Game 26, Mariners At Tigers
Pineda vs Penny, 10:05 am.
I love day games. I realize this a morning game for most of you, but for me, this is awesome. Well, besides the fact that I have a showing on my house (yes, I know, it’s a great time to sell…) this afternoon and will have to choose between watching Pineda and vacuuming the floors. As a heads up, Potential Buyer, I’m probably going to choose Pineda.
Also, don’t look now, but the Mariners have a team wRC+ of 88, meaning that their offense has “only” been 12 percent below average this year. That ties them with the Colorado Rockies, who have the best record in baseball, and it puts them ahead of teams like the Giants, White Sox, and Braves, all of whom are considered playoff contenders. I know it’s easy to fall into the “this team can’t hit” mantra after last year, but when Justin Smoak is in the line-up, this offense isn’t atrocious. It’s not good, certainly, but he cures a lot of ills.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 3B
Bradley, LF
Olivo, C
Smoak, 1B
Kennedy, DH
Rodriguez, SS
Saunders, CF
Wilson, 2B
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Okay, back to paying full attention to my mindless, repetitive tasks…
See y’all later.
This team seems completely different with Smoak in the lineup.
I am headed to the game against the red sox tomorrow. I missed M-Pin by one day!
Ballgame. Wow, you know, Pineda is going to have to lose a game eventually…. but it sure doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon. I was hoping that if everything went right (considering the starting pitchers) the M’s might be able to eke out two of three on this series. So… gravy!
Poor Detroit, having to face some of the toughest pitching in all of baseball twice in as many weeks.
Smoak makes such a difference in this lineup. If some of the other guys get back to their career averages, this is going to be a fun team.
Late to the thread…But how about Dominican + Dominator = The Dominicanator??
El Diabólico (Spanish for The Diabolical) ?
No Smoak Bomb today?? Must be in a slump.
When was the last time the Ms swept another team?
No, but there was a Miggy Bomb. 😀
Baker:
Nice to get some luck. Gameday is saying that Pineda only threw 2 or 3 changeups all game. It also says he has a 95mph cutter, but it looks pretty close in profile to his fastball, so its probably just a pitch f/x anomaly.
On Texasleaguers.com, which doesn’t have today’s game data yet, that they say he throws three fastballs, a 4 seamer, a sinker, and a straight fastball. But the 2 and 4 seamers are at 95-96, and his straight fastball is at 89, while his change-up is 87, so I would say that they are categorizing his change-up as a fastball. Which would explain why they say he’s only thrown 4 of them all year before today. If you include his 89mph fastball he’s thrown 25 of them in his first 4 starts. And another 8-10 today.
There, fixed that for you (I know, I know… but I couldn’t resist).
Is Jack Wilson the most high maintenance (pussy?) veteran player in the majors? We don’t want to endanger his career with “eye irritation”.
You’d rather Wedge didn’t sub for him with somebody who can, you know, see to hit and field?
For the record…the 1st number 1 Billboard hit of the 1980’s was ‘Please Don’t Go’ by KC and the Sunshine band…a very 1970’s band….a wretched song…
What’s with all this winning? I have nothing to whine about, and am drinking far less Jagerbombs…
I look forward to many warm summer days, watching a Mariners game while enjoying a Piñeda Colada.
I’m new to USS Mariner and I have to check in on the Michael Pineda nickname.
I love The San Cristobal Cannon. Maybe shorten it to Cristo Cannon? (Shorten San Cristobal to Cristo, much like San Francisco to Frisco.)
Other ideas for nicknames:
“El Jefe Grande” (The Big Boss or The Big Chief in Spanish), which also sounds good in English. Or just call him “Boss” or “Chief”.
And “El Capitan” (The Captain) or simply “Capitan”.
I’m a big fan of simple nicknames that don’t try to play on the guy’s name, like Bone, King and Kid… that will be understandably difficult when coining a nickname for Justin Smoak. =)
GO MARINERS! Way to sweep ’em!!!
Another new poster here, lured out to opine on the nickname issue.
I think just going with his initials is a good start. “MP” Standing also for Military Police, with their propensity of handcuffing folks, I can hear “The Big M.P. handcuffs another!”
The San Cristobal Cannon isn’t going to catch on, not only is it too long, you have to explain it, is The San Cristobal a brandy or a dessert.
I like El Jefe Grande, but El Hombre Grande “the Big Man” might be better, because you don’t have to explain it.
