Game 117, Brewers at Mariners
King Felix vs. Wily Peralta, 1:10pm
So this series could’ve gone better.
Today’s game pits King Felix against hard-throwing righty Wily Peralta. Peralta’s four- and two-seam fastballs average 95mph; his sinker’s the third-fastest in MLB behind Matt Harvey and Stephen Strasburg. His four-seamer’s in the top 10 as well, surrounded by flame-throwers like Jose Fernandez, Homer Bailey, Justin Verlander and Andrew Cashner. He pairs it with a sharp slider and the occasional change-up against lefties. His slider’s useful against lefties and righties alike, though he’s able to get righties to hit it on the ground, while lefties are able to elevate it a bit better. All in all, a mid-90s fastball and a good breaking ball along with a developing change up should be plenty, but Peralta’s K% looks nothing like Verlander’s/Harvey’s/Fernandez’s. His 15% mark is actually 81st out of 90 qualified starters, surrounded by Eric Stultz, Jhoulys Chacin, Bronson Arroyo and Mark Buehrle.
Great velocity, solid movement, and well below average contact rates. Part of the problem is that his command isn’t quite there yet. His walk rate’s a tad high, generated in part by the fact that he throws fewer pitches in the zone than average. Thus, he’s pitching from behind more than average, and 95mph can’t overcome that kind of disadvantage. In addition to some issues with command, he’s struggled a bit against lefties, as they’re more apt to drive his slider as opposed to rolling it over. Now, none of this makes him an awful pitcher. He’s just a work in progress. 95mph with great ground ball rates is a great place to start, and if his command improves, he could be excellent.
1: Miller, 2B
2: Chavez, RF
3: Seager, 3B
4: Morales, DH
5: Ibanez, LF
6: Smoak, 1B
7: Ackley, CF
8: Ryan, SS
9: Blanco, C
SP: El Cartelua
Stephen Pryor had surgery to repair his torn lat, which is a new one for me. It’s not a ligament/tendon issue, it just sounds like a torn muscle is re-joined surgically. Jake Peavy is among the very few players to have had this procedure.
Blake Beavan, Charles Kaalekahi and Anthony Vasquez start today in the M’s minors.
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36 Responses to “Game 117, Brewers at Mariners”
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Peralta struggles against lefties, and has trouble with command. So of course one of our better lefty hitters (who also has a 2013 walk rate of 12.1%) and fielders is sitting so that the team can punt defense in left while giving at-bats to a guy who seems to have suddenly gotten old.
It would make sense to sit Smoak, play Morales at 1B, and DH Ibanez so Saunders can play OF.
Also – does anyone know how Gutierrez is in today’s Rainiers lineup? I thought his current rehab stint was at its limit.
I agree with you Westy. I didn’t understand having Ackley sit against a RHP on Friday night, either. We all knew this was coming though … Ackley and Saunders AB’s are being redirected to Morse and Ibanez. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it doesn’t have to.
Mariners.
Maybe Ibanez will hit a couple out today as he drives toward the record that I will bet nobody knew existed until May of this year.
Westy-
I just read yesterday that Guty is beginning ANOTHER rehab stint… A new one. He still wasn’t ready. His fourth. I’m not sure what makes you ready to play at AAA that makes you not ready to play in the big leagues, but our team seems to be infected with a lot of this AAAA stuff.
(Time to cue “Taps” whenever Guty’s career is mentioned, moving forward.)
The power of the “Jaso Beard” cannot be underestimated.
SMOAK!
Blanco, that was… not smart.
Why is baserunning so difficult for the M’s?
Is it against the collective agreement for the team to fine for dumbass running. If not Blanco really deserves it. He runs like a Grandpa – who does he think he is – Billy Hamilton?
I think Blanco had a senior moment. For a few seconds he thought he was playing tag with the grand kids.
Does anyone other than me think the TV broadcasters have gotten more “rah rah” than they used to be? Or am I just more sensitive to it now?
I used to appreciate the relatively even-handed broadcasts from Sims and Co.
But Blanco is a veteran! He’s a for-god’s-sake 41 years old! (Nearly 42; his birthday is August 29!) He should be teaching the callow youngsters to play! Argh! (That’s Richard’s cue….)
