SB Nation - Michael Saunders

Thinking About The Possible Trade Package For A Moment

Jeff — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:07:42 -0000

Note: if Happ and/or Blanton are involved, and they're coming here, then that would change things, but I'm not going to speculate any more than I have to.

So, we can't yet be sure what we're going to be giving up here, but that doesn't mean we can't make some educated guesses and speculate.

The big key, for me, is Michael Saunders. I've made no secret of how much I like Saunders, and how I think he compares pretty favorably to a guy like Randy Winn. Despite his initial Major League flop, Saunders is an athletic 23 year old corner outfielder who runs well, plays easy defense, has a solid idea of the strike zone, and who hits for reasonable power from the left side of the plate. Like Winn, he doesn't excel at any one thing, but he earns good marks pretty much across the board, making him a smart gamble with medium upside. Being that he's under team control for six years, Saunders is a greatly underrated asset, and I would really hate to lose him here. Cliff Lee is awesome, but I'd have a tough time stomaching the sacrifice of six years of Saunders for (probably) one of Lee when the team still isn't that strong.

After Saunders, though...honestly, if you remove Saunders from the equation, it's hard to come up with a package that I wouldn't like. Brandon Morrow would be a loss, but he doesn't have the same team control duration as Saunders, and he's way less dependable. Morrow didn't make any progress last year, he has yet to show any ability to stick as a starter, and his secondary stuff hasn't developed from where it was when he was drafted. Morrow's been blessed with incredible talent, but he hasn't built on it, which makes him easier to lose.

And then you end up talking about minor leaguers, Phillippe Aumont's being the most recognizable name. But, at least as a Mariner, Aumont's in the bullpen. Relievers simply aren't very valuable unless they develop into the best of the best, and the odds are against that happening. While Aumont has great stuff and should make the Majors, it's questionable whether he ever gains the command to reach the upper level. Then you've got guys like Juan Ramirez, a solid but by no means can't-miss starter in high-A, and Tyson Gillies, a slap-hitting speedy outfielder with low upside...these are nice prospects to have, but they're not the sort of prospects you freak out over when you have the opportunity to land a Cliff Lee. Carlos Triunfel would kind of suck to lose, but I don't think he'd be moved after a lost season.

I don't know what the Mariners are going to surrender in this deal. There are plenty of rumors circling around, but no confirmation. With that said, as long as Michael Saunders isn't involved - and I'm guessing that he isn't - I think I'm going to be thrilled. It's weird for a team in Seattle's situation to go after a potential one-year star like Cliff Lee, but when you don't actually have to lose that much of significant value, you seize the chance without a second thought. Let this be a lesson to those of you who thought our front office was too concerned with efficiency to land a big name - Jack Zduriencik is one ballsy son of a bitch.

MLB Trade Rumors: Phils Trade for Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee on his way to Seattle?

raygu — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:12:11 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

2 months ago: Toronto Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay is hugged by catcher Rod Barajas after Halladay threw a three-hitter in Toronto's 12-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox in a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

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Lots of rumors today after a boring weekend. It appears that the Phillies are talking contract extension with Roy Halladay according to Jim Salisbury from Comcast Sports, and Halladay and his agent have checked into a Philadelphia area hotel, according to Andy Martino from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Here is what Salisbury wrote:

It is unclear which players the Phillies would send to the Blue Jays if the deal happens, but there were indications Monday that pitcher Cliff Lee could be traded. Trading Lee would help the Phillies get the prospects needed to complete the deal with Toronto. It would also free up $9 million in salary that would help the Phillies take on Halladay’s $15.75 million salary for 2010.

It appears the Blue Jays and Phillies may be involved in a three-team deal that Foxsports Ken Rosenthal speculated about a few days ago. Toronto could reap a bunch of prospects from the Phillies and the 3rd team, similar to how the Pirates reaped 4 prospects in dealing outfielder Jason Bay two years ago.

According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, the deal is done, but no sign of what prospects the Blue Jays are getting:

3-way trade agreed to with halladay going to phils, cliff lee to mariners. phils trying to lock up roy now.
sorry, quick trigger finger. #mariners definitely the third team. checking now with cliff lee is the pltcher they get.

Update (5:03pm) from Foxsports Jon Morosi:

Source says Aumont (from SEA) and M. Taylor (from PHI) among players heading to TOR.

I hope this is true as I traded for Phillies outfield prospect Domonic Brown a few weeks ago in the UBA league.

