Game 77, Red Sox at Mariners
Felix Hernandez vs. John Lackey, 7:10 pm
Happy Felix Day? Like last time out, we want an easy win and end up with a pitcher’s duel. John Lackey has accumulated 2.7 WAR so far this year according to Fangraphs. Among his high marks in WAR since 2008, you have 3.9, 3.5, and 3.2 last year. The odds seem reasonable that this year he’ll live up to being the guy the Red Sox thought they were getting when they signed him away from the Angels. Strangely, the stats aren’t too far off from what he’s been throughout his career. His strikeout rate isn’t much higher, it’s just that his walks and home runs have been a little bit lower than they have been in other years recently. Pitch counters tell us that he’s throwing the fastball more than any year since 2003 and that he’s phased the curve and change out. He doesn’t show much in the way of splits, but are we playing the lefty lineup again? Yes. Yes we are.
RF Endy Chavez
CF James Jones
2B Robinson Cano
3B Kyle Seager
1B Logan Morrison
C Mike Zunino
LF Dustin Ackley
SS Rad Miller
DH Willie Bloomquist
Boom Boom accounted for much of our hitter WPA yesterday. I don’t like it but it is what it is. The Mariners victory helped push them to 40 wins and they presently have the 3rd-best run differential in the AL. And the AL West. Do not look at the Oakland A’s run differential unless you are fully prepared to be depressed and confused.
Minor league news? D.J. Peterson and Dylan Unsworth were both Cal League Players of the Week. Alex Jackson has also officially signed. That was your minor league news.
Go ‘Ners. Do baseball.
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Okay Highlights-
If Boston catches up somehow, we have to make ourselves scarce again! (laugh)
Mr Z- the King will not fail us!
Can’t help but wonder how much of our pitching success is influenced by Zunino behind the plate?
Compared to the 3 or 4 guys prior to him, it has to be nice for the pitchers. I’ve noticed Felix and Kuma BOTH throwing balls in the dirt with a guy on 3rd way more often… And I freakin’ LOVE the way he frames pitches.
The bat has lots of time to come around, but considering no one really expects much from catchers these days as hitters, he’ll do just fine for now.
Those run differential numbers are crazy. M’s pitching/defense/luck must be pretty good.
And as much as we (me included) love to bemoan awful decisions by our front office, let’s here it for the ONE mega contract of recent years, by any team, regarding free agent fielders, that hasn’t been a questionable call–
Mr. Robinson Cano.
There’s a whole BUNCH of teams out there not getting good return for their blockbuster deals, but knock on wood, Cano has been a joy to watch play baseball.
The man really DOES make the game look easy.
Well, the entertainment factor of Ibanez and Morse in the outfield is missing. I’m sure that’s influenced the run differential some.
They just showed a kid who looked about 10 years old who was at his FIRST Mariners game…
I’m not sure whether that means his parents are awful for neglecting him like that, or they deserve a medal for protecting him the past decade? *laugh*
So…all those WFB haters…he’s now hitting mid .280’s. Has been VERY serviceable. Allowed Brad to get his head straight. I think he’s been a blessing like Chavez has been. Obviously would like Saunders back and the GOOD Smoak, but those guys have been solid replacements. Hard to argue that.
Okay Eastside…
I was trying to ease some rainbows into the overall picture, and you just went all neon and technicolor rainbows, in 3D, with some Pixar animation on top… (laugh)
And Mr. Z….I totally agree with Cano comment. He has been superstar level and makes everything look so easy. 2nd leading hitter in Baseball, all without real protection. Simply amazing. The guys is a stud!
It’s been a while since we could crow a little bit Z. A lot of pent up something. Unicorns, rainbows AND pixie dust!!
Good little oppo wrist fling power by Jones.
Currently +50 run differential on the year… We just moved into #2 in the entirety of MLB, behind the A’s…
Make that +51… How funny is that, we’re #2 in MLB, and not even at the halfway point of the A’s differential…
Eastside-
I know. It’s almost creepy to see non-splashy moves in the offseason actually work out in our favor.