Still vouching for Kid Tremendo here
Felix = King.
Pineda = the Pin.
Together: the Kingpins.
Since Michael means Resembles God, I suggest “El Padrino” The Godfather.
My vote for what we call Pineda is “Pineda”.
No need to reach for some nickname. It’s relatively distinctive in MLB (as compared to Rodriguez, Hernandez, etc. where I can see for the need to differentiate) and I like the sound of Michael Pineda, I think that’s a cool name.
No need to rush and compete to try to coin some cartoonish name for him.
“Michael Pineda”. Cool.
I think Sam has a good point… Only 5 starts into his career and EVERYBODY (not just in Seattle) knows who you’re talking about if you say “Pineda”… On ESPN today one of the hosts said “this kid’s got nasty stuff” in the highlights of the game.
I would just add an Ichiro-esque “!” at the end.
PINEDA!
I think he’s earned his own name being his nickname, although naturally folks can have all the nicknames they want for him, and use those, too.
Happy Pineda! Day!
Ok last minute entry. What about the “Dominican Dominator!”
I bought it (on vinyl) when it first came out and still have it. The Vargas drawing on the cover kills.
I bought the 45 of that one, and still think it’s cool. KC rocks! (in a disco kind of way).
I, for one, am glad Disco is dead.
So are the White Sox (and, lest we forget, these very Detroit Tigers)
Ha ha, Bill Veeck’s legacy lives on!
The only way that’s going to happen is if they DH Bradley instead of Cust and keep Ryan, Figgins and Wilson out of the lineup. Problem is that they have only two hitting infielders (Kennedy and Rodriguez) to substitute for them.
+1
I used to do a weekly blues show on my college campus radio station. Once a disco fan filled in for me and played disco. I got tons of calls the next week from people overjoyed to hear blues again.
Yeah, if we have to struggle and reach for it, then maybe the time hasn’t come for one.
It seems to me that Langerhans is exactly the three outcome type of hitter they thought they were getting in Cust, plus Langerhans is good with the glove in the outfield.
So maybe if they dump Cust they could look around for a right handed bat for the bench.
High praise from our opponents on Pineda!
Tigers Mgr Jim Leyland (talking about Ordonez’s 3 Ks):
“He had three strikeouts against a guy who can make that happen for anybody… He’s one of the best young pitchers in the game,” Leyland said. “He’s lights-out.”
Steve Kornacki, Tigers Beat Writer:
“The Detroit Tigers got their first look at perhaps the best rookie pitcher in baseball Thursday afternoon, and came away impressed.”
From another Detroit article:
Brad Penny doesn’t blame his teammates for their lack of offensive production Thursday. In fact, he seemed a bit surprised the Tigers even managed four hits off Seattle rookie pitcher Michael Pineda.
“That guy on the other side was tough,” Penny said. “People were like ‘Oh, they’re swinging at balls.’ Well, when he’s throwing 95-98 mph with a slider that looks like a fastball, you’re going to swing.”
It’s the name of the City in which he was born within the Dominican Republic.
Which was exactly his point: you just had to explain it.
I agree. Not every great pitcher has a nickname. What was Drysdale’s nickname, or Koufax’s? Even when a guy has a name that’s very common in baseball, and he turns in what might be some of the best pitching performances in living memory, do we need to give him a nickname? Or do we just call him “Pedro”? Does that name require any further explanation?
He may get a nickname from his teammates, or he may pick one for himself. Or not. We probably can’t stop various journalists and bloggers from trying to coin nicknames, and we certainly can’t stop one from catching on (nor should we want to try, unless it’s really stupid) but I don’t see why “Pineda” can’t work fine — for now and maybe forever. It may not be catchy, but it uniquely identifies him and it’s not hard to spell. And I suspect he and his family are pretty proud of it already.
I was amused to see he actually turns up in this video @ about :32 seconds in… maybe he shows up later, too, but I had to quit playing it before the soundtrack melted my brain. (Yes, I know about mute, but disco does its damage whether you can hear it or not.)
I will be happy to defer the short sentence answer and redirect any suspected geographically challenged personnel to your two paragraph explanation as to why he does not need a nickname, instead.
It was fun for a small part of one day to attempt to come up with something. Is there really a need to analyze it further?
Yes.
Late to the game, but I like “El Dorado”. The Golden One. It rolls off the tongue really well. “Viva El Dorado!”