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.
Ichiro as potential switch hitter
Back in the old days when I wrote for Baseball Prospectus, the M’s gave me a one-game press pass. I’d explained what I wanted to go cover, who I wanted to talk to, and how it’d be used only for the annual, and they finally let me in on the understanding that I wouldn’t write anything about it for the website, radio, and so on. I don’t remember exactly why I’d wanted to be at that game — I think I was interested in our starter, but it’s not important. I turned up as early as I could to see home-team batting practice, and it’s great to stand that close. Bret Boone wandered by and gave me a weird look, players made fun of each other as they took their turns, and Rick Rizzs sat on the dugout bench, talking to everyone who walked by.
I was most interested in watching Ichiro, though, as he went through his prep for batting practice. He took easy swings, varying the speed a little, and up close, it looked perfect. Something was wrong, though. I watched for a minute before I could figure it out: he was swinging right-handed.
Ichiro’s right-handed swing looks exactly like his left-handed swing.
I stood there like a yokel, and when it was his turn he got in the cage and started roping hits left-handed. And if you ever get the chance to watch Ichiro hit, even in batting practice, from that close, do whatever you have to do. It’s amazing. Television doesn’t do it justice.
After batting practice ended, I went up to the press diner, where Ron Fairly held court on all the types of teams he’d played for. I kept thinking about Ichiro. I bought my food and sat down at a table with two people from the NHK crew. I chatted with them about their work for a couple minutes before approaching the big thing on my mind.
“Hey,” I said, “I think I saw Ichiro practicing his swing right-handed.”
“Oh yes,” the man said. “He’s always done that. He feels it keeps him limber and helps with his balance.”
At which point my brain engaged the clutch and I stammered for a bit before I could ask “Could he hit right-handed?”
They both nodded. “He’s very good,” the same man said.
Ichiro is so good that he could hit right-handed if he decided it would offer him some kind of advantage. Every time I’ve seen him in the on-deck circle since, and particularly against left-handers who can’t pitch effectively to righties, I look a little more closely: is this the at-bat where Ichiro does his mental calculations and decides to switch to the other side of the plate? He wouldn’t even make a big deal about it — and he’d look so natural that he might be standing on first before we figured out what was strange about that single.
Cactus League Game Thread, 3/11/10
M’s v. Giants, Snell v. Lincecum
M’s line-up thanks to Ryan Divish at the TNT
1: Ichiro!
2: Figgins
3: Kotchman
4: Lopez (3b)
5: Garko
6: Byrnes
7: Langerhans (CF)
8: Moore
9: Josh Wilson
In the ‘pen: Kelley, Colome, Koplove, League, Lowe, Cortes.
Would be great to see some pitch fx data on Snell and Cortes (if he pitches), but playing outside of Peoria means no Griffey, no pitch fx.
Cactus League Game Thread 3/10/2010
Cliff Lee makes his Cactus League debut for the Mariners. As I’m sure you have seen from other sources, the team made its first round of cuts this morning. Players whose dream of cracking a major league roster will have to wait a little bit longer include Ryan Feierabend, Josh Fields, Chris Seddon, Steven Shell, Nick Hill, Mauricio Robles, Steve Baron, and Luis Oliveros. Nothing too surprising here. Of these guys only Nick Hill had any chance of working his way onto the roster, and he could benefit from time in Tacoma.
Today’s lineup:
RF Ichiro(!)
2B Figgins
LF Bradley
DH Sweeney
1B Kotchman
CF Gutierrez
C Moore
3B Jo. Wilson
SS Ja. Wilson
Lee’s first official outing as a Mariner has him pitching in front of 2/3rds of the best damn defense in baseball. Figgins is still manning 2B, which may or may not mean the Mariners are seriously considering pulling the trigger on the Figgins-Lopez position switch. Stay tuned.
Where to get the annual, which is awesome
(and which makes us no money)
We’ve been getting a steady stream of emails on where you can buy the Maple Street Press annual edited by Dave and featuring the finest batch of yearly M’s-related content you’ll find anywhere.
to quote Dave:
7/11, Safeway, Target, Walgreens, Fred Meyer, QFC, Costco, Winco, Wal-Mart, K-Mart… if you have one of these near you in either WA/OR, it should be there.