Update (6:00pm) from MLB.com's Todd Zolecki

Zolecki just mentioned in an ESPN interview that pitching prospect Kyle Drabek may be part of the deal, as the Jays insisted on Drabek be included in their offer back in July.

Update (6:08pm) from ESPN's Jayson Stark:

According to a source who spoke with two teams involved in the trade, Toronto would get highly regarded Mariners pitching prospect Phillippe Aumont, Phillies catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud and another Phillies prospect in exchange for Halladay. Indications are that the Phillies have balked at Toronto's repeated requests for outfielder Domonic Brown, and the Phillies are offering highly touted outfielder Michael Taylor instead.

Ok that's two sources saying Brown is not in the deal.

Update (6:38pm) from SI.com's Jon Heyman

hearing aumont is likely in #mariners pending deal for cliff lee. perhaps michael saunders, too. morrow may stay.

Update (8:41pm) from Jim Salisbury from Comcast Sports:

Once the extension is complete, the Phillies are expected send three prospects to Toronto. A source identified those prospects as Drabek, outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Travis D’Arnaud. The Blue Jays would also get a prospect from Seattle, possibly Canadian pitcher Phillippe Aumont. The Phillies could also end up with a prospect from Seattle. The Mariners are a key to the deal as they are expected to get Lee and his $9 million salary from the Phillies. The Phillies have a strict $140 million payroll so moving Lee appears to be a necessity.

Update (9:47pm) from Bob Elliot from the Toronto Sun:

RHP Phillippe Aumont is in the Halladay deal -- but not coming to the Jays. He's going to the Phillies

Update (10:23pm) from ESPN's Jayson Stark:

The specifics of the trade took some twists and turns on Monday. The trade's latest structure would send Phillies outfielder Michael Taylor, Phillies catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud and a Phils pitcher -- either Kyle Drabek or J.A. Happ -- to Toronto, sources said. And indications Monday night were that that pitcher was likely to be Drabek. Under that scenario, the Phillies would not have to include their top position-player prospect, Domonic Brown, and they would receive Seattle's top pitching prospect, Phillippe Aumont, who originally appeared ticketed for Toronto.

The Phillies also would receive one other prospect -- believed to be 21-year-old outfielder Tyson Gillies -- from Seattle in exchange for Lee, who is a year away from free agency.

Philly fans would be ecstatic if Drabek was NOT in the deal.

More to follow.

Full of Hitting Depth

Matthew — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:48:25 -0000

Ryan Langerhans, Bill Hall, Michael Saunders, Jack Hannahan, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Carp and Matt Tuiasosopo. Those are the people currently on the 40-man roster who profile as bench bats or a starter at designated hitter, first base or left field for 2010. That's seven names for six spots (the three starting jobs plus three bench roles) and that's before we sign anyone else. Heaven forbid those are the seven Don Wakamatsu has to pick from for those last six spots come end of Spring Training.

Here is where I would love to throw in some clear facts on which players have options remaining, but MLB's player option rules are murkier than lead and so the best I can do are educated guesses. Langerhans, Hall, Hannahan and Griffey are out of options while it appears that Saunders, Carp and Tuiasosopo all have two options remaining.

If the Mariners add two more bats in the DH/1B mold (say Nick Johnson and Russell Branyan), then clearly Carp and Tui head back to Tacoma. However, that still leaves seven players for six spots. The consensus so far has been that Saunders is penciled in as the starting left fielder and thus Ryan Langerhans would appear to be the odd man out, a victim of a overprotective seven-men bullpen. I wonder though, given Saunders struggles in his Seattle showcase, and the roster situation, would it not make more sense to send Saunders back to Tacoma, he only has 387 PAs at the Triple-A level after all, and start the season with a Langerhans/Hall platoon in left field?

If the team only adds one more hitter, then this is moot, but given that it appears the team considers neither first base nor designated hitter filled, it seems an interesting discussion to be had, one with reasonable arguments on multiple sides.

It is also a key discussion no matter where the second hitter is added. If the team did manage to sign Adrian Beltre, and held onto Jose Lopez, then Chone Figgins would get moved to left field and Michael Saunders demoted. Or if the team inked Mike Cameron, same result for Saunders. In either case a lock for the team replaces one of your optionable players and takes a roster spot up, once again forcing you into a two spots for three guys decision.