Uh, make that +53…
This is fun. Big night for LoMo…
Sweet!
Whatever you can do to keep Justin Smoak in AAA will be greatly appreciated, LoMo. Thank you for that glimmer of hope … Even if it may be fleeting.
And what happened to Capuano … Bad night?
Dave Sims, in calling LoMo’s second home run, just said “Can you say Wally Pipp?”
Enthusiasm, I’m fine with.
Hyperbole…let’s try to keep things in check.
This is the M’s. This is Logan Morrison.
Gehrig? Please…
(Unless he meant that Logan Morrison is like Wally Pipp. I don’t know Pipp’s stat lines to know if THAT’S a fair comparison…)
I’m having a hard time deciding between LoMo and Felix for player of the game…
The batters are making extra, extra sure this win doesn’t slip away from Felix.
You don’t put Felix back in, though, in the bottom of the inning, do you?
Long rest, laugher of a game…
(Did I just jinx it?)
What a game! Gonna be 5 games over .500 now.
pgreyy-
I’m not sure what it was about, but Simms was calling him Wally Pipp earlier in the game too. I missed the actual reference/reason…
It’s got to be Smoak, I’d think, Mr. Z…
Or maybe just calling LoMo the guy without a position, who should be playing more? Not sure…
It was in reference to a potential Smoak replacement. He has said it more than once tonight. Sims may be tired of the Smoak tenure and that’s about as far as he can go with saying it.
I can go much further – and have. And it is meaningless, but intrinsically necessary.
Someone start a “Montero” chant, to let him play 1B the last inning. *laugh* Really rub it in the Red Sox fans’ faces…
“…meaningless, but intrinsically necessary.”
Brilliant line, Mike… And… How I view almost EVERY comment I make… *laugh*
Few things in baseball please me more than shutting up Red Sox fans at Safeco.
But, Smoak is an upgrade over Montero. For whatever that means.
I’m at at the Kings Court, a good time is being had by all. Nobody is ready to go home yet.
Morison has raised his ops from .522 to .702 this game.
Thanks Z. It boils down the essence of anonymously posting – for sure.
I am not yet sure what anonymously arguing with other anonymously posting posters should be called, though. There must be a term for it, somewhere.
Breadbaker – exactly!
“Anonymosity”…
Anonymous + Animosity?
Might need to throw “assinine” in there too…
So- “Assanonymosity”?
Morrison gets on base for the 5th time tonight…!
My favorite thing about LoMo is that he is not Justin Smoak.
I am looking for some Lumosity Assanonymosity at this point.
The Seattle Mariners have the 2nd best run differential in all of Major League Baseball. Really
Yes, we’re #2, but I was wrong, the number is 46… I didn’t realize it was adding them in real time on the standings I was looking at, when I was adding tonights differential on top of the already correct number…
Go M’s.
Also, Felix set a club record tonight for 8 straight starts with 7+ innings and 2 or fewer earned runs allowed.
Phenom. Period.
Part of the beauty of Felix is that he came with all that hype and he’s pretty much exceeded it.
The other part of the beauty of Felix is that, unlike the last two guys we had who played up to or above their hype, he’s ours pretty much forever.
“let’s here it for the ONE mega contract of recent years, by any team, regarding free agent fielders, that hasn’t been a questionable call–”
Seriously? The organization will likely be hamstrung by it in 6-7 years and it’s unquestionable because it’s working out in the first year?
Seriously?
Did you miss the point completely? Hamilton, Upton, Fielder, Pujols haven’t been worth their contracts from day 1.
That was my point. What the heck, do you spit on children when they’re smiling? Kick dogs when they’re licking themselves…?
I love watching Robinson Cano play. And there’s nothing to say when he’s 36 or 37 he can’t still contribute… And $24 million a year in 2021 is gonna be probably barely over league average (exaggeration, but still…).
I can’t read your mind, sorry dude.