Seattle Mariners

So far this year Joe Saunders has been not unlike the Mariners - that is to say, he's been bad. He was advertised as a Jason Vargas clone, a lefty fly ball pitcher who could eat lots of innings and post a good BB/K but would give up a few too many road home runs to be anything more than a mid-rotation starter. Which was a great idea, in theory. I loved the Vargas/Morales/Saunders chain of moves. Right now, though... not so much. After a bumpy start to the season Vargas has settled in and stopped allowing home runs, becoming a good starting pitcher and the most consistent cog in the Angels' rotation. Morales has been valuable, too, but thanks to Saunders' lackluster performance Vargas has outproduced he and Morales combined by both bWAR and fWAR. The problem is that Saunders has degenerated into a caricature of himself. He's always been a LOOGY in disguise, but this season it's gotten absurd: Saunders, 2013 K BB XBH vR 13 17 25 vL 9 3 1 That's right: Joe Saunders has allowed twenty-five extra base hits to right-handed hitters so far this year. Seventeen have been two-baggers, which means that if "2013 Righties Against Joe Saunders" was a hitter, that hitter would be tied for third in MLB in doubles. Since opposing managers now stack their lineups with nothing but righties every time Saunders comes to town, this has been understandably disastrous for him. But because sportswriting is all about creating narratives, the narrative with Joe Saunders has been his home/road performance. See, even though pitcher wins and losses are really stupid, Saunders had never received a pitcher loss at Safeco Field (until tonight). It makes some sense that he would do well at the Mariners' home field, since Safeco is notoriously friendly to left-handed fly ball pitchers and Saunders is a left-handed fly ball pitcher, but eventually he was going to regress his home/road splits. For some reason, it had to be tonight. Right on the end of a five-game losing streak. There are two options, really. Either a) Joe Saunders is a staunch defender of truth and won't allow us to carry on with lazy narratives, or b) Joe Saunders isn't a very good pitcher. Take your pick. Bullet points! Jesus Sucre made his major league debut tonight in the most bizarre manner possible: getting called out at first base without the first baseman actually catching the ball. Behold. Speaking of Jesus Sucre, I imagine he made some friends tonight. His was by no means an excellent day at the plate, but he made up for it with strong work in other aspects of the game. Not a single Ranger tried to steal and not a single ball got past him at the plate. He also showed a strong ability to run like a normal human being. Coolest of all, however, was this: That's right: Sucre induced a called strikeout on a pitch that wasn't a strike by using his receiving skills to trick the umpire. This is what is known as "pitch framing", and though it is a strange and alien concept to Mariners fans it can have a significant effect on the outcome of a game. Now that I see Sucre in the major leagues, it strikes me just how different from Montero he is: though he has no power to speak of, he is a fine defensive catcher with good framing skills, the ability to control the running game, and reasonable speed on the basepaths. In many ways he is Jesus Montero's polar opposite. Or, if you prefer, the anti-Christ. Seattle should love him! Carlos Triunfel joined the team halfway through the game, which must have been awkward for everyone involved. He didn't have a big impact on the game's outcome, but his promotion did have a big impact on the structure of the farm system: Brad Miller was promoted to AAA to replace him, bumping Chris Taylor up to AA in turn. This is the official beginning of Miller's Seageresque fast-track to the majors. I would expect him to join the team around the trade deadline, when either Ryan is traded to a team that needs a backup glove wizard

In some ways, it was the same old same old: Mariner starter gets rocked, puts team in big hole they can't climb out of. We've seen it repeatedly with the bottom three of the Seattle rotation, a trend that is threatening to bring the season down. The difference this time is that  Joe Saunders was the pitcher getting rocked at Safeco. One of the things they could count on was Saunders pitching well at home, but even that flew out the window as the Mariners lost their seventh in a row and dropped below the Angels into fourth place. Saunders was pretty down after the game, realizing that he needed to be better on a night in which the Mariners banged out 14 hits and scored in each of the first three innings. “When the team comes out and scores runs like that, you want to put zeroes on the board and get us right back in the dugout,’’ Saunders said. “This one’s on me. It’s my fault.’’ “This game can be frustrating, to say the least, at times. You just have to keep your head up. We’re a way better team than what the results have been. It’s freakin’ frustrating. I know I can do better, especially on the road this year. It’s time for us to turn it around and throw some W’s up there.” The quirkiest part of this game occurred on Jesus Sucre's first major-league at-bat. The second inning had started promisingly, with singles by Raul Ibanez and Justin Smoak. Sucre grounded to first baseman Mitch Moreland, who fired to second for the force. Meanwhile, Texas pitcher Justin Grimm, racing over to cover, converged with Moreland. Replays showed that while Moreland was stretching for the relay, Grimm actually grabbed the return throw while he was well off the bag. But first-place umpire Jeff Nelson called Sucre out, and Wedge lost the ensuing argument. Wedge said it appeared from the dugout that Moreland had caught the ball, and he was arguing he had pulled his foot (which he had, not that it mattered). It wasn’t until later, when the Mariners were able to see the replay, Wedge realized Grimm caught the ball. It was a brutal call by Nelson and the latest argument for replay in baseball. “It would have been a much bigger argument if I had known that at the time,’’ he said. "Everyone was just focused on the bag. I thought he came off the bag. So that’s what I was out arguing. I didn’t come to find out later with the replay he didn’t even catch the ball. We’re half blocked off out there and there’s a bunch of things  going on, so I was out there arguing for that. But after the fact, obviously we found out it was a different story." Did that change the outcome of the game? Who knows? But instead of first and third, one out, the M's had a runner on third, two outs. Brendan Ryan followed with a double that scored Ibanez, but Michael Saunders struck out. Ryan and Saunders are headed in opposite directions. Ryan had two doubles tonight and has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 13-for-32 (.406). That has raised his average to .202, his first time over the Mendoza Line since April 13. But Saunders went 0-for-4 and is hitting .125 (5-for-40) with 16 strikeouts since the start of the last road trip.  

