Nick Franklin to Double-A
The minor league season ends today, and moves are still going down as Nick Franklin was called up to join the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in their playoff run. This comes on the heels of Franklin setting the Clinton franchise home run record with twenty-three, breaking Dick Kenworthy’s old record, which was set in 1961.
A number of thoughts might come up in response to this. One would be to think of the earlier “Franklin to the 40-man” rumor of a few weeks back had legs, and that this is a sign of things to come. Another would be to claim that the Mariners don’t think all that much of the High Desert team and make all sorts of inferences based off that.
Neither of these conclusions would be good ones, because Franklin is also in double-A because Triunfel is on the disabled list at the moment with a sprained finger on his throwing hand. Make no mistake: Franklin is well-regarded within the system, and they’re going to give him as much as he can handle. The double-A move may be a test run on keeping him there for the 2011 season, but any other notions of when he’s going to be on the Mariners 40-man or stick with the team are just speculation at this point. He’s a talented, confident kid, who still has a number of kinks to work out before he gets here, and much to prove in the high minors.
The other part circles back to the original point: Franklin is in double-A because they happen to need someone who can play short. Neither Lawson nor Seager would be an ideal fit, and moving either would open up another hole you’d have to patch up anyway. A few out there have undoubtedly thought of spinning this as “no prospect that the org really likes would spend a lot of time in High Desert”, but the fact remains that Chavez, Seager, and Poythress have all spent the entire season there, and all are highly thought of within the organization.
Placing Franklin in the midst of the Southern League playoffs is a challenge, certainly, but it’s also something that West Tenn needed in order to keep going. Trying to read too much into it is just going to lead to headaches for all of us. Just kick back, and enjoy the ride of the farm system having eight of their nine affiliates in the playoffs.
Game 136, Indians at Mariners
Talbot vs Pauley, 7:10 pm.
Last year’s USSM event at Safeco featured Ian Snell, and after he was horrible, the major league debut of Doug Fister. This year, we get Pauley. Perhaps next year, I’ll demand that they make it a Felix night whether its his turn or not.
Game 135, Indians at Mariners
French vs Carmona, 7:10 pm.
I wonder if you could find two less similar pitchers to match up against each other. Strasburg vs Moyer, maybe.
Misery Index
1 run difference in final game score = +16 excitement points for a win, -16 for a loss
2 run difference = +/-8
3-4 runs = +/-4
5-9 runs = +/-2
10+ runs = +/-1
Rays: +155
Philadelphia: +154
Yankees: +145
Reds: +132
Twins: +127
Rangers: +123
Padres: +114
Brewers: +76
Giants: +75
Red Sox: +74
Braves: +68
Dodgers: +50
Rockies: +21
White Sox: +20
Angels: +15
Astros: +15
Oakland: -6
Marlins: -14
Blue Jays: -52
Royals: -58
Cardinals: -60
Orioles: -79
Detroit: -88
Indians: -97
Diamondbacks: -119
Mets: -126
Nationals: -130
Mariners: -149
Pirates: -149
Cubs: -237
Numbers may not add up to 0 due to lethargy. Your misery experience is a combination of personal, genetic, and environmental factors that cannot be encompassed in a single number. Alternate scoring suggestions welcome.
Game 134, Indians at Mariners
Tomlin vs Fister, 7:10 pm.
I’m down in Tacoma watching the last game at Cheney Stadium before they rebuild this place. I’m not at all sad to be missing this game.
Safeco’s Fences
Mike Salk is the co-host of the Brock and Salk show, which can be heard weekdays at 9 am on ESPN 710. I also write for their blog every Thursday, and my latest post can be found there now.
A few weeks ago, I walked into the visitor’s dugout at Safeco Field and bumped into a player I had covered when I was reporting on the Red Sox. He asked me how I liked Seattle and then started talking about how great the city is and how much he liked the park.
“This place is great,” he told me. “But they need to move the fences in.”
He went on to tell me about an at bat he had had at Safeco where he hit “right on the screws.” Of course, he pulled it to left field and the ball ended up just making the warning track.
“I crushed that ball,” he said as he shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
That’s a quick anecdote to reinforce what you already know: Safeco is huge. And its dimensions, specifically the deep fence in left field (331 feet down the line and 388 feet to the left-center alley) can change the game. I’m sure you’ve seen tons of hard data on how hard it is to generate offense in Safeco, specifically for a right-handed pull hitter. Clearly, the players all know that Safeco is a little different from other parks.
But do they change their behavior because of it?
I asked a bunch of players that question, talking to both Mariners and their opponents and both hitters and pitchers. The overwhelming answer: “Absolutely not!”
“I never change my swing for the ballpark,” explained Michael Saunders. “I try to never even think about it. You can get in trouble that way. In fact, the last thing you want to do is think at all at the plate. I just try to hit it where the pitcher dictates. And the bottom line is that if you hit the ball well, it will travel no matter where you are.”
The thought process makes sense. Baseball players are creatures of habit and that manifests itself in the form of disciplined routines. Hitters try to approach each at bat the same way. While they do make adjustments (in fact, they do that all the time), the goal is to be consistent. That consistency keeps them from overreacting to a short slump or overadjusting from one at bat to the next.
Remember, while pitchers have all the time they need on the mound to focus on making small changes, batters have just a split-second to make a decision and swing the bat. They don’t have time to consider whether left field is a little deeper than usual.
Once a half-dozen Mariners had told me that they never consider Safeco’s dimensions when they hit, I moved on to the other clubhouse. Finally, I found a former Mariner who disagreed.
