Mariners Face Should-be Natural Rival Pirates
| MARINERS (34-43) | ΔMs | PIRATES (46-30) | EDGE | |
| HITTING (wOBA*) | -13.8 (19th) | 2.6 | 21.5 (6th) | Pirates |
| FIELDING (RBBIP) | -19.4 (26th) | 2.1 | 23.6 (2nd) | Pirates |
| ROTATION (xRA) | 14.2 (9th) | -1.5 | -7.4 (18th) | Mariners |
| BULLPEN (xRA) | 3.2 (12th) | 2.7 | 8.0 (6th) | Pirates |
| OVERALL (RAA) | -15.9 (18th) | 6.0 | 45.7 (6th) | PIRATES |
By mascot, what’s more feared to a Mariner than a Pirate? I’ll tell you what isn’t the answer to that is a Padre. Unless the Mariners is like, enough with the missionaries already! But that hardly seems relevant to today’s age. Pirates still exist. Do you ever stop and realize that? Pirates still exist and are still terrorizing maritime trade. Yet we treat them as protagonists in multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbusters and millions dress up as them for Halloween. America once fought an entire war against pirates. The way history ends up getting treated is so weird.
Also, what? The Pirates are ludicrously good this season. Coming off a three-game sweep of the Angles (ha), the Pirates come to Safeco for the first time in six years.
| Batter | PA | P/PA | Slash line | nBB | K (sw) | 1B/2B/3B/HR | Sw- | Ct+ | Qual+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N Franklin^ | 52 | 4.1 | .313/.365/.521 | 4 | 7 (5) | 9 / 4 / 0 / 2 | 91 | 103 | 145 |
| K Seager* | 52 | 3.9 | .265/.308/.388 | 3 | 7 (6) | 9 / 3 / 0 / 1 | 93 | 104 | 114 |
| R Ibanez* | 50 | 4.3 | .292/.320/.604 | 2 | 14 (11) | 9 / 0 / 0 / 5 | 101 | 99 | 115 |
| E Chavez* | 47 | 3.6 | .298/.298/.383 | 0 | 7 (6) | 10 / 4 / 0 / 0 | 106 | 103 | 95 |
| B Ryan | 40 | 3.6 | .105/.175/.132 | 2 | 10 (9) | 3 / 1 / 0 / 0 | 101 | 94 | 114 |
| K Morales^ | 39 | 3.8 | .162/.250/.243 | 2 | 9 (7) | 5 / 0 / 0 / 1 | 105 | 91 | 81 |
| M Saunders* | 37 | 4.2 | .242/.333/.273 | 3 | 9 (6) | 7 / 1 / 0 / 0 | 103 | 102 | 104 |
| M Zunino | 30 | 3.6 | .214/.267/.357 | 2 | 8 (5) | 4 / 1 / 0 / 1 | 114 | 84 | 122 |
| J Smoak^ | 21 | 3.7 | .263/.333/.421 | 2 | 4 (3) | 4 / 0 / 0 / 1 | 96 | 96 | 92 |
| M Morse | 21 | 4.1 | .316/.381/.474 | 2 | 4 (4) | 3 / 3 / 0 / 0 | 120 | 100 | 86 |
| Batter | PA | P/PA | Slash line | nBB | SO (sw) | 1B/2B/3B/HR | Sw- | Ct+ | Qual+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A McCutchen | 59 | 3.4 | .308/.390/.481 | 7 | 11 (9) | 9 / 6 / 0 / 1 | 107 | 90 | 107 |
| P Alvarez* | 55 | 4.1 | .367/.446/.837 | 6 | 15 (14) | 7 / 5 / 0 / 6 | 110 | 81 | 141 |
| N Walker^ | 53 | 3.8 | .256/.407/.419 | 9 | 9 (7) | 6 / 4 / 0 / 1 | 94 | 102 | 107 |
| S Marte | 49 | 4.0 | .271/.306/.500 | 1 | 14 (11) | 7 / 2 / 3 / 1 | 118 | 94 | 97 |
| J Mercer | 48 | 3.8 | .326/.408/.442 | 5 | 7 (5) | 11 / 2 / 0 / 1 | 98 | 100 | 114 |
| R Martin | 44 | 4.0 | .314/.455/.400 | 9 | 4 (3) | 8 / 3 / 0 / 0 | 95 | 101 | 60 |
| G Jones* | 43 | 4.3 | .231/.326/.308 | 4 | 12 (10) | 6 / 3 / 0 / 0 | 109 | 96 | 102 |
| T Snider* | 39 | 4.3 | .250/.325/.361 | 3 | 11 (7) | 7 / 1 / 0 / 1 | 86 | 92 | 94 |
| G Sanchez | 38 | 4.3 | .273/.368/.394 | 5 | 5 (1) | 7 / 1 / 0 / 1 | 94 | 106 | 105 |
| A Presley* | 26 | 4.4 | .308/.308/.577 | 0 | 5 (3) | 5 / 1 / 0 / 2 | 115 | 111 | 77 |
The past fourteen days have the Pirates as the best group of position players in baseball thanks in part to Pedro Alvarez’s insane hot streak. That comes on the heels of a two-week stretch in which the Pirates were among the worst hitting teams.
| MARINERS | ΔMs | PIRATES | EDGE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INFIELD | -4.8 (17th) | 0.4 | 4.6 (11th) | Pirates |
| OUTFIELD | -14.6 (25th) | 1.9 | 19.0 (5th) | Pirates |
| RBBIP | 0.317 (26th) | -.001 | 0.293 (2nd) | Pirates |
| OVERALL | -19.4 (26th) | 2.3 | 23.7 (2nd) | PIRATES |
So much is impacted by defense. Over a roughly average game with 40 plate appearances, the difference between the Mariners’ and Pirates’ defensive RBBIP amounts to about a half run per game.
