Game 154, Mariners at Blue Jays

Mike Snow · September 25, 2009 at 3:50 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

Fister v. Halladay, 4:07.

Remember when Saunders was called up and immediately thrown to the wolves, just as the team started a run of games facing a bunch of lefthanded starters along with Roy Halladay? Well, guess who’s back in the lineup tonight.

RF-L Ichiro
CF-R Gutierrez
2B-R Lopez
DH-L Griffey
3B-R Beltre
C-R Johjima
1B-L Carp
SS-R Josh
LF-L Saunders

Comments

27 Responses to “Game 154, Mariners at Blue Jays”

  1. Kazinski on September 25th, 2009 4:13 pm

    I’d rather see Saunders thrown to the wolves against the likes of Halladay that watch Bill Hall run the bases or play left field. OK, he’s injured, I don’t blame him personally for such pathetic running, he’s a gutty performer, I just don’t watch his guts out there anymore.

    I think that is one area where Beltre sets a standard that is hard for other players to live up to. Beltre is as fun to watch with a bad shoulder or severely bruised testicle as he is when completely healthy. But Sweeney with a bad toe, Branyan with a back injury, or Hall with a quad all clearly belong on the bench.

  2. TranquilPsychosis on September 25th, 2009 4:18 pm

    I think that is one area where Beltre sets a standard that is hard practically impossible for other players to live up to.

    I fixed it for you.
    You’re welcome.

  3. hidalgo on September 25th, 2009 4:27 pm

    But what about Saunders and his bruised psyche?

  4. pinball1973 on September 25th, 2009 4:35 pm

    I like Wak, overall. I’m glad he’s here. BUT when it comes to lineup decisions and player preferences I simply do not understand him at all – and that’s sometimes worse than understanding past managers’ insane lineups, since they always explained their insanity was based on “grit” of “veteran-ness” or “leadership” or some other mythical quality that led to bad defense and fewer runs.
    When I disagree with Wak, it’s infuriating that I have no idea why he does what he does.

  5. Kazinski on September 25th, 2009 4:36 pm

    I’d like to see more Tui out at 2nd, he’s looked great so far, not withstanding botching the turn on the double play last night. But I guess Carp needs PT too, and not playing Lopez just isn’t an option while he is still chasing 110 RBI’s.

  6. Kazinski on September 25th, 2009 4:38 pm

    That’s 100 RBI’s. Although I expect he is also chasing 110.

  7. jared_kopp on September 25th, 2009 4:45 pm

    I’ve always liked Saunders as a prospect and have been tracking him for several years now. I’ve been impressed with his improvement from year to year and can’t really understand why current management has suddenly soured on him so much.

    Hopefully they just let him play from here out and give him a good look going into next year as well. I’d love to see what he can do with extended ABs.

    That he’s been up since late July(I believe) and only logged 112 Plate Appearances seems a little silly to me.

  8. hidalgo on September 25th, 2009 4:48 pm

    He better pick up the pace. He needs almost one per game. Hitting into DP’s with ducks on the pond doesn’t help,

  9. marcwolf on September 25th, 2009 4:48 pm

    I hope JR. well…but please let’s get a DH next year that is a threat for a long ball. Not just drawing a walk.

  10. Ralph_Malph on September 25th, 2009 4:50 pm

    At least they’re making Halladay throw a lot of pitches. 46 through 3.

  11. joser on September 25th, 2009 4:55 pm

    They haven’t soured on Saunders. If anything, they’re investing too much time and energy in him — they just haven’t been doing it on the field during a game. Drayer’s had several updates about this on her blog. The latest, from last night:

    Bill Hall says his quad is doing much better. He is back in the lineup tonight after Michael Saunders started in left last night. I asked Don Wakamatsu if Saunders 3 hits could earn him another start but Wak said that he still has work to do. Yes, he got three hits but Wak is looking for him to drive the ball more. The work he has been doing in the cages is to do exactly that. He kind of reminds me a little of Mike Morse who could flip a single to right all day long. Many in the organization thought that he could hit for power and that it would come along in time. With Saunders, it looks like there will be no waiting, rather intense coaching. No surprise here as coaching hitting is a passion of Wak’s. He isn’t stepping on hitting coach Alan Cockrell’s toes however. There is enough hitting work to go around. Throw in Van Burkleo who was a hitting coach in Oakland and the players don’t have to look to far when they need help with the bats.

