Game 70, Mariners at Rangers
Yovani Gallardo vs. Martin Perez, 2:05pm
The M’s face lefty Martin Perez, the one-time super-prospect phenom turned reliably disappointing back of the rotation arm. After flying through the low minors, Perez reached AA at the age of 18. Unfortunately, things never really clicked after that, and he’s had trouble missing bats and staying in the strike zone. With a four seam and swerving sinker at 94 MPH, he’ll always have a job, but at 26 now, the perennially hoped-for development or improvement may not be in the cards.
1: Gamel, LF
2: Haniger, RF
3: Cano, 2B
4: Cruz, DH
5: Seager, 3B
6: Valencia, 1B
7: Zunino, C
8: Heredia, CF
9: Motter, SS
M’s have their righty-heavy line up in against Perez, who’s traditionally had sizable platoon splits. Not this year, which is probably just random, but it’s accompanied with an odd drop in his GB%.
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6 Responses to “Game 70, Mariners at Rangers”
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Well, THIS game is getting off to a rousing start…
If you’re a Rangers fan, anyway.
And for the third day in a row in early innings, this one goes off. Have a nice Saturday.
Awesome way to show up against a division rival…. that whole beginning of June roll has completely disappeared. So much for that little glimmer of hope! Gallardo is still fricken terrible.
And why do they keep running Valencia out there? Age 33 season completely normal career trajectory to worse than replacement level, terrible defence, worst baserunner in baseball.
Valencia really seems to run hot or cold. If he goes cold for any length of time, it sounds like Gamel is working on his first base coverage. However Danny has been reasonably good the past couple of months (126 wRC+ in May, 112 in June) – he just got off to a really awful start.
But, really, the problem isn’t the hitting – nor is it really the defense anymore. It’s pitching, pure and simple.
Considering how bad the starting pitching has been, who goes down when Felix comes back? I’m guessing Gallardo stays up just for veteran money reasons, but Gaviglio and Bergman have been throwing batting practice too.