25 JUN 19:10 – JOE SAUNDERS* vs JEFF LOCKE*
My apologies for the possibly confusing color on Jeff Locke’s graph. I might not have a specific color assigned to knuckle curves because aside from Andy Pettitte, like nobody throws one. At least, not that Pitch F/X picks up. Locke’s been making news with his very low ERA. Guess what’s probably a fluke? The Pirates defense is making Locke’s year, keeping his RBBIP down at .258 compared to the league average of .301, while he posts worse than average strikeout and walk rates.
26 JUN 12:40 – FELIX HERNANDEZ vs JEANMAR GOMEZ
The Mariners saw Jeanmar Gomez back in May on their trip to Pittsburgh. He’s your standard sinker-slider righty with mediocre strikeout and walk rates in general and about even rates versus lefties. Of course he easily handled the Mariners in what was his second start of the season. He’d recently been back in Triple-A. Hopefully the Mariners can send him back there and actually win something for Felix Hernandez.
| Reliever | BF | Str+ | nBB | Ct- | K(sw) | GB+ | HR | Qual- | LI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D Farquhar | 53 | 100 | 4 | 88 | 19 (17) | 90 | 2 | 89 | 1.4 |
| T Wilhelmsen | 50 | 94 | 8 | 108 | 6 (5) | 81 | 2 | 107 | 2.3 |
| Y Medina | 46 | 93 | 4 | 101 | 9 (7) | 155 | 0 | 55 | 2.0 |
| O Perez* | 38 | 103 | 4 | 89 | 12 (8) | 75 | 0 | 114 | 1.7 |
| C Furbush* | 37 | 99 | 5 | 90 | 13 (10) | 119 | 0 | 100 | 1.2 |
| C Capps | 32 | 93 | 4 | 102 | 5 (5) | 88 | 2 | 95 | 1.7 |
| H Noesi | 31 | 108 | 1 | 105 | 6 (4) | 113 | 1 | 133 | 1.4 |
| B Beavan | 30 | 112 | 0 | 112 | 5 (3) | 99 | 2 | 102 | 0.3 |
This is amazing to say, but the Mariners bullpen might be better off with Hector Noesi in it. Ugh. Eww. No, actually, it’s not worth it.
| Reliever | BF | Str+ | nBB | Ct- | K(sw) | GB+ | HR | Qual- | LI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B Morris | 68 | 96 | 7 | 98 | 12 (10) | 150 | 2 | 55 | 0.8 |
| J Wilson* | 57 | 99 | 5 | 107 | 10 (7) | 126 | 1 | 101 | 1.7 |
| V Mazzaro | 53 | 96 | 4 | 100 | 8 (7) | 126 | 2 | 86 | 1.4 |
| J Grilli | 51 | 109 | 2 | 80 | 24 (20) | 75 | 1 | 108 | 1.8 |
| T Watson* | 45 | 104 | 6 | 99 | 6 (6) | 96 | 0 | 97 | 1.4 |
| M Melancon | 43 | 109 | 4 | 101 | 13 (11) | 104 | 0 | 104 | 1.9 |
| M Zagurski* | 32 | 90 | 8 | 113 | 4 (4) | 130 | 1 | 91 | 0.3 |
| R Reid | 24 | 101 | 2 | 117 | 2 (0) | 146 | 1 | 87 | 0.5 |
Jason Grilli, folks. A man who’s been kicking around the Majors as a so-so reliever for 11 seasons, he’s upped his fastball speed a touch in the last two seasons and for whatever combination of factors has had his strikeout rate blossom. This year he’s continued that and further cut down on his walks, leading to 58 strikeouts to 8 net walks. Not far behind him is Mark Melancon at 40 and 5.
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13 Responses to “Mariners Face Should-be Natural Rival Pirates”
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By mascot, it’s really a moose vs a parrot. And in nature, these two would probably not pay any attention to each other. That is, if a moose and parrot were ever in the same area.
Fine opener!
Lately, Felix Hernandez should win one for Felix Hernandez. Well, it’s only start; but my god, what an awful start. The hitters should get a reprieve for that one (say, ten games).
I like this version of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Probably my second- or third favorite team. The Mariners are going nowhere. The Pirates are maybe going somewhere. I can’t root against the Mariners (especially Felix). A conundrum. I probably won’t watch, because I will catch myself rooting for the Pirates, and then I will feel guilty.
Scraps,
If you root for the Pirates this series, I would argue that – in a long-term sense – you are actually rooting for the Mariners! See, the more they lose, the more it’s likely Z and Wedge will be gone soon.
Frankly, I hope Travis hits 3 HRs
M’s don’t match up well with Angels for some reason, but everyone else seems to. M’s split first series with Pirates. Probably will do at least that this time.
Ackley recalled from AAA and Guti to the 15-day DL with a hammy strain per many sources.
We could have an interesting young-ish outfield tonight. But, instead, we’ve got Ibañez-Chavez-Bay.
In past years I’d went along with the idea that maybe some of these guys were being auditioned with the goal of trading them to a contender. Now, I’ve finally come to realize that Wedge is simply an idiot, and Z is apparently his pupil.
Think Guti should look for another line of work. He’s just not that into it.
“Think Guti should look for another line of work.”
I think — sigh — you’re probably right.
“He’s just not that into it.”
I think — contemptuous sigh — you’re full of bollocks.
Westside guy: Hey! [perks up] Thank you!
Forgot the game was on…flipped over to Root after watching a bunch of Top Gear on BBC America. Saw the score and, in Richard Hammond’s voice, my mind thought “Ahhh…that’s not gone at all well, then.”
Flipped back to Top Gear.