Game 62, Yankees at Mariners
Jeremy Bonderman vs. Hiroki Kuroda, 7:10pm
OK, on paper, this game looks like the mismatch of the year. But that’s why they don’t play the games in a spreadsheet. Did WAR predict Blake Beavan would shut down the Yankees, facing the minimum over 6 2/3 IP last night? Ha! Did your “spreadsheet” predict Aaron Harang would get outpitched by Phil Hughes? Huh? Oh, it did? Carry on then.
Line-up:
1: Chavez, CF
2: Bay, RF
3: Seager, 3B
4: Morales, 1B
5: Ibanez, LF
6: Morse, DH
7: Franklin, 2B
8: Shoppach, C
9: Ryan, SS
SP: Bonderman
C’mon, be a heartwarming comeback story, Jeremy. Not one of those, “Well, I guess he just didn’t want to believe it was over” stories or a “Does this tarnish his legacy?” comeback stories. Raul took some time to get going this year, but I imagine Bonderman’s got a pretty short leash.
More on the draft later tonight/tomorrow.
If you’re in the south sound, I’d head to Cheney and check out the Rainiers/Las Vegas 51s game. Mike Curto’s post has the details, but the pitching match-up looks great. James Paxton tries to keep himself in the running to possibly succeed Jeremy Bonderman while the 51s send out Zack Wheeler, the Mets prospect who routinely sits in the 96-97mph range with his fastball. He started off slowly, but came on in May and is coming off an excellent start against Fresno. Still, he’s definitely more about potential, as he’s just been more hittable than anyone with that kind of velocity should be. Still, if/when he puts it together, he could move extremely fast. Shelby Miller was terrible for most of the year in the PCL last year, but the switch flipped and he’s now a dominant ace-like pitcher for the Cardinals. Wheeler’s breaking balls still aren’t as advanced as Miller’s were, even last year, so it’s not a great comp, but he’s a great talent.
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36 Responses to “Game 62, Yankees at Mariners”
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Sad to see no Saunders. He has shown only glimmers of ability lately but I hate to see him sit vRHP.
I coached HS baseball for a decade but I DO NOT claim to be any kind of hitting expert. Not even close. Saunders does do 2 things quite often that seem to hurt his swing, especially when they occur at the same time.
1-He has a (less pronounced but still) visible over the top movement of the bat head toward the pitcher before he starts his swing. Gary Sheffield had a far more active movement of the same type and hit very well so I can’t claim this is a true fault. In the Saunders swing it looks like he takes too long to load and is then committed to a swing path too early. This is especially so when he is busted in on his hands. Sheffield had tremendous power in his wrists and forearms, comparatively, Saunders does not (but that’s true for nearly all batters compared to Sheff). This could lead to a less powerful bat head speed through the hitting zone. Of course, maybe this is how Saunders loads his swing, but excess hand-movement usually leads to more swing and misses.
2-Head movement also leads to more swing and miss situations. Watch Saunders front foot land in connection with his back foot coming off the ground. Frank Thomas had a hard plant and often lifted his back leg. But with Saunders, his back foot comes up too soon, before his front foot is firmly down. This means a less solid hitting base, more head movement and less power. There are times when neither foot is on the ground fully when he makes contact. See a much better explanation here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9j-uq1Cmj8
Nice!
Makes sense.
They have been talking for some time how he is not getting his front foot down early enough. It’s actually front foot down late in conjunction with back foot up early. Essentially, he is jumping at the pitch.
Michael, stop jumping at the damn pitch.
Sims: “Hasn’t thrown a strike yet.”
What would you call the pitch Gardner doubled on?
Bonerman sucks.
Snuffy, interesting, except Condor has no platoon splits, so I don’t think matchups matter for him.
Gawd, Sims and Blowers going on about no one being able to sacrifice bunt anymore. As Wells runs into an out. Good to see another team f-up.
Saunders bunts all the time. Are they blind?
I propose we start referring to Nick Franklin “the Great Gazoo”.
I thought I came up with that one a week ago sans proposal.
Count me in!
Or, the “elf” works too.
Vernon Wells is apparently back to being Vernon Wells after starting out the season surprisingly competent with a bat.
Sorry, Mike – I wasn’t intentionally trying to steal your idea.
You know how we old guys are with our memory issues…
Franklin just looks like he knows what he’s doing.
BTW I listened to Matthew and Jeff’s podcast on the way home today… and now I’m even more depressed about the team.
That dude in the commercial, his wishes are NOT coming true.
Except perhaps for his implied wish that Raul be around long term.
I am actually glad that someone else remembered the Flintstones and drew a similar parallel.
I’ve gotta say – and probably just to make myself feel better, but this years team is worse to watch than last years team. Either that or the callous just continues to thicken.
Morse – woo. Yeah, woo
And by the way, Blo: its pronounced MORSE, not MORRIS.
That little kid has a much thicker beard than I do.
mike, last year got better in the 2nd half. Hope this one does, too.
RYAN!
Now Bay!
3 times on base in 4 innings
Just got in and turned it on.
Wow, Bonderman doesn’t suck! Hope he can keep it up for another inning or two.
Well, he sucked the first two innings, G-Man but the guys kept pushing at the plate and now a lead!
Yeah, I think he saw my comment, cuz he cleaned up his act quickly.
I hope so too, Waco (2nd half improvement)
Nice play Seags!!!
Bay needs to work harder – he still can’t match Liddi in terms of total distance from the ball when sliding or diving.
Boy, Franklin looks just like Ackley did when he first came up…
I was just wondering what Jabba the Hutt was doing these days, then decided he would be on the DL with the rest of them, but not, there he is!
Open Wikipedia. Type “Eddie Munster.” There’s Nick Franklin as a younger boy. C’mon Tom. Throw strikes.
Woo hoo!!
Yeah, Woo Hoo!
Oh man, we needed a win.
I think Franklin looks more like Lord Dark Helmet but Gazoo is easier to say….
So, I think Nick Franklin was ready…
He’s STILL…
3rd amongst starters in batting avg.
1st in OBP.
1st in Slug%.
The walks are what’s impressive, while hitting well at the same time.
And like was mentioned a couple days ago, he’s also at the top of the team in contact rate, and at the bottom of the team in swing rate. Textbook success.
Nice work, kid.
(PS- I like “Lord Dark Helmet”)
Heartwarming comeback story!
This rebuild is moving too slow. We’re gonna have to go right to Ludicrous Speed.