Game 63, Mariners at Rays
Erasmo Ramirez vs. David Price, 10:10am
I should talk about this game, about David Price, or the frustrating arc of Erasmo Ramirez’s short career, but I can’t. As an M’s fan, the fact that another game is just about to start hours after the last one ends is brilliant. It’s an absolution, a cleansing, and many, many M’s games have required this process. It’s not even the hope that the next game will be better, it’s just that you can’t let yourself linger on a painful closer meltdown, or one of those games that foregrounds how much better some team is than the M’s.
This, then, is the opposite of that. I’m kind of angry that Erasmo Ramirez, even David Price, are going to step onto the same mound and perform routine baseball actions on them while the last notes of Felix’s symphony are still in the air, still trying to push the roof off of the stadium. I love Jeff’s post below because it hit on something that became clear in yesterday’s game. The Rays knew not only what was coming, but where it would be, and they couldn’t hit it. Someone on twitter mentioned that the Rays were just swinging – swinging like they had no idea what was coming, a fastball, a slider, a change-up, a honeybee, an oily rag. Their swings left that impression, I guess, but I was struck at how *obvious* it all was, at least the ends of the at-bats. Felix was going to throw a change-up, and it would be from the knees to just off the ground. Felix and Zunino all but TOLD the batters exactly what he would throw, at what speed, to what location, and it was like knowing made it harder to hit it. Like some weird Felix’d version of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.
So I’m angry that these teams are playing at 10 in the morning, and that we’ll have to talk about Price’s trade value or Erasmo Ramirez’s something or other today. I’m oddly jealous of every other sport, where the transcendent has room to breathe, where it has its own news cycle.
Fine, here’s your line-up:
1: Bloomquist, 1B
2: Jones, CF
3: Cano, 2B
4: Romero, LF
5: Zunino, C
6: Seager, 3B
7: Gillespie, RF
8: Buck, DH
9: Miller, SS
SP: Erasmo, whatever.
I really don’t understand why McClendon thinks Seager can’t hit 4th.
I really don’t understand why the M’s are winning. Maybe Lloyd knows something. I don’t understand why no Farquar, but hey it works
Man I can’t wait till they leave Tampa and I don’t have to hear Turn Down for What? every five minutes.
Strong pitching at the top of the rotation with probably the best 1-2 combo in baseball, lights out bullpen, excellent defense, and an average offense that’s dragged down by horrible numbers at Safeco.
Just came in – why on earth is Bloomquist batting ahead of Jones? Is it to relieve some of the pressure on Jones, who’s been scuffling lately? Is batting second really that much less pressure?
And when did we replace Erasmo with his body double?
What a great road trip!
There is an old line about golf: “It doesn’t matter how you drive, it only matters how you arrive.”
The Mariners managed to navigate a 6-1 road trip with an 8-iron, several styles of putters and one Felix.
Just came in – why on earth is Bloomquist batting ahead of Jones? Is it to relieve some of the pressure on Jones, who’s been scuffling lately? Is batting second really that much less pressure?
Guess so…Jones went 3 for 4.
(Seriously…don’t ask me. There’s no sabremetric reason, I think…but there could be psychological reasons…and that’s the sort of black box thing you have to scratch your head over).
Regarding savoring Felix. I grew up watching the Cubs on WGN with Jack Brickhouse the TV guy, and you had the game on TV if you could watch it, the game story the next day, leader stats, and standings in the paper. Not much else. Other news from around the league came from the broadcasts.
These days you can catch any game any time you want, re-watch games, read multiple accounts of what happened, screenshot all 15 of Felix’s strikeouts and analyze each one with various stats.
The games still pile up simultaneously eternally slow and fast, and in both eras Felix’s gem is stepped on by the next game, but the fan experience sure has changed.
Someday pitcher stats will be modernized in a way that makes sense…
Ramierez… 4 2/3 innings of shutout ball. Nope not good enough for a win; Biemel, 2 batters, 2 outs… YOU son, you deserve a win, go climb in that hot tub and try to unwind, shore up those sore muscles… What was that, 8 pitches?
And maybe relievers will be held responsible for what they get paid to do? Come into the game and keep people from scoring… Come in with 0 outs and 2 guys on… Meh, don’t worry about it till the 3rd guy scores, they’re not your responsibility.
No reason when a reliever takes over on the mound, any runners on base can’t be .5 run to the starter, and .5 run for the reliever, if they score. We take most baseball stats out to either the 2nd or 3rd decimal place, anyways. And it would treat guys like Felix with more respect, since in most instances where someone relieves him and lets somebody on base score, there’s a good chance Felix WOULDN’T have let the guy score if they left him in.
But maybe that’s just me? It feels like being dedicated to tradition, like baseball certainly is, means being dedicated to stats that don’t really tell us much about pitchers and their abilities. There are certainly “advanced” stats, but why can’t the layman’s stats make sense too?
I was listening to ESPN Monday night baseball yesterday, and the announcer was trying to explain FIP. He did a decent job of explaining what it means, but he was clueless about how it is derived.
Wins and saves are useless stats.
Really happy with Cano’s consistency. Definitely getting my All-Star vote(s).
Willie clearly isn’t the ideal first baseman, but given the production from Smoak, he might actually be an upgrade.
For all the odd moves we’ve seen Lloyd make, he’s doing something right. The M’s record speaks for itself.
Now just imagine if we had a real first baseman, a more productive left fielder, and a catcher who offered more than defense.
Steve, you left out a DH who can “H” and a shortstop who can hit above .170.
With three SS options to choose from, I assume an external option would be the last thing to happen, Mike. DH can be rotated for all I care, but the lack of production from those two spots are clear. Its amazing that this team has a winning record when you consider all that collectively, eh?
Eh, with three young SS options to choose from*