Games 32-33, Mariners at Padres – Double Header
Ljay Newsome vs. Dinelson Lamet, 12:10pm
Yusei Kikuchi vs. Garrett Richards, 3:10pm
The M’s are making up yesterday’s game with a hastily-arranged double header today. The pitching match up has changed, because the Mariners made a trade during/after yesterday’s drama, sending Taijuan Walker (who was scheduled to start last night) to Toronto for a player to be named later. Jerry Dipoto apparently said on the radio this morning that the return would be a player, and not another cash considerations deal, which was the return for Dan Vogelbach (who may be activated by the Jays today).
John Trupin speculates about the possible return in this post at Lookout Landing, noting that the Jays top 30 prospect list is jam packed with young shortstops. The M’s don’t have many pure SS in the system; there’s Noelvi Marte and something of a gap behind him. Thus, taking one of the Jays many SS off of their hands might make some sense. It wouldn’t be one of their absolute top prospects, but a guy like Otto Lopez would be nice. Another possibility, perhaps, could be the recently-DFA’d Anthony Alford, a toolsy OF who played college football at Ole Miss before joining the Jays org. He’s been good at times in the minors, but his development stalled out, and without many routes to playing time (and without any minor league options left), the Jays moved on. He’s not on the Jays 60-man pool, but I’m not sure why they couldn’t simply announce the deal if it was Alford, but it’s always possible that there are some weird, made-up-on-the-fly rules governing this in 2020. The M’s have a need at OF with Mallex Smith struggling mightily, and using Tim Lopes/Dylan Moore in OF corners out of position. Jake Fraley, Sam Haggerty, and Braden Bishop need PAs, but depth would be nice, even if it’s depth that they couldn’t stash in Tacoma.
Ljay Newsome gets his first big league start a few days after his encouraging MLB debut. The righty throws an interesting FB from a very low arm slot. It’s got average to a bit below ride thanks to solidly below average spin, and I wonder if he’d benefit from embracing the sinker the way Justus Sheffield has. Like Sheff, he throws his slurve/curve a ton – more than his FB in his one appearance. That pitch, even more than his FB, stands out for freakishly low spin, though I’m not convinced that this is a big red flag. We should see a bit more of his change, which I like the best of his three offerings. It’s got splitter-style vertical drop compared to his FB, and it could help him with the lefties in San Diego’s line-up.
Opposing him is Dinelson Lamet, a flame-throwing righty who’s back from a series of injuries and having by far his best season. His fastball is thrown from a higher arm slot but has similar movement to Newsome’s. It’s thrown at 98, not 92, however. His primary pitch, thrown over 50% of the time, is a brutal high-80s slider. It’s helped push Lamet’s strikeout percentage over 34%, and importantly, he’s been able to limit walks – control had always been a problem for him in previous seasons.
I’ll write up the nightcap’s match up in a little while. Former Angel Garrett Richards starts for San Diego opposite Yusei Kikuchi.
Game 1:
1: Crawford, SS
2: Haggerty, LF
3: Lewis, CF
4: Seager, 3B
5: Nola, DH
6: White, 1B
7: Fraley, RF
8: Long, 2B
9: Odom, C
SP: Newsome
Well, Ljay Newsome acquitted himself quite well in Game 1, going 4 IP with 5 Ks and no walks, and only one real mistake, a fastball hit out by Manny Machado. Dinelson Lamet wasn’t sharp, but relied on his stuff to get through. Jose Marmolejos, who’d been called up as the “29th man” for the double-header was forced into action after Evan White hurt his shoulder broke a scoreless tie with a 2-run HR.
Newsome sat 91-92 with his FB, but hit 94 at times, striking out Tatis,Jr. on one of those amped-up fastballs in the first. He’s been remarkably hard to hit in his two appearances, which is interesting; batters are clearly not seeing the ball out of his hand. He did use his change-up more, but it wasn’t all that sharp. His curve/slurve, on the other hand, was, getting some weak contact and a couple of called strikes.
The bullpen blew it for him, as Fernando Tatis, Jr. shook off his Ks against Newsome to drive a Matt Magill pitch out, and then Trent Grisham went back to back, tying the game at 3. Of course, team wins aren’t that important, and you can make a case that they’re counterproductive, but I still like seeing a decent-if-flawed-and-inexperienced team rather than an out and out bad one. But hey, that’s been the nice thing about this winning streak. If you squint, you could really see how this group could come together, get to .500-ish next year and then add in free agency to make a run in 2022. I haven’t been able to visualize that in many years. As if to underscore that point, the M’s shook off the blown save and scored four in the 7th to take the lead before a rather disastrous bottom of the inning. All in all, that’s just about the ideal result.
In the nightcap, the M’s face the original spin-rate king, Garrett Richards. Richards’ cut fastball, slider, and curve were always the top of the MLB class in spin rate, and at times, he’s used them to be an effective starter. But he simply couldn’t stay healthy; the last time he made 20 starts was 2015. He made 18 in 2018, but only six in 2016 and 2017. This’ll be his seventh start of the year, which makes this a comparatively healthy campaign. And a good one – he’s got his ERA/FIP under 4 thus far, and hasn’t been as troubled by HRs as he was in those short 2018-19 years. His K rate is down, but he’s looking a bit more like the guy he was for the Angels years ago.
He’s still predominantly a three-pitch guy: four-seam/cut fastball at 95, a hard slider at 89, and a rare curve. He’s mixing in more of a sinker these days as well.
Game 2:
1: Crawford, SS
2: Haggerty, LF
3: Lewis, CF
4: Seager, 3B
5: Nola, C
6: Marmolejos, 1B
7: Lopes, RF
8: Long, DH
9: Gordon, 2B
SP: Kikuchi
The M’s broadcaster Dave Sims moderated a great discussion called Black Voices in Baseball with several of the M’s Black players back in June. In the wake of last night’s strike, they recorded another raw discussion along with the Brewers’ Devin Williams. It’s put out by MLB Network Radio, and it’s on YouTube here. You should listen.
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3 Responses to “Games 32-33, Mariners at Padres – Double Header”
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Well, game one was brutal. That might be the worst bullpen outing I’ve ever seen.
I am amazed that after the way they lost the first game, the M’s came back and took care of business in the 2nd game. I think this group just might have what it takes to become winners.
“Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher.”
— Earl Weaver
That being said, watching Dan Ayala- I mean, Altavilla spend 100+ innings as a Mariner and not be particularly good at them is getting really old.