    There’s more back when he was playing, and then when they stopped him, but you’ll have to dig through her archives yourself.

  12. pinball1973 on September 25th, 2009 4:56 pm

    And Fister looks remarkably good so far [kanock on wood]. Good location, especially.

  13. joser on September 25th, 2009 4:56 pm

    At least they’re making Halladay throw a lot of pitches. 46 through 3.

    Trouble is he could still find a way to pitch a complete game.

  14. Mike Snow on September 25th, 2009 5:07 pm

    Anybody know what the injury delay was for?

  15. Lauren, token chick on September 25th, 2009 5:10 pm

    Holy smokes. This game is looking, um, good. On Fister’s part.

    FIST-ER! FIST-ER! FIST-ER!

  16. naviomelo on September 25th, 2009 5:11 pm

    Yeah, Kenji got hit on his ungloved hand.

  17. Mike Snow on September 25th, 2009 5:17 pm

    Well, that was fun while it lasted.

  18. jared_kopp on September 25th, 2009 5:21 pm

    Fair enough joser – I was clearly wrong in saying the M’s have “soured” on Saunders. I’ll have to check out more of Drayer’s blog as that is a resource I have not tapped much.

    I would like to seem him get regular PT though. The work in the cages is great – but let’s let the kid play a bit, no? He sure hasn’t seen a lot of live pitching in the second half and while it may not hurt him irreparably in the long term, it doesn’t exactly help either.

  19. bilbo27 on September 25th, 2009 5:26 pm

    Fister is out pitching Halladay (so far). This I did not see coming. I love baseball!

  20. pinball1973 on September 25th, 2009 5:42 pm

    Fister finally left the wrong pitch in the wrong place at the wrong time. So it goes.
    It’s a good game anyway. Let’s see the offense take it back for him.

  21. jefffrane on September 25th, 2009 5:43 pm

    I do not like thee, Aaron Hill,
    The reason why I cannot spill;
    But this I know, and know it still,
    I do not like thee, Aaron Hill.

  22. pinball1973 on September 25th, 2009 5:45 pm

    Oh! Who is this catcher who actually hits the ball more often than fish fall from the blue skies? Have we seen him before?

  23. pinball1973 on September 25th, 2009 6:18 pm

    So, Halladay will most likely go to the Yankees or Red Sox. Instead of free agency like this, why not let such teams simply “buy wins” – up to some limit (10?) – and distribute the money to teams with the top free agents, who would be required to re-sign these players to receive the money.

    Crazy, but nearly anything is better than today’s system. The financial imbalance is about to finally destroy baseball in Japan (the draft is effectively dead, since the teams in need often cannot sign – at any price – their top choices, who end up with the Giants, Dragons or Hawks, while all good free agents end up with the Giants, Tigers or Dragons). MLB is hot on its trail.
    Bill James was right. Now he’s an adviser to one of the problems,

  24. kenshabby on September 25th, 2009 6:30 pm

    A Silva sighting! Oh, joy.

  25. Colm on September 25th, 2009 10:27 pm

    Applause to jefffrane, who just gave me more enjoyment with that quatrain than the game could have done.

    Non amo te, Sabidi.

  26. Paul B on September 26th, 2009 7:19 am

    I noticed that Silva is still the fly ball pitcher he was before he went on the DL.

    I’m guessing that means his sinker still isn’t sinking.

  27. msb on September 26th, 2009 9:17 am

    The work in the cages is great – but let’s let the kid play a bit, no? He sure hasn’t seen a lot of live pitching in the second half and while it may not hurt him irreparably in the long term, it doesn’t exactly help either.

    The plan is for him to go to winter ball this year, so he will be seeing more live pitching

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