a trial basis, then I have to assume that he’s made improvements.
Just to point out, it was Bob Condotta who made the point about Tui on Geoff’s blog. Just so if for some reason it goes south, Geoff has some cover.
Reports had Tui’s defense getting better over the course of last season. Better is a relative term and all, so let’s wait for marc to throw his two cents in.
Just to confirm, no TV? I don’t see it, but I’m just double checking.
No TV. There won’t be another TV broadcast until Wednesday.
Would anyone from USSM mind telling me what lineup they’d use if they were the coach?
I just gotta think Griffey at #4 isn’t the best option we have.
If I missed a post on this, I’d appreciate the link.
Tune in to hear Tony Blengino on the radio and find myself mentioned by name in the game thread post. Wow.
Got that right. Abscissas and ordinates and applicates, oh my!
Ah, Descartes, you crazy French fly-watching fool. Like beer is to life, your little system is the cause of and solution to all geometric problems. Even if Abu Rayhan Biruni beat you to it, you’re proof that sleeping in to noon is not incompatible with accomplishment. Just ask a baseball player.
I’d go with:
Ichiro
Figgins
Bradley
Lopez
Griffey
Kotchman/Garko
Gutierrez
Moores/Johnson
Wilson
For regulars. As for this particular alignment,
I don’t think it’s all that bad. Griffey then Garko or Garko then Griffey wouldn’t make too big a difference I think. I don’t think Tui’s ready for batting cleanup and Guti’s not really the type.
Guti at #7? I think he’s much better than that.
Anyway, my suggested lineup:
No Griffey –
Ichiro!
Figgins
Guti
Bradley
Lopez
Kotchman
Byrnes/Langerhans
Moore/Johnson/Bard
Wilson
Griffey –
Ichiro!
Figgins
Guti
Bradley
Lopez
Griffey
Kotchman
Moore/Johnson/Bard
Wilson
With Hannahan out for at least a week, Tui is apparently trying to lay claim on the utility backup role with his bat.
Wow…Figgy breaking that ST oh-for in grand fashion!
And then when he was hired to tutor Queen Cristina of Sweden, he had to get up at 5am on those frigid Swedish mornings to tutor the Queen. And caught pneumonia and died. A lesson for us all, and why I rarely get up early.
@Snake Hippo
Guti’s a good hitter, but Bradley and Lopez have more pop. I don’t think you’d want any more speed after the gnats. Bumping Bradley down the lineup is a bad idea as well. He’s probably their best all-around bat right now. Power/contact/OBP. He’s a legit 3-spot if he can stay focused.
So that would make 1-2-3 (Ichi, Figs, Brad). Making Guti hit cleanup might mess up his approach, since he’s not a power hitter. Lopez is a power hitter by nature, so batting fourth would be a reasonable spot to put him.
As for Griffey and Kotchman… Griffey does not belong in the lineup to begin with. From a purely statistical point of view, he should not be in the majors anymore. However, he’s Griffey, so his presence in itself warrants a spot in the middle of the order. Kotchman, from what Wak’s said so far, has a lot of offensive upside. So that only leaves Guti with the 7th spot.
Just explaining my train of thought with coming up with that lineup.
Tui HR
That makes it 6-4 M’s.
Wooooooo.
I can’t find it at the moment but I read something in the past couple of days suggesting somebody (it might’ve been Wak, which is why I mention it) was talking about Bradley batting 4th with Kotchman batting 3rd. Wouldn’t have been my first thought for a lineup. But Wak likes to mix things up.
Speaking of which, we really should be talking about two lineups for LH or RH starting pitchers.
Hallelujah, I am not alone.
My only problem with Bradley hitting 4th is the whole “expectations” thing. Bradley had issues with the Cubs for expecting him to hit 30 homers. Batting 3rd has less of a “power” implication than batting 4th. This is just a random thought though, so don’t take it too seriously.
Guti has much better OBP numbers than Lopez, hence my thoughts to hit him higher. As for Bradley, he belongs in the #4 hole due to the wisdom that you want your best 3 hitters in the 1, 2, and 4 spots in the lineup (I think it was Tom Tango who calculated that, but I could be wrong). After that, the next best hitter should be in the 3 hole, then 5-9. That’s basically what I used, adjusting a little to distribute handedness a little more evenly.
Gee, if the M’s get many more Wilsons hanging around camp, they’ll be able to shoot an episode of Family Feud.
Damn, Cortes. Your command is even worse than I thought, and apparently you throw non-stop gopherballs.
AFAICT, the last “Irving” to play in the majors was Irving Noren in 1960. Of course, Irving Falu hasn’t made it yet himself.
Cortes didn’t have a good outing.
Darn; thought they’d finally let James Jones get an AB instead of being Sweeney/Griffey’s designated pinch runner.
Greg Halman plays the game the right way – sac bunt to move up the runners in a tight ball game. The guy’s old school, through and through.
Chad Cordero still having trouble topping 87. Hmmm.
But with good control. The Jamie Moyer of rehab project closers.
Frack, it’s hailing. I was going to wait for the end of the game to get on my bike, but maybe I waited too long….
Hmmm…guess the M’s and the Royals must each get a point for the tie…
That was just wacky.
Most surprising thing today, Bruce Chen is still around. Oh, and some guy named David Pauley pitched quite well. Very well for someone who most of us have never heard of. Then again it was against the Royals.
Drayer had this post quoting Wakamatsu on the topic. Apparently we’re looking at an:
Ichiro!
Figgins
Kotchman
Bradley
top 4.
Here’s a random question: should we be concerned at not seeing King Felix in action yet this spring?
Nope.
While the debate of whether Guti or Bradley should bat 3rd is still semi-relevant, I thought I’d make a random sidenote: has anyone realized that Cleveland traded Bradley to the Dodgers for Guti back before the ’04 season?
Yes, that’s the one I was thinking of, thanks.
They’re deliberately pacing him so that he’ll be able to go the full season… and into October, if necessary (hopefully). I don’t think they’re especially worried about the “Verducci Effect” but he did pitch a lot of innings last season and they don’t think he needs a lot of tune up this spring. All the media covered this a week or so ago.
I’d go with… Ichiro, Figgins, Gutierrez, Bradley, Kotchman, Lopez, Griffey, Wilson, Johnson/Moore
Wak will change it up just about everyday so i wouldn’t get comfortable with any particular lineup. Especially with Garko, Byrnes and Langerhans likely making the team.
Here’s the lineup I would like to see.
1. Ichiro
2. Figgins
3. Guti
4. Bradley
5. Lopez
6. Griffey
7. Kotchman
8. Moore
9. Wilson (Ja)
It is essential to both the team’s success and Griffey’s success that he does not bat cleanup. Not only would there be more production from that spot then, I honestly believe Griffey would do better lower in the order. If he batted sixth, maybe he could bat .245 this year with 20 hrs and 70 RBIs. Maybe wishful thinking, but still, I think less pressure on him could only help. HE SHOULD NOT BAT 4th!
It is essential
to boththe team’s successand Griffey’s successthat he does not batcleanup.FYP.
Also, using triple crown stats to evaluate hitting is dumb. Griffey’s not a good hitter for his position any more- there are any number of random AAA 1B/LF/DH types who could turn in better performances than Griffey did in 2008-2009.
Tubba that is right on for the lineup except I would bat Wilson eighth. Moore is better positioned to take advantage of the pitches someone hitting before Ichiro sees. Also the speed difference is less than one would expect because of Wilson’s myriad leg problems.