Things I Learned Watching A Few Hours Of The Venezuelan Winter League

Jeff — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:19:52 -0000

The whole reason I tuned in in the first place was to watch Michael Saunders. Venezuela makes the third country in which Mike doesn't know when to take the bat off his shoulders.

Road team uniforms in the VWL are equipped with external brassieres, presumably in an effort to shame the wearer.

Venezuelan tools and American tools are a lot alike.

Watching a game in the VWL is completely unlike watching a game in the Majors for me, and not just because I don't care about the results. While Major League Baseball remains in large part unpredictable, I know a lot about it. I know a lot about how it works and I know a lot about the players, so if I'm watching a game, then in any given situation I can't help but call on my knowledge in thinking about all the most likely outcomes. If Willie Ballgame goes up against Mariano Rivera, I know Willie's probably not going to get on base, and he's almost certainly not going to go deep. If the Orioles play the Yankees, I know the Yankees are probably going to clobber them to death. If Miguel Batista is pitching to anyone, I know it's probably going to be annoying. I'm just constantly and instinctively thinking about everything I know such that games lose a bit of that magic I used to feel when I was a kid.

When I'm watching the VWL, though, I don't know shit about what's going on, I don't know shit about most of the players, and even if there's a guy with whom I'm somewhat familiar, I generally don't know shit about when he's in. I don't even know who the Cardenales de Lara were playing. It's just...baseball, competitive, high-level baseball as unblemished by understanding as any baseball I'm ever gonna be able to watch. I kind of knew when Saunders was hitting, and I kind of knew when Luis Valbuena was hitting, but outside of that, between the nameless uniforms and the dearth of graphics and the Spanish-language broadcast, it was just an onslaught of Game, a game about which I never once remarked "well of course he missed that" or "he should've thrown the changeup."

It's easy to say that learning so much about the numbers has enhanced my enjoyment of the sport, but the sport itself is fun enough as it is, and I can't fault anyone for not wanting to jeopardize the love they already feel by going off in pursuit of a better understanding. For many, the basics are sufficient.

I know that teams in the VWL will bring in a handful of American imports, but when you're navigating a Spanish-language website about a team in Venezuela, there are certain things you don't expect to see on the front page. This is one of them.

The phrase "sabor Venezolano" came up during the broadcast at least eight or nine times. I don't know enough Spanish to know if the announcers were referring to a particular style of baseball or if they were trying to sell me something delicious.

There were a lot of PA sound effects during certain parts of the game, such as that string sample from Psycho, suggesting that Lara's adversary has the same production budget as the Rangers.

Luis Ugueto plays for Lara. Remember Luis Ugueto? Hasn't been in a Major League organization for two years. Spent 2008 playing in Italy of all places before signing on with an independent team in Laredo. He is one of ten players on that team with a size that isn't listed as 0'0, 0 lbs. One of his teammates is named Robert Moron.

Sometimes the stadium PA would chime in with the notes to the Ole! chant, only instead of being the familiar sort, their version was played in a minor key that made it 1000% more unsettling.

The crowd wasn't huge, but it was spirited. I don't want to say that Americans are worse baseball fans (or sports fans in general), because truth be told it's just a difference in culture, but every time I watch a sporting event overseas I wish that fans here would make half as much noise. It's a difference in culture, but that part of our culture sucks.

Venezuelans believe in Santa, and their Santa puts his trust in Banco Federal.

79-73, Game Notes

Jeff — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:44:57 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

My ankles just screamed.

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Akinori Iwamura's triple narrowly eluded Franklin Gutierrez. Michael Saunders was barely beaten home by a throw by Ben Zobrist. B.J. Upton's go-ahead single was a chopper to third that's normally a routine out. Bill Hall's long fly in the ninth was caught at the top of the wall. Baseball is a game of inches, and had just one or two of these plays gone the other way, we would've had a completely different meaningless result.

Like all Mariner fans, I am frustrated by Brandon Morrow, but to his credit he remains a guy I'll drive home a little too fast to watch. The very nature of inconsistency and unpredictability is such that there always exists the possibility that he'll put it together for seven or eight innings, and a pitcher with that assortment putting it together for a little while can be something to behold.

I try to remind myself of that every time I come away disappointed. This was just the latest Morrow appearance featuring a couple steps forward and a couple steps back, and though he looked terrific for a little while there and did a great job of tying up Upton in the fourth, he didn't have a whole lot working and came undone in the sixth when consecutive walks got him yanked after just 73 pitches. I don't know if this was the plan all along, or if Wak had seen enough, or if he didn't want Brandon to let some negatives erase his positives, or whatever, but for better or worse, few pitchers possess Morrow's ability to stop and start in the blink of an eye. Today those final nine pitches turned this from an effort to build off into something a lot more familiar.

