Game 107, Red Sox at Mariners
Ariel Miranda vs. Drew Pomeranz, 7:10pm
Lefty Ariel Miranda gets the start and makes his MLB debut tonight against Drew Pomeranz, the ex-Athletics and Padres lefty. Miranda pitched a handful of innings as a reliever for Baltimore earlier, getting hit hard by the M’s a few months back.
His track record isn’t great, but for a guy I’ve already called a fungible lefty, there are some interesting signs in his profile. His fastball has odd movement – extreme vertical rise and above average horizontal movement. In general, you have to choose one or the other – an over the top motion can add a lot of backspin and thus rise, but the more over the top you throw, the less you can get side spin for horizontal movement. Not sure how Miranda does what he does, and worse, I’m not sure it’ll matter, but it’s nice to have some basis for hope, however tenuous.
As part of the series of moves that brought Miranda up, the M’s have added Blake Parker, the ex-Cub reliever who’s been excellent as Tacoma’s closer this year. The righty has a straight, rising fastball that comes in around 92. His primary breaking ball’s a curve, and he’s also got a splitter (as does Miranda). This is Jerry Dipoto’s preferred profile, really, and when Joel Peralta falters, Dipoto’s got a Blake Parker on hand to slot in.
To make room, Steve Cishek’s been DL’d with a labrum injury. That sounds scary, but it’s his hip labrum, so that’s better, I guess. Mayckol Guaipe’s been released to open a 40-man spot, and Donn Roach takes the shuttle back to Tacoma.
Pomeranz made Dave Cameron’s list of best mid season trades. A dominant first half in San Diego helped him shake the label of a swing man; he started throwing a lot more of his curve and it worked out for him. It may have helped him reduce his platoon splits, too, as righties have hit him hard, but scuffled this season. With that said, he hasn’t exactly endeared himself to Sox fans, as he’s been hit pretty hard in each of his first three starts for Boston.
1: Heredia, LF
2: Gutierrez, RF
3: Cano, 2B
4: Cruz, DH
5: Lee, 1B
6: Seager, 3B
7: Zunino, C
8: Martin, CF
9: O’Malley, SS
Comments
9 Responses to “Game 107, Red Sox at Mariners”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Man, you really have to wonder what happened to warrant Mayckol Guaipe being released without even trying to pass him through waivers.
Who is this Dave Cameron you speak of?
Tazawa sounds like a Japanese name, but the dude looks Korean to me.
Come on Mikey, it’s clobberin’ time!
… Oh well.
A team with playoff aspirations shouldn’t have Shawn O’Malley and Guillermo Heredia starting, let alone batting in the bottom of the 9th of a tie game.
I’m not averse to having more speed on the bases, but that trail runner doesn’t matter…
Does Parker have a giant scar across the back of his head?
Sorry, I stepped away for a bit and so didn’t see Parker’s head. 😛
I don’t know why, but I find the Faux Sox fans more annoying than most.