Blanco runs like Montero–hilarious!
Woo hoo! A 2-4 home stand is better than 1-5!
After 117 games…
2013 Mariners: 54-63 RS 473, RA 544 (diff -71)
2012 Mariners: 53-64 RS 461, RA 472 (diff -11)
Nope, punting defense hasn’t had any negative consequences. We’re a whole game ahead of last year!
On the plus side, we’re still a half game up on the Angels.
Apparently Felix has decided that he should put up zeros again. Fortunately, the defense showed up too. Unfortunately, the first six batters stayed home. Still, a win.
Last year’s team was 3rd in the AL in runs allowed. This year’s team is 13th. And that’s with full seasons (so far) of King Felix and Iwakuma.
But DINGERS!!!!111!!
Nobody could have predicted… oh, wait, USSM and advanced projection systems TOTALLY predicted this. Whoops.
http://www.ussmariner.com/2013/01/30/zips-on-the-2013-mariners-they-suck/
EC, I just re-read that post and the comments.
Man, that was depressing…
WG-
Yeah. It’s not fun being Cassandra.
Wouldn’t have minded being wrong, though, but when your GM is busy flying in the face of sabremetrics, he should be accountable for when it all blows up in his face.
was thinking about the comments about Ibanez and Morse stealing at bats from Saunders and Ackley. Was wondering who has been doing what since all-star break – now about 4 weeks that the M’s have mostly struggled:
just average and OPS
Ackley .296 .716 OPS
Ibanez .167 .453
Chavez .192 .423
Saunders .246 .875
Morse .175 .558
Morales .341 .890
Smoak .267 .860
Of course, small sample size and of course Wedge/Thompson may be picking the best matches for the young guys and it could be they would have performed worse in the games Morse/Chavez/Ibanez played in their stead, but I somehow doubt it. And whatever else one thinks, Ackley/Saunders/Smoak have an infinitely better chance of being on the M’s next playoff team than Morse/Chavez/Ibanez, whose chances are essentially nil (except Raul will still be on the roster when he’s dead and buried, it seems).
Who would have thought a few months ago that Smoak would be out hitting Nick Swisher by 30 points and a homer at this stage of the season? Have to give Jack credit for that move, now I’m looking for Ackley to be the next to settle in and show his true hitting ability.
@WG
Does anyone other than me think the TV broadcasters have gotten more “rah rah” than they used to be? Or am I just more sensitive to it now?
I used to appreciate the relatively even-handed broadcasts from Sims and Co.
Nah. Sims has been pretty bad all year but its just harder to tolerate it when the team is playing like they belong in the PCL.
Game 118, Seattle at Tampa Bay
Miller SS
Franklin 2B
Seager 3B
Morales DH
Ibanez “LF”
Morse “RF”
Smoak 1B
Ackley CF
Quintero C
Ramirez P
Robbie the T sez they want to get more looks at Ackley in center. And, of course, the Doublemint Twins continue to be fixtures in left and right. Raul is bringing those intangibles along with league-worst defense and a post-ASB OPS in the mid 500s. Yup, this is the sort of decision-making we want to see for this team in the next few years.
Got a break there – bad decision by Tampa’s SS.
CRAZY LEGS WITH #2!!!
Ackley!
It’s funny that I joked throughout the spring that I wanted to see an outfield with Morse, Ibanez, and Bay or Peguero -just once.
This is basically just as bad, only it isn’t spring, so it’s actually worse.
Luckily, Morse and Ackley have offered some offense this evening.
Right on, Ackley! Good to seem him steadily swinging the bat better.
By the way, I’ve felt the same with Ackley at second, Westy. If Franklin finishes this season with solid numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he were dealt for a real outfielder.
Yeah, Ackley needs to get on base a lot if he’s not going to hit for any power – and that does seem to be what he’s doing a bit better lately.
Kind of like Smoak before the All Star break, eh? Got on base, lacked power.
I’m liking Faquhar right now…
Woo hoo!
No game thread again?
I want my money back.
Just posted it (and sent you a full refund as well).