Maybe this is a situation similar to that of Ian Snell. Maybe it'd be for the best to just let Morrow work on what he's working on and take another look at him next March. I dunno. All I can say is that, right now, Brandon Morrow is to me as pancakes are to Mitch Hedberg.

Remember Josh Wilson's hot streak? Today he crossed the 100 PA mark with the Mariners and stands with a .221/.267/.368 batting line. I understand that none of us are accustomed to getting much of anything out of shortstop, so any positive contributions from the position are amplified, and Wilson's shown a pretty good ability to make that catch over the shoulder, but this is all he is, and if what he is gets you excited, that's less a celebration of Wilson and more an indictment of his predecessors.

Sometime in the middle innings, Dave Sims remarked that the Mariners [were] an oustanding 32-17 in one-run games. "There's the difference between this year and last year," added Mike Blowers. Indeed, the difference between this year and last year is that this year we have more wins.

In the top of the eighth, with a man on first and a one-run lead, Kenji Johjima worked a 3-0 count before fouling out to the catcher. I can think of no clearer sign that you just royally fucked up.

This was a bad night for the broadcast's timing, by the way. In the fourth, Sims mentioned that Morrow was doing a great job of pitching to contact, and Morrow then immediately struck out Upton with three swinging strikes. In the sixth, Sims and Blowers were talking about how much better Garrett Olson is out of the bullpen, and just as they were saying that he doesn't have to think as much in relief he allowed a two-run triple off the wall. Then in the eighth they ran footage of Mark Lowe discussing how good the team's been when it scores four runs, and Lowe proceeded to cough up the tying and winning runs. I'm glad the conversation never steered towards Felix's contract situation.

An 8.5 inning game between two teams going nowhere featured twelve pitchers, with exactly none of the relievers being untested prospects. Joe Maddon used three pitchers to face four batters in the eighth. Sims said with just a little choler in his voice after the final out that this was managed as if it were a Game 7, and though I get what they were doing and find winning as much as possible to be a noble intent, Christ, really? Brian Shouse threw one pitch. Though all the managerial intervention may have improved each team's chances of winning, I'm sure they could've achieved a reasonable approximation by doing less. If baseball wants to try and make itself more universally watchable, it has to do something about mid-inning pitching changes.

Of course, the funny thing about pitching changes is that once they get to a certain point, you just want it to become a battle of wills, duration be damned. When Maddon went to his third pitcher of the eighth, I wanted Beltre to get on base, not just because I wanted more runs, but also because I wanted to see how far Maddon would go. Beltre singled, and though Springer stayed in, he fell behind Johjima 3-0, and God only knows what would've happened had he walked instead of popped out. Hannahan's left-handed. Better go to the bullpen! What if Hannahan reaches? Then you've got the righty Wilson to deal with. Better go to the bullpen! And if Wilson reaches, you've got the lefties Saunders and Ichiro...

Pitching changes, like everything annoying, are annoying, then more annoying, then less annoying, then hilarious.

Making his first start in two and a half weeks, Michael Saunders went 3-3 with two hits the other way and one unfortunate play at the plate that should've been attempted one fly ball earlier. Based on a sample size of this game, players perform at a considerably higher level when they pretty much get 16 days completely off. We're gonna need a bigger roster.

Ichiro: 2-4, .3550
Mauer: 1-4, .3714

Game 122: Indians 4, Mariners 3 (11 Innings)

Ryan — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:18:51 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

4 months ago: Cleveland Indians' Luis Valbuena, top right, is congratulated by teammates after hitting a game-winning solo home run off Seattle Mariners pitcher Randy Messenger in the 11th inning in a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009, in Cleveland. The Indians won 4-3. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

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After giving up three first-inning runs, Aaron Laffey and the rest of the Indians pitching staff held the Mariners off the board. Aaron had his share of troubles, giving up 10 base runners in his seven innings of work. But he kept the Indians in the game, and when Michael Saunders couldn't catch a relatively routine Luis Valbuena fly ball, the Indians were in a position to tie the game.

