Game 74, Rays at Mariners
Marco Gonzales vs. Shane McClanahan, 1:10pm
Happy Father’s Day today, and I hope you had a great Juneteenth yesterday. I’ve been loving the weather and hanging out with family, hence the spotty posting schedule over here at USSM headquarters.
The M’s go for a sweep of the erstwhile AL leading Tampa Bay Rays today, and have their opening day starter on the hill for it. I’m trying to think of memorable sweeps in M’s history, and the one I keep coming back to is the M’s sweep of the Detroit Tigers at home in early 1984. That’s a ways back, but it’s something seared into my memory as a young kid, and it’s why I was always such an M’s optimist as a youngster (no, seriously). The Tigers came in at 35-5 in the young season, and a perfect 17-0 on the road. But the M’s had rookie 1B Alvin Davis and pulled it all together (despite the Tigers missing Mark Langston) and swept them in three straight.
Today the M’s face the Rays’ #6 prospect coming into 2021, Shane McClanahan. The oft-injured fireballer averages 97-98 on his four-seamer, which gets above-average spin efficiency. So it’s a rise-ball, like Trevor Bauer’s or Tyler Glasnow’s? No, not really. While it’s efficient, it’s not spinning all that much. It’s a touch less spin than average, but when you consider his blazing velocity, it’s remarkably low in Bauer unit terms. His movement is even more surprising when you consider his high-ish release point; by movement and (nearly) speed, it looks a bit like Yusei Kikuchi’s four-seamer, *especially* the lower-spin version he threw in this series. But while Kikuchi got the same vertical rise with a below-6′ release point, McClanahan’s up nearer to 6.5′.
Perhaps that’s why batters have been pretty comfortable against McClanahan’s heater. In his short career, they’re slugging nearly .600 off it it. And to compensate for *that*, McClanahan’s approach is to de-emphasize the heat. He’s at his best when he can get to his 90 mph slider, easily his best pitch. Again, it’s a low-spin version of the pitch, and in his case, that means it gets less side-to-side movement, but more sink. Whereas his fastball’s about 98% efficient (in terms of the spin turning into pitch movement), the slider’s at only 25%: this is a gyro-spin slider. That’s not necessarily bad, and I keep thinking that as Kikuchi’s slider gets less spin, it may have a similar movement profile – one that isn’t too bad. I like pitches that dart downwards, and it’s at least possible that a gyrospin slider without as much sweep might fare better against opposite-handed hitters.
1: Crawford, SS
2: Haniger, DH
3: Seager, 3B
4: France, 1B
5: Moore, 2B
6: Bauers, RF
7: Torrens, C
8: Fraley, CF
9: Long, LF
SP: Gonzales
Tacoma’s unbeatable at the moment, as they take a 7 game winning streak into Las Vegas today. In recent news, Cal Raleigh’s hitting streak was snapped at 23 the other day, but doubled yesterday. The R’s listened to the sage advice presented here and brought up SP Ian McKinney, but AAA-West is a rough environment, and he was knocked around in Vegas – in a game the R’s came back to win. I’m glad he’s up and look forward to seeing him in a less crazy environment. AJ Puk, A’s uber-prospect, got the loss yesterday, pushing his ERA over 11. THAT’S the kind of environment that makes it really hard to evaluate anyone in that league right now. Looks like Keynan Middleton – who’s been great for Tacoma – will get the start for today’s bullpen day.
Arkansas lost to Tulsa 7-5. Devin Sweet had a quality start for the Travs, going 6 2/3 with 2R allowed (1 ER), with 9 Ks and 1 walk. Bobby Honeyman and Connor Kopach homered. Tyler Herb, who’s been an unreal pick-up off the scrap heap, gets the start today. His season line is 2-3 with a 2.03 ERA thanks to a 23:3 K:BB ratio.
Everett beat up on Vancouver, 12-4 in Hillsboro, OR. New AquaSock OF Cade Marlowe got his first two hits in High-A, including a triple. Emerson Hancock went 5 IP for the win, giving up 3 R and striking out 8. George Kirby gets the start today.
San Jose destroyed Modesto, 13-4. SP Sam Carlson had a so-so start, going 6 IP, giving up 7 H, 5 R (3 ER), and striking out 7 to zero walks. It didn’t help that the Nuts made 4 errors.
Good to see Marco throw well against a quality opponent.
And Jake Bauers…
I hope France isn’t destined for another IL stint.
Torrens should have been out on strikes in the 10th, but they got one from West and swept the Rays.
That was a nice weekend.