Game 80, Indians at Mariners
Chris Young vs. Trevor Bauer, 7:10 pm
One of my favorite things about Trevor Bauer was when he was drafted. Bauer was and is known for his unusual regimen (long toss) and engineered delivery that was patterned off of Lincecum. Teams knew how committed he was to it and that he was unlikely to change it for just any old reason. He was drafted by the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks tried to tweak his delivery. He was not happy. Sometime later, he was traded to Cleveland in three-team deal. Though there were more pieces involved, the Diamondbacks basically got back a year of a below-average reliever (Tony Sipp), a strong defensive shortstop who can only hope to have a league average wRC+ (Didi Gregorious), and a former top prospect first baseman who was subsequently waived and lost for nothing (Lars Anderson). This is at least one interesting thing about Bauer.
Another interesting thing is that Major League Baseball has been around for well over a hundred years and we still haven’t the least idea how to keep pitchers healthy. Because it’s not like they’re integral to the team or anything. Every few years some new pitcher comes along with a new thing they’re doing, a Lincecum, a Bauer, a Bundy, and sometimes they last and sometimes they don’t and sometimes we see diminishing returns as we seem to see with a lot of them. Usually they are treated with suspicion or occasionally contempt. Pitchers throw all kinds of strange ways with unusual arm angles and some stay healthy and some don’t. Sometimes a 6’1″, 180 pound guy is throwing 99 mph as a starter and others a 6’8″, 250 pound behemoth is only sitting low-90s in relief. Is this not odd to all of you, the lack of codification, the lack of guarantee?
Bauer has been better at avoiding the free pass this season, but has been giving up home runs as he has in the majors. He’s been below average overall and throws a little bit of everything.
The Condor is back in the lineup at the obvious expense of Jesus Montero. Please welcome him with quiet, respectful cawing, as is the song of his people, and reserve more enthusiastic cawing for when he actually does something positive.
DH Endy Chavez
CF James Jones
2B Robinson Cano
3B Kyle Seager
1B Logan Morrison
C Mike Zunino
RF Michael Saunders
LF Dustin Ackley
SS Rad Miller
Minor league news? Paxton threw a bullpen and his arm is still attached to his torso. Jabari Blash and Jamal Austin were suspended 50 games for drug of abuse violations (i.e., the after-school special variety, not the body building variety). Alex Jackson and Gareth Morgan both debuted last night, with Jackson going 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs, two RBI, a walk and two Ks, and Morgan going 1-for-3 with a run, three RBI, two walks and two Ks. Daydream if you must.
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62 Responses to “Game 80, Indians at Mariners”
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I’m seeing the future…And it’s the WC game…And it comes down to Rodney in the 9th…
In. The. Bag.
I love this Morrison-Rodney arrow deal.
@bookbook,
There is a huge difference between the average person who decides to smoke pot and a major/minor league ball player. The baseball player knows they are going to get tested on a regular basis. The chances they get caught are very high.
@Woodcutta,
Sure. But #1 the consequences are much less than we faced decades ago (a 50 game suspension isn’t jail, or anything close to it).
And #2 as you might suspect, future chemists and lawyers are even more future thinking and strategic about future consequences than professional athletes. – if you want to say most major league players aren’t as intelligent as a Ph.D. chemist, that wouldn’t shock anyone. These players aren’t dumb.
(#3: Heck, if my school is any guide, athletes are used to getting away with any and everything–no matter what the rules may be. It’s not surprising they internalize, at a subconscious level, that they won’t suffer consequences for breaking rules.)
Deniss, this pearl:
“… because Rodney! Lookout Landing convinced me to believe!”
It’s so fun. We have a club that, outside of one whacking huge piece and some tweaks, is Mariners-2013 2.0. And they’re playing baseball. And they’ve got a chance. They seem to have refound that long misplaced ability to create their own luck, bad or good. Rather than just getting spanked.
Although my legal drug of choice is a single malt on the rocks, I can see having a celebratory joint.
Go M’s!
Is it odd that pitchers cannot be typed? Of course it´s odd but not nearly so much as throwing a baseball ninety miles an hour (give or take) a hundred times a night (also give or take). This is an utterly unnatural act, far more unnatural than anything the usual religions condemn.
Dave’s got a great article up at Fangraphs Expected Run Differentials 2.0. The surprising thing is that according to his chart the Mariners record is exactly what you would expect it to be. That was a little unexpected for me because the last time I checked they had been outperforming their numbers.
According to the M’s run differential they’d be the second best team in baseball, but not even the most rabid M’s fan is going to believe that. But its kind of nice to know by how they are actually performing the expected standings and expected rest of year standings have them squeaking by the O’s for the last wild card spot.
The A’s and the Angels are the best 2 teams in baseball though, so I don’t think we can expect more than that.
Hell, I’ll settle for a wild card spot, and roll the dice with a one game playoff with Felix on the mound, cause its been a while.
Thank you for recognizing the context, Woodcutta.
I mean its pot – it’s not the crime of the century. The stupidity is knowing you will be tested (these minor league guys are tested all the time). All the time.
A buddy of mine has a son in the Reds organization (Pensacola) and they are pissing in cups routinely but never as part of any routine. Multiple times per month on demand. Never during a game, though.
To get so close to your ultimate professional dream and to willingly make the decision that Blash made is just silly and yeah I think its stupid. I also think he is a dumbass for doing it in season knowing the test can happen at any time. If that makes me a hard ass – for something I think – I’m fine with it.
I agree with you, Mike – but I also have vague recollections of being in my early 20s. Guys in their early 20s do stupid stuff and rarely think about the consequences – there’s even some evidence the parts of their brains that handle reasoning may not be fully functional.
I have, at times, managed young men and women in a work environment. I’ve rarely had trouble with college-age women employees; but young guys are a crapshoot.
Of course back when I was young we only had gas lamps, and got around with horse and buggies… so the passage of time may be affecting how I recollect things. I think it’s time for my nap…
Thanks Westy. I have had to deliver the “your season is now over” news to a couple of 15-16 year old basketball players – in years past (one for grades and one for violating the schools’ behavior contract that each player signs) and it’s really a pretty horrible experience for all involved. Actually, the school administrators do it, but subsequent conversations with the kids/players really aren’t too much fun. I guess the 50 year old version of me has a little different perspective than the 25 year old version of me, but not by much. When it comes down to avoidable things not being avoided, there is a certain type of finality attached to it that that is so non-sensible that it is hard to describe. Blash is on the cusp of a career pinnacle and fighting for a chance to get onto the 40 man roster. In that situation/circumstance – you just got find ways to not screw things up. You might only have one chance. Now, he is going to be subjected to 20 piss tests while sitting out for 50 games, so he will be missing out on at least two things that he seemingly enjoys. And, someone is eventually going to determine (soon) if he is worth a 40 man roster risk.
Oh no, I missed a weed debate! It’s always funny to me to hear people argue about these situations, as I am equally frustrated by the players and the leagues in these cases. Above all, I’d like to know what MiLB’s penalty is for DUI and see harsher penalties for that than for merely smoking weed.