People have been fired for far less and deserved it. This isn’t even funny anymore. You’re dying, baseball. Clean yourself up or at least pretend like you’re interested in trying. -- This post came from: U.S.S. Mariner, and is copyright by the authors. This RSS feed is intended for the personal use of readers and not, for instance, spam blogs.An Absolute Joke

SEA P WPA TEX P WPA Saunders -.563 Grimm -.116 Farquhar -.021 Cotts .002 Luetge -.025 Frasor .003 Capps .000 Ortiz -.009 Nathan .011 SEA WPA TEX WPA Saunders -.063 Andrus -.029 Ackley -.050 Moreland .091 Seager .006 Berkman .202 Morales .121 Beltre -.030 Morse .038 Cruz .062 Ibanez .121 Pierzynski -.033 Smoak .048 Baker .295 Sucre -.232 Gentry .033 Ryan .132 Profar .000 Bay -.008 Murphy .017 Triunfel -.005 Top Of The Pile: Brendan Ryan, +.132 Worst By A Mile: Joe Saunders, -.563 I'm on recap duty tonight, and I don't want to deprive myself of material, so I'll keep this short and sweet. (Like Jesus Sucre!) The Rangers throttled the Mariners' pitching, to the tune of thirteen hits and twenty-one total bases. The Mariners did much worse, only mustering... fourteen hits and nineteen total bases. Wait, what? Questions! 1) Jesus Sucre's major league debut featured probably the worst call of the season - the "double play". It's pretty rare to see a player called out at first when the first baseman never actually gets the ball. What's the worst call you've ever seen? 2) What is the best possible name for a baseball player? 3) If you were creating your own pitcher to play for the Mariners, what four pitches would you have him throw? Why? Poll Player of the Game Brendan Ryan Kyle Seager Kendrys Morales 26 votes | Results

On May 19th Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times argued that the Mariners blew it by missing out on Michael Bourn this winter. According to Baker,"The Bourn thing, for me, is a classic example of how this rebuilding process has played out for the Mariners," says Baker. "It’s taken a long time to get where we are and I do think we could have seen some better baseball a bit quicker had the Mariners spent some dough this winter and in prior ones to shore-up where they were lacking." I wanted to see what fan reaction was to this assertion. Poll Should the Mariners, as Geoff Baker has suggested, gone after Michael Bourn and forfeited the #12 pick in the draft? Yes, Bourn would totally have made the Mariners a contender. Yes, Bourn would add more value in the long term than anyone we could get with the #12 pick No, the #12 pick will be more valuable in the long term to the franchise. No, Geoff Baker needs to have his head examined. 0 votes | Results

The reeling Mariners, losers of six straight games, hope that Safeco Joe shows up tonight. Joe Saunders is 9-0 with a 1.72 ERA in 13 career starts at Safeco, and 3-0, 0.94 in four starts this year. Over his last 11 starts at Safeco, dating back to June 3, 2008, Saunders is 8-0, 0.94. This wouldn't be a good night for Saunders to revert to his road form. He is 0-4 with an 11.25 ERA in five starts away from Safeco. Mariners manager Eric Wedge made the point before the game that there might be a little too much panic over the losing streak. "People have really short memories,'' he said. "We won two out of three in New York. Hell, we hadn’t won in New York since 2002. That means something. You go to Cleveland, and you get walked off three times. It’s not that we played bad. We had a chance to win all three of those games. Damn near had a couple of them in our pocket. But they were the home team and had the last at-bat. But our guys battled their butts off. "I think