The most dramatic change as the season has gone on has been the bullpen's metamorphosis from basket case to a genuinely promising group of young relievers. Chris Perez, who has quickly become the top setup man on the team, recovered after giving up a leadoff double to retire the next three Mariners in the eighth. All three outs (two strikeouts and a fly ball) came with a runner on third. After Wood pitched the ninth, Eric Wedge went with matchup baseball, bringing in Tony Sipp, then Joe Smith, and finally Rafael Perez. Perez has been torched by left-handers this season, gave up a hard-hit single to the left-handed Saunders, but somehow got Ichiro to pop up harmlessly on a 3-0 pitch to end the top of the eleventh.

The Indians finally broke through in the bottom of the inning, when Luis Valbuena hammered a walk-off homer down the right field line.

Next Up: Carmona vs. Hernandez, 1:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

HIghest WPA		Lowest WPA
Luis Valbuena	.509	Jhonny Peralta	-.228
Joe Smith	.230	Asdrubal Cabrera	-.214
Kerry Wood	.143	Shin-Soo Choo	-.148

62-58, Game Notes

Jeff — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:12:04 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

If I keep talking about how Carlos Silva is on the way I'm going to start feeling like Gabbo.

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Question: Does the best team always win the World Series?

Hypothesis: The best team doesn't always win the World Series

Experiment: Ian Snell, Mariners vs. Justin Verlander, Tigers

Result: Ian Snell, Mariners > Justin Verlander, Tigers

Conclusion: The best team doesn't always win the World Series

Justin Verlander has a 28-strikeout lead over second place in the American League. Last year Carlos Silva didn't record his 28th strikeout until June 4th.

I'm thrilled that Ian Snell was able to pick up his first win as a Mariner. I really am. The guy has been through a lot this year, and earning his first win with Seattle should only be of help in his attempt to put everything in Pittsburgh behind him. With that said, just as I didn't think he was as bad as his eight runs against New York last week, he definitely wasn't as good as his one run tonight against Detroit. He only threw 54 strikes out of 98 pitches, he walked more than he struck out, he missed just six bats, and he fell behind 16 of the 23 batters he faced - including 12 of the last 14. The strike zone was dancing around on him all night, and it cut into his efficiency.

Here's the good news, though. Yeah, Snell missed a lot, but do you know where he missed?

via brooksbaseball.net
As a comparison, here's how Justin Verlander pitched. Now look back at Snell. Of his 44 balls, only seven - seven! - wound up more than 22 inches off the ground. When he missed, he missed low. It wasn't just his misses, either; most of his strikes were low, too. Snell was just pounding the lower half of the zone for the duration of his outing, and though he wasn't always able to hit his spot, he stayed around the right area, which prevented the Tigers from doing too much damage. That strikes me as a good way to help a struggling pitcher build some much-needed confidence.

If you're curious, here's what Snell looked like in his first start as a Mariner, his second, and his third. I think it's safe to say they had a different game plan today than in the past, and Johjima says as much on Drayer's blog.

The fastball [Johjima] said was good if it was kept down. To help keep Snell's focus down on all of his pitches Joh dropped to a one knee on the ground stance which he admitted made it a bit more difficult for him to block pitches. Despite this he felt it was important to keep his focus there so dropped to one knee as much as situations would allow.
Another part of the new game plan, from both Drayer's blog and the PITCHfx data, was getting Snell to throw more offspeed stuff. His final mix was 50 fastballs, 30 sliders, and 18 changeups, so they definitely executed that aspect of it as well, albeit with mixed results as far as throwing strikes is concerned. Still, it's good to see them trying new things, and it's good to see Snell have the sort of game he can feel good about. If the turnaround happens, it's not going to happen all at once. There are a lot of different things that Snell's working on right now, and we can't expect him to make all the adjustments in a day. Personally, I think that, if Snell's able to rediscover his old identity, we won't really see it until next spring. But having games like this along the way can only help. Posting good results will help Snell buy into the system, and I trust the system.

Another thing Snell's working on (he must feel like a college student going from one class to another), according to Drayer's Twitter, is:

Minor adjustment by Adair, wanted to get his front foot pointing towards the plate rather than to the 3rd base dugout
Here's what they want him to look like.

Here's what he looked like in his first start as a Mariner.

Here's what he looked like tonight.

