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Branyan boast
DMZ · May 18, 2009 at 8:20 pm · Filed Under Mariners
I believe the last time a Mariner had 10 home runs by mid-May was Sexson’s 2005 when he got to ten on May 13th.
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15 Responses to “Branyan boast”
Breadbaker on
May 18th, 2009 8:25 pm
Thank you for your prompt response. My guess would have been Richie.
henryv on
May 18th, 2009 9:58 pm
Branyan really has been the biggest (positive) surprise this season.
He has been killing right handed pitching, but has been respectable against lefties, too.
Dr. Z really deserves props for signing him.
ppl on
May 18th, 2009 10:52 pm
Branyans home runs come at a much lower cost too.
kenshabby on
May 18th, 2009 10:59 pm
Could Branyan be this year’s Carlos Pena? Doubtful, but he’s been a swell addition.
dsmiley on
May 18th, 2009 11:31 pm
I’m loving Branyon so far. Easily one of the best moves/upgrades the franchise has made in recent memory. He’s like Richie, except he hits more consistently and with comperable power, doesn’t strike out as much, and avoids awkward “big sexy” jokes from Niehaus. What’s not to love?
wabbles on
May 18th, 2009 11:37 pm
Yeah, I dubbed him “Jay Buhner II” a while back. He certainly reminds me of The Bone. He is definitely one of the best off season pickups.
wabbles on
May 18th, 2009 11:40 pm
Wak said he was going to keep him in against lefties instead of platooning to build his confidence. It seems to be working.
Diehard on
May 19th, 2009 12:21 am
Glad for Branyan that he finally gets a chance to play everyday and big props to Dr. Z for signing him.
CCW on
May 19th, 2009 6:52 am
The guy has a career MLB OPS of .824 (including a few really bad years early on in his career), yet the closest he has come to a starting job before this year was in 2002, when he played 134 games, split between two different teams. I find that to be amazing. How did Billy Beane never sign him?
G-Man on
May 19th, 2009 7:56 am
I have been surprised for years that Branyan has kicked around MLB so much.I recall at least one off season when I saw him as one of the best guys we could have gone after as freely available talent, but I evisioned him as a part-time player, never imaging he had this in him.
Actually, I don’t think he has this in him over a full season, but let’s ride it as long as it lasts.
Branyan’s career split against LH pitching:
.216 /.289 / .465
…and that’s including this year, where he’s gone
.300 / .326 / .600
Now, granted, he hasn’t been given a lot of opportunity to stand in against lefties — that career line against LH represents just 372 PA, 44 this year (out of 2457 total over 12 seasons), which is still well inside the SSS danger zone — and of course Safeco helps. (It’s kind of amazing that a 12 year veteran can still have something that fundamental remain clouded in statistical uncertainty.) Branyan himself insists it’s all about getting regular playing time …but all players say that. It is true that he’s already seen as many PAs against LH this season as he’s averaged in any entire year in his career, so maybe there is something to that. Or maybe he’s setting up for a regression. I certainly can’t say (though I know what I’m hoping).
“I know what Russell can do. He can put together some spans where you sit back and go, ‘That was very impressive.’ ”
He certainly was right about that (hmmm, perhaps this is a GM who knows what he’s doing?) Here’s hoping this particular “span” lasts the entire season.
rjfrik on
May 19th, 2009 10:48 am
I called this at the beginning of the season on another board when we signed him. I said he would be this years Carlos Pena.
And I think he will.
The Ancient Mariner on
May 19th, 2009 11:09 am
Does anyone have access to Branyan’s minor-league splits? I don’t remember where my old BAs are after this last move, but I don’t recall that he was viewed as strictly a platoon player coming out of the minors; it would be interesting to look at the data on that one. Maybe he just got the label prematurely.
MKT on
May 19th, 2009 12:04 pm
“I know what Russell can do. He can put together some spans where you sit back and go, ‘That was very impressive.’ â€
He certainly was right about that (hmmm, perhaps this is a GM who knows what he’s doing?) Here’s hoping this particular “span†lasts the entire season.
I hadn’t seen that quote before … if nothing else, I’m impressed by Z’s dry understatment — and that he used the word “spans”
Thank you for your prompt response. My guess would have been Richie.
Branyan really has been the biggest (positive) surprise this season.
He has been killing right handed pitching, but has been respectable against lefties, too.
Dr. Z really deserves props for signing him.
Branyans home runs come at a much lower cost too.
Could Branyan be this year’s Carlos Pena? Doubtful, but he’s been a swell addition.
I’m loving Branyon so far. Easily one of the best moves/upgrades the franchise has made in recent memory. He’s like Richie, except he hits more consistently and with comperable power, doesn’t strike out as much, and avoids awkward “big sexy” jokes from Niehaus. What’s not to love?
Yeah, I dubbed him “Jay Buhner II” a while back. He certainly reminds me of The Bone. He is definitely one of the best off season pickups.
Wak said he was going to keep him in against lefties instead of platooning to build his confidence. It seems to be working.
Glad for Branyan that he finally gets a chance to play everyday and big props to Dr. Z for signing him.
The guy has a career MLB OPS of .824 (including a few really bad years early on in his career), yet the closest he has come to a starting job before this year was in 2002, when he played 134 games, split between two different teams. I find that to be amazing. How did Billy Beane never sign him?
I have been surprised for years that Branyan has kicked around MLB so much.I recall at least one off season when I saw him as one of the best guys we could have gone after as freely available talent, but I evisioned him as a part-time player, never imaging he had this in him.
Actually, I don’t think he has this in him over a full season, but let’s ride it as long as it lasts.
Branyan has been doing eye exercises that he credits for a good bit of his success over the past few years.
Branyan’s career split against LH pitching:
.216 /.289 / .465
…and that’s including this year, where he’s gone
.300 / .326 / .600
Now, granted, he hasn’t been given a lot of opportunity to stand in against lefties — that career line against LH represents just 372 PA, 44 this year (out of 2457 total over 12 seasons), which is still well inside the SSS danger zone — and of course Safeco helps. (It’s kind of amazing that a 12 year veteran can still have something that fundamental remain clouded in statistical uncertainty.) Branyan himself insists it’s all about getting regular playing time …but all players say that. It is true that he’s already seen as many PAs against LH this season as he’s averaged in any entire year in his career, so maybe there is something to that. Or maybe he’s setting up for a regression. I certainly can’t say (though I know what I’m hoping).
When he signed Branyan, Zduriencik said
He certainly was right about that (hmmm, perhaps this is a GM who knows what he’s doing?) Here’s hoping this particular “span” lasts the entire season.
I called this at the beginning of the season on another board when we signed him. I said he would be this years Carlos Pena.
And I think he will.
Does anyone have access to Branyan’s minor-league splits? I don’t remember where my old BAs are after this last move, but I don’t recall that he was viewed as strictly a platoon player coming out of the minors; it would be interesting to look at the data on that one. Maybe he just got the label prematurely.
I hadn’t seen that quote before … if nothing else, I’m impressed by Z’s dry understatment — and that he used the word “spans”