“Yeah, I changed my swing a little there,” said Mike Cameron who hit 30 of his 269 career home runs at Safeco, more than at any other park. “Guys change their swings every day. Whether it’s adjustments or for the park…it’s like golf. You’re always tinkering.
“Sometimes at Safeco, you’d find yourself in trouble trying to muscle up a ball on a 3-1 or 2-0 count. You can’t do that there. Sure, the ball will carry if you hit it square, but you have to be careful. But my power swing is naturally to center field, so that helped me stay behind the ball there.”
In other words, he changed his swing but not the way you might think. He didn’t necessarily try to hit to right field, but he did try to stay within himself when he hit there.
That philosophy echoes much of what I heard from pitchers (and catchers). It’s not that they try to keep the ball in on righties or away against lefties to encourage them to hit to left field, it’s that they know they can be aggressive and make mistakes when they’re in Seattle.
“Safeco doesn’t usually effect my location in that I’m not trying to get fly balls to left field,” explained Jason Vargas. “But it does allow me to go after some hitters in tight situations. I can be more aggressive. You don’t have to nibble as much, even against some of the better hitters.”
The strategy seems to be working for Vargas. His ERA at home this year (2.48) is almost exactly half of what it is on the road (4.95).
“Safeco is a little different,” Vargas continued. “You pay some attention to the parks in that you know not to leave the ball up to lefties at Yankee Stadium. And you don’t want to let it go to left at Fenway. But mostly you just throw your pitch.”
Former Mariner and current Angels starter Joel Piniero agrees.
“Yeah, you can be a little more aggressive there and get away with a few mistakes,” he told me. “But the real key is always keeping the ball down. Doesn’t really matter where you are.”
So, who does care?
It’s not the hitters, who seem to be concerned first with their own mechanics and approach and then with reacting to the pitch they are given.
It’s not the pitchers, who might be slightly more aggressive at Safeco, but never consider trying to get hitters to put balls in play to the spacious left field.
It’s not the catchers either. Adam Moore says he never thinks about the dimensions of the park and that he “feels strong enough with this staff to just stay with their strengths no mater what park we’re in.”
But that doesn’t mean the park factor is ignored.
“It’s a consideration for every move we make at the major league level,” according to Assistant General Manager Jeff Kingston. “Any time we acquire a player, it’s got to be a factor because they are going to play 81 games here. We want this to be a home field advantage. The more we can acquire players that fit this ballpark, the better we are going to be.”
That means allowing for flyball pitchers (especially lefties) who might have more value in Safeco than elsewhere. That means right handed hitters who can go the other way. That means left handed sluggers. And it means finding outfielders who can cover ground.
“It’s a great park to be a centerfielder because of all the space and the openness,” said Cameron who patrolled it very well. “But you better be a good one and you better have some speed.”
Obviously, the current management saw the advantages of such a player.
When I started researching this post, I wondered if players considered the dimensions of the park when they hit or pitch. But after hearing from so many players that they never consider it, I’m now wondering if they should. Baseball players love routine and they tend to prefer their world to be as simple as possible. They try to focus on nothing more than the task at hand. What would happen if they tried to use the park to their advantage? Many believe it would distract them into failure. And they might be right. But they may also be missing an opportunity to increase their numbers.
(I wrote this post after Dave suggested the topic. The goal of this content-swap has been for me to offer a clubhouse insider’s perspective to this blog. If you have any pressing questions/topics, please leave them as comments and I’ll try to get some answers in my next post.)
Well there’s your problem
Eight of these players aren’t Ichiro.
Batting average
|
Place in order |
Mariners |
AL |
Difference |
|
1 |
.308 |
.269 |
.039 |
|
2 |
.240 |
.265 |
-.025 |
|
3 |
.221 |
.275 |
-.054 |
|
4 |
.244 |
.276 |
-.032 |
|
5 |
.210 |
.269 |
-.059 |
|
6 |
.244 |
.255 |
-.011 |
|
7 |
.206 |
.250 |
-.044 |
|
8 |
.212 |
.242 |
-.030 |
|
9 |
.222 |
.244 |
-.022 |
On-Base Percentage
|
Place in order |
Mariners |
AL |
Difference |
|
1 |
.360 |
.332 |
.028 |
|
2 |
.328 |
.335 |
-.007 |
|
3 |
.303 |
.355 |
-.052 |
|
4 |
.293 |
.349 |
-.056 |
|
5 |
.262 |
.339 |
-.077 |
|
6 |
.311 |
.318 |
-.007 |
|
7 |
.284 |
.315 |
-.031 |
|
8 |
.283 |
.305 |
-.022 |
|
9 |
.271 |
.302 |
-.031 |
Slugging Percentage
|
Place in order |
Mariners |
AL |
Difference |
|
1 |
.391 |
.366 |
.025 |
|
2 |
.285 |
.402 |
-.117 |
|
3 |
.374 |
.441 |
-.067 |
|
4 |
.384 |
.476 |
-.092 |
|
5 |
.302 |
.450 |
-.148 |
|
6 |
.376 |
.415 |
-.039 |
|
7 |
.281 |
.399 |
-.118 |
|
8 |
.345 |
.379 |
-.034 |
|
9 |
.318 |
.353 |
-.035 |
Game 133, Angels at Mariners
Bell vs Vargas, 7:10 pm.
Well, this is certainly no Haren/Felix match-up, now is it?
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Branyan, DH
Lopez, 3B
Kotchman, 1B
Saunders, LF
Moore, C
Josh Wilson, SS