Game 30, Angels at Mariners
Saunders vs Fister, 6:10 pm.
I’m taking the night off, and will instead be watching a movie with my beautiful wife. I will enjoy this night more than those of you watching the game.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Kotchman, 1B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 2B
6-4-3, DH
Langerhans, LF
Josh Wilson, SS
Moore, C
Some Good News
Because you don’t need any kind of special insight from me on how badly this team has played the last few weeks, let’s look at one player who is actually giving reason for optimism – Kanekoa Texeira.
With some really good pitching in his last few outings, Texeira has now racked up 11 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings pitched, showing that he can miss bats with that nasty breaking ball of his, which complements his groundball sinker fairly well. Due to the GB+K combination, Texeira’s currently sporting a nifty little 3.06 xFIP. Even better, he’s proving that his ability to get lefties out in the minors wasn’t a fluke.
He’s faced 26 left-handed hitters so far this year, allowing just five hits, walking two, striking out six, and running a 56% ground ball rate against opposite handed hitters. His numbers are better across the board against LHBs than RHBs, which is what he showed in the minors as well. His xFIP against LHBs is 2.59, which is about what you’d expect from a lefty specialist.
Yes, it’s all a tiny sample, and most of his performances have come in low leverage situations where he wasn’t facing the best hitters the opposing teams had to offer, but the simple fact that he’s showing that he can get left-handed hitters out and get swinging strikes with his breaking ball has to be encouraging. With Mark Lowe on the DL, the bullpen needed someone to step up and give them good innings, and it sure wasn’t going to be Sean White. At this point, Texeira and Kelley should be sharing the 7th inning duties, with Brandon League setting up David Aardsma in case the team ever goes into the ninth with a lead again.
Amidst all the other problems, one positive has emerged – it looks like the M’s have found a pretty decent reliever with Kanekoa Texeira.
Game Twenty-Nine Recap
Boo, 11-18.
This sucks.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Game 29, Angels at Mariners
Weaver vs Hernandez, 7:10 pm.
Happy Felix Day.
Though, given how the team’s offense has been performing lately, this may be the least optimistic the fanbase has been heading into a Felix start, well, ever. Considering that Jered Weaver is a pound-the-strikezone guy whose fatal flaw is giving up home runs, there probably couldn’t be a more perfect team for him to face – a patient, no power bunch of guys who rely on walks and singles to string together rallies. Weaver doesn’t give up many of either, so, yeah, I’m not optimistic about tonight.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Kotchman, 1B
Gutierrez, CF
Griffey, DH
Lopez, 3B
Josh Wilson, SS
Johnson, C
Saunders, LF
Game Twenty-Eight Recap
Boo, 11-17.
You don’t need a recap of that. Hyphen sucked, the offense sucked, the defense sucked, Snell sucked, and the weather sucked. So, why should the recap be any different? They get the recap they deserve. When they play like a major league team, they’ll get written up like one. Until then, they get this.
Game 28, Rays at Mariners
Niemann vs Rowland-Smith, 7:10 pm.
Not sure why I have never brought up Jeff Niemann as a comp when people ask about other pitchers like Doug Fister, but he’s basically the Rays version. He’s a massive 6’9 guy without great stuff, though his fastball is a few notches better than Fister’s. Don’t worry about the 2.76 ERA and think he’s developing into an ace – his 4.89 xFIP is more along the lines of his true talent level. He throws strikes, but lacks an out pitch, and is the kind of guy the M’s could potentially hit. Maybe.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Kotchman, 1B
Gutierrez, CF
Griffey, DH
Lopez, 2B
Langerhans, LF
Josh Wilson, SS
Johnson, C
Saunders Called Up
Ryan Divish is reporting that the Mariners have called up Michael Saunders to help give them some depth. No word on the corresponding move yet, but I’m guessing Bradley goes to the disabled list, and they end up giving him two weeks off. We’ll update when the rest of the transaction is finalized.
Update: apparently the transaction won’t be as of today’s game, as Saunders isn’t listed on the M’s line-up card. However, Divish reports that Bradley will go on the restricted list, so perhaps they’ll just issue a new line-up card for the evening.
Radio Spot With Brock and Salk
I’ll be on with Brock and Salk at 12;30 for my weekly Thursday chat with the boys at ESPN 710. Tune in.
Game Twenty-Seven Recap
Boo, 11-16.
I don’t really know if there’s anything much to say about this game. Lee pitched well, but Tampa’s got some good hitters, so a shutout was unrealistic. Matt Garza’s really good, and the Mariners line-up is not, especially without Milton Bradley. Some good hitters hit some good pitches for the Rays, and some bad hitters did not hit good pitches for the Mariners. Thus, the Rays won. It doesn’t take a lot of statistical analysis to offer insight on the result.
So, I guess we’ll talk about Jack Wilson’s durability again. He left the game with a tight hamstring, and while I wish this was a surprise, we knew going in that this is who Wilson was – a guy with chronic leg problems that couldn’t hold up over a full season. Like Bradley, he gets dinged up a lot, and this is just part of his overall package. Unfortunately, they already have Milton on the roster but not really available and Sweeney as a no-position bench guy. Again, the inflexible bench and 12 man pitching staff are proving to be a huge problem.
So, tomorrow, the team has to make another move. They can’t bring Tui back unless they put Milton on the DL (or bereavement list), so that would be the expected move, but this is still a long term problem. The Mariners can’t keep playing without any reserves because they’re relying on brittle guys in their 30s to play every inning. We’ve said it a million times, but a major league team can’t carry both 12 pitchers and two guys who can’t play the field. They have to pick between Sweeney and the seventh arm, or they’ll continue to play short-handed way too often.
M’s try to salvage one game out of the series by throwing Ryan Rowland-Smith at the Rays tomorrow night. He’s going to have to give the team his best start of the season, or the M’s will head into the weekend as losers of six in a row.
Game 27, Rays at Mariners
Garza vs Lee, 7:10 pm.
Yes, there’s a game tonight. No, Milton Bradley isn’t going to play in it.
Lee looks to repeat his ridiculously impressive debut from last Friday, and he might have to be even better than he was then, as the M’s face Matt Garza, one of the toughest righties in the league. Wak jumbles the line-up a little bit to accommodate Ryan Langerhans, who is in left field.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Kotchman, 1B
Gutierrez, CF
Griffey, DH
Lopez, 2B
Langerhans, LF
Wilson, SS
Johnson, C