Now, I think that last picture is a little misleading. I watched a lot of video on the MLB.tv archived footage, and Snell was still pointing his foot to the right of home plate a little bit. He's not "fixed" by any stretch of the imagination. But he did have his moments, and that's progress. Back when I used to pitch, the direction of the landing foot was a little thing that, for me, made a lot of difference - when I pointed my toes more towards first base (I'm a lefty) it felt like I was throwing over myself, like my front leg was sort of impeding forward motion. When I pointed my toes towards home, though, it was a much more fluid motion, and I had a better ability to spot the ball.

I'm not going to say that this will be the mechanical tweak that solves Ian Snell. Foot direction meant something to me, but it may not mean anything at all to him. That said, after going through some video, it seems to me that he did a better job of pointing towards home plate in 2007, so I'm definitely all about the team doing what it can to get him back to looking how he used to look. If they can get him landing better and feeling comfortable about it, something tells me we'll start to see him throwing more strikes.

Rob Johnson was available today. There was no reason for him not to be. And yet, with a pitcher struggling to find his way on the mound, we saw Kenji Johjima behind the plate. This interests me, because you'd think a team who believes in the Rob Johnson hype would want Johnson working with Snell, but it also makes me mad, because now we probably won't get to see Kenji square off against Jarrod Washburn.

Snell's fastest pitch tonight was 93.8mph.

I'm going to stick with the Snell subject a little while longer, because he's by far the most interesting guy to talk about today. One other thing I'll mention about him is that that 11-pitch at bat against Carlos Guillen in the sixth inning really went to show what can happen when you don't have an out pitch against left-handed hitters. If you thought that at bat felt like something out of Sean Green's playbook, you weren't the only one. Snell kept trying to get something by him or induce weak contact, but Guillen wasn't having any of it, and he just stayed in and fouled things off until Snell made a mistake. I won't say "get used to things like that," because 11-pitch at bats are highly unusual, but when we said that Snell struggles with lefties, this is what we were talking about. He just doesn't have the consistent changeup you need to be solid all around, and as such he will live and die by how well he can throw strikes to righties. Even if he gets good again, he'll still be pretty frustrating.

I think my favorite part of any winning broadcast is when Mike Blowers starts going on about how the secret behind David Aardsma's breakthrough season is greatly improved command of his fastball. Because even if his fastball command is greatly improved, what?

You know, considering the number of lefties he's faced, I'd say it's pretty impressive that Michael Saunders is one Chris Gimenez leap away from a .281/.324/.375 batting line. He's shown decent discipline, he looks beyond comfortable in left field, and tonight he put the ball in play in all four at bats while getting ahead of Verlander all three times he faced him. Saunders hasn't exactly had the softest big league landing imaginable, but he's managed, and for the time being I have zero complaints. I'd really like to see him maybe walk against a lefty once though.

My understanding is that rain is threatening tomorrow's 10:05am start time. Which might be just as well, because maybe it's not the best thing in the world to send a shorthanded and mediocre group of hitters up against a starting pitcher who knows each of their weaknesses.

56-51, Game Notes

Jeff — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:42:11 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

Colon looks in, gets his sign, and readies for the pitch to CAT CAT THERE IS A CAT ON THE FIELD EVERYBODY PAY ATTENTION TO THE CAT

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I've learned something about myself these last two nights. Honestly, I don't know why it never dawned on me until just now. And what I've learned is that, for all the talk about how offense is exciting and chicks dig the longball and the Rockies kept selling out because there was non-stop action, for me - and I'm only talking about me, here - while high-scoring games can be a fun change of pace from time to time, they rapidly lose their appeal as they start to drag on. Which, in turn, means that duration is a bigger determinant in how much I enjoy watching a baseball game than the level of offense. In terms of an equation:

Enjoyment = Aα + Bβ + Cγ + Dδ +…

There are a whole lot of different factors that can affect how much I enjoy watching a baseball game. Leverage. Significance. Whether the Mariners win or lose. And so on. All of those things are included above as separate variables. But what I've learned tonight is that

If α = level of offense and β = duration

Then B > A

The first two games of this series have taken something like seven combined hours to complete. I'm glad the M's came out on top of both of them, but rather than happy and enthralled, all I've been for much of those seven hours is bored and annoyed. Congratulations, Mariners - your wins have taken so long that at several points I've lost interest and felt like a bad fan for doing so. That's not how this is supposed to work.

Thank you for winning. Winning is neat. Now just please do me the courtesy of hurrying up.