Additionally, all Borders in WA should have it, as well as all Barnes and Noble in WA/OR/ID/MT/HI/AK. It looks like a few locals (First and Pike, Eastside Daily Planet, J&S Broadway) should have it too.
Really, though, it’s pretty much everywhere: the newsstand at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue has it, and I’ve seen it wherever I looked in Seattle.
And if you don’t see it at your local retailer, ask. They should be able to get it.
Also, Griffey cures cancer
The M’s reported a 2009 profit to the PFD, putting us one step closer to starting to recoup the Safeco Field costs, rebounding from their reported 2008 loss (and I’m just going to skip my usual digressions about that). Their financial position’s clearly better, and that’s good.
Anyway, I wanted to point out this is how Jim Street wrote the lead paragraph in that story for MLB.com:
The Mariners made a profit in 2009, thanks to a 24-game improvement in the win column and the return of Ken Griffey Jr.
Nothing in the story mentions any kind of financial breakdown at all. 2.2 million people came out in 2009, which was dooooooown from 2.3 million in 2008. Did ticket revenue go up because of new pricing? What was the media split? How’d they manage that, exactly? Did they sell an extra million Griffey jerseys at the team store?
If you read on, you’ll hear again that they won more games and Griffey came back. Which is not helpful if you’re curious. Repetition of a contention is not support for that contention.
It’s lazy reporting. The story’s better off without this recycling of worn storylines.
Cactus League Game Thread, 3/6/2010
I can imagine, some time, far off in the distance (let us call it Monday), when the Mariners will not be facing the Padres. I know. “Impossible”, you must surely say.
There isn’t much news out of camp early this morning, save that Jack Wilson and David Aardsma are both feeling better. Your lineup for the 12:05 pm PT game:
CF Ezequiel Carrera
LF Eric Byrnes
1B Ryan Garko
DH Mike Sweeney
RF Ryan Langerhans
3B Matt Tuiasosopo
2B Dustin Ackley
C Adam Moore
SS Josh Wilson
RHP Ian Snell
There’s something in the rule books about needing a certain number of regulars in the lineup in any given Cactus League game, so clearly, some of the fellows above have to feel good about their odds.
Death to Flying Things remains MIA 🙁
Dave vs Dave
The Brock and Salk media bracket thing continues today, and amazingly enough, I’m still in it. I’m now facing Dave Niehaus, and let’s be honest, he’s going to slaughter me. Seriously, the voice of the Mariners or a blogger. This isn’t fair.
Feel free to vote for me anyway, if you want to make it less of a massacre.
Second (Official!) Cactus League Game
Happy Birthday Mauricio Robles!
Other news in camp, via the Everett Herald:
* Aardsma is out for a little while after straining his groin a bit in yesterday’s game.
* Lee and Felix are pitching a simulated game on the other field. There is no cause for alarm.
* Junior Junior Griffey: just as smug as original Junior Griffey.
* Original Junior Griffey, taking note of Joe Girardi switching the number on his jersey, tries to give #1 to Wakamatsu. As all the single digits were already taken in the first place, catastrophe ensues.
* Mark Lowe, when not preoccupied with thoughts of what to do next with his sideburns, enjoys thoughtfully reading all of his fan mail.
Today, the M’s go up against the Padres again, with a lineup closer to what they’ll run out on opening day.
RF Ichiro!
2B Figgins
LF Bradley
DH Griffey
3B Lopez
1B Kotchman
CF Halman
C Quiroz
SS Jack Wilson
LHP Luke French
Given that the M’s beat the Padres yesterday 9-3 in a game where Jack Wilson was the only regular, and Ryan Garko was probably the best hitter, we could be in for a long one. The potential drubbing starts at 12:05 PT.
MiLB Roundtable: March ’10
We’re bringing it back for another go, seeing as how it was good fun last time and a way of getting our thoughts out in a different setting. The idea is that we’ll be doing this more often during the regular season this year, maybe even monthly.
Read more