Reflecting on his performance and then looking at the box score, Luke French pitched a better game than his line would suggest. Both home runs were on pitches I imagine he'd like to have back - particularly Gordon's, which came on a high-80s 1-0 fastball literally in the center of the zone - but outside of those, I thought he looked pretty good for what he is. Though both the TV radar gun and the PITCHf/x reported velocities seemed high, French still got some fastballs up there at 90+ and he seems to have "sneaky" heat, in that his fastballs look faster than they really are. I don't know what causes that sort of thing, but that was my impression, and by and large he was able to put it where he wanted.

As for French's secondary pitches - for one thing, he threw them a lot. 43% offspeed on the game. And for another, they were effective. 26 of 38 were thrown for strikes, six missed bats, and only one was hit particularly hard. What's interesting is that, where he came in having excelled with his slider, tonight it was his changeup that stole the show. Although I guess that was mostly the doings of Miguel Olivo, who swung at five changeups and missed four of them. Still, Olivo's a big league hitter, and French's change threw him for a loop. It's encouraging to see him working off that pitch pretty well since it was a big part of his success in AAA.

When you look at French's fastball and tendency to pitch up in the zone, you'd think he's always due to get shelled. But throw in a pair of good offspeed pitches and an ability to move the ball around the zone and you get a guy who's better than being just another Garrett Olson. Olson couldn't even throw strikes today with a giant lead. French threw strikes with more than two-thirds of his pitches. A skeptic might call him "Garrett Olson with command," but Garrett Olson with command isn't Garrett Olson anymore, and that's why I think French could be a pretty good piece. When you can locate and work against both lefties and righties, you've got an excellent chance of contributing at the Major League level. Though hardly spectacular, what I saw from French tonight only served to confirm my moderately optimistic expectations.

I can't get over how uncomfortable and awkward Olson looks in a baseball uniform. I know that sounds weird but you'll notice it too the next time you see him, and then that's all you'll be able to see for the rest of the season. I don't like to wear shorts. However, I get hot really easily, so I went to try on some shorts the other day, but when I put them on I didn't at all feel like myself. That's how I see Garrett Olson in a baseball uniform. Like he doesn't have any confidence in his image because he's wearing something he doesn't think suits his body.

I think it's high time we give this segment a new name.

As if the 222 games of Major League experience weren't enough of a clue that Koplove isn't going to be making any prospect lists, Dave Sims chimed in with - and this is an exact quote - "Didn't even know he was still bouncing around baseball. Thought he hung 'em up."

Any act of building is building to the future. This is like Mitch Hedberg/every picture is of you when you were younger all over again.

In the top of the third inning, Michael Saunders ripped a 3-1 low-inside fastball down the right field line for his first ever Major League triple. As a starter, Kyle Davies has a career 5.92 tRA over nearly 500 innings. I wonder if it still counts as your first career Major League triple if you hit it off a AAA arm.

As evidenced by the promotion at Kauffman today, 80s Night is a popular phenomenon for people of all ages. It gives them an excuse to wear clothes they'd never wear, use words they'd never use, sing along to songs they'd never sing along to, and generally just celebrate a memorable but nevertheless thankfully distant decade that hasn't stood the test of time. It's an opportunity for people college-aged or older to reflect on all the stupid shit they used to like so many eons ago, and for people high school-aged or younger to look at their parents and wonder what the hell was wrong with them. Now here's a thought: the Royals haven't won more than 84 games in a season since 1989, and they haven't made the playoffs since 1985.

Miguel Batista inherited a 10-4 lead and threw 14 strikes out of 28 pitches. Garrett Olson inherited an 11-5 lead and threw 20 strikes out of 37 pitches. Without being able to record catcher glove location prior to each pitch, we don't have a real good measure of pitcher command. Strike rate in blowouts, however, might be a useful proxy, because there's no good reason to nibble around the edges. Hey, by that test, guess which relievers of ours who pitched today don't have good command?

Yuniesky Betancourt as a Royal:

OSwing%: 22.9% (25.0% league average)
ZSwing%: 67.5% (65.7% league average)
Zone%: 63.2% (49.3% league average)

Over the last 30 days, Yuni's Zone% - the percentage of pitches thrown within the strike zone - has been the highest in baseball, 4% above Jason Kendall. Pitchers are clearly just going right after him, not the least bit afraid that he's going to deliver much damage. In Yuni's defense, though, at least his discipline looks to be quite a bit better. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions because there are sample size issues here to take into consideration, but as a member of the Royals, Yuni has swung at fewer balls out of the strike zone than the average Major Leaguer. If you remember what he was like as an M, that's just a little bit flabbergasting. For them, this is an encouraging sign of progress. And I actually think that's pretty cool.

Jack Hannahan got to play two innings in the field at short in relief of Jack Wilson, diving at but missing a groundball single. I'm surprised the Mariners are giving him the opportunity to work on his versatility at the Major League level, but I'm also ecstatic, because the prospect of Hannahan as a utility player tickles me in all the right places, and this way I don't have to watch any Chris Woodward. Hannahan's approach to hitting makes it really, really hard for me to believe he's as bad as his numbers, and should his plus defense translate to other positions around the infield, he could very well turn out to be quite the find.

A cat running around the living room: not interesting. A cat running around the street and the sidewalk: somewhat interesting. A cat running around the living room of someone who doesn't own a cat: more interesting. A cat running around a baseball field during the middle of a game: maximum level of interest. Whenever something like this happens, the critter invariably ends up drawing a greater ovation than pretty much anything that happens during the game, which makes me think that zoos have it all wrong. The key to making an animal interesting isn't so much presenting the animal itself as it is presenting the animal in a situation in which people don't expect an encounter. I'd find our zoo way less boring if I only saw animals in surprising situations.

52-48, Quick Game Notes

Jeff — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:21:51 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

This man is on our team.

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There is a lot that could be written about this game. Alas, after news broke that Jeff Clement had been pulled from the lineup and traded in a package to an unknown team for an unknown return, I kind of forgot there was a game altogether, so I will not be the one to write it. A man with a very limited ability to focus on more than one thing at once has to prioritize, and trade speculation always beats an entertaining but ultimately pretty meaningless win. Give people a choice between a free burrito and a mystery box and they'll take the mystery box every time.

So here are a few fleeting remarks (update: I'm a liar):

I haven't the foggiest idea why teams in this day and age still send scouts to watch a 34 year old pitcher with 1800 innings of Major League experience, but those who were in attendance to see Jarrod Washburn got what they should've expected. A bunch of innings, a lot of contact, an ability to hang around the edges of the zone, and a no decision. Working in our favor is that teams who put great weight on the input of these scouts will probably care more about the one run than the three walks and one strikeout. "He pitched himself out of jams!" This was hardly Jarrod's best start of the year, but against a lineup with eight righties in it, there's only so much he could've done, and there's certainly no way his trade value is any lower now than it was before the game.

Worth noting is that Jarrod registered only three swinging strikes on 102 pitches. Now there was obviously a lot on his mind and it would only be human of him to let the uncertainty affect his performance, but that aside, over his past five starts he has a strike rate of 62.6% and a swinging strike rate of 5.6%. Compare that to 2007's 62.4% and 5.8%. Jarrod has unquestionably been a better pitcher through ~4 months than he was in recent seasons, but it'll be interesting to see where his numbers end up. Five starts aren't more meaningful than 20 starts, but when someone takes an unexpected step forward you always have to be aware of a possible trend back to his career averages.

Flipper Report: 9 thrown, 5 balls, 2 called strikes, 1 swinging strike, 1 fly out to center. The one he threw to Raul Chavez was splendid. The one he threw to Vernon Wells was less splendid.

Somehow Michael Saunders taking a home run away from Vernon Wells doesn't quite make up for Chris Gimenez taking a home run away from Michael Saunders. Next time we face the Indians we should bean him. That play wasn't spectacular because of range, but rather because Saunders was able to leap to pull down a ball few other left fielders would've been able to scrape. Big kid.

Ronny :(edeno since I decided to "chalk one up to in-season ZiPS": .069/.069/.069. I call takebacksies.

I don't think Ichiro's first career walk-off hit could've possibly been more him.

How improbable is it that he never had one of these until now?

If ever - ever - there were a player capable of improving others simply by being around them, it's Mike Sweeney. Sweeney can barely do anything on the field anymore these days, but it's clear that he's beloved by literally every single person in the clubhouse, and seeing him rush out to be the first one to Ichiro so he could give him a hug...you know, I imagine there were bets and dares on who would do what when Ichiro finally got a walk-off, but Sweeney cast all of that aside and picked the little bastard up. And Ichiro laughed. It is impossible to watch that replay and not at least consider that maybe there's a good reason why Sweeney's still here.

Chris Gimenez Is Fair

Jeff — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:35:08 -0000

Be you warned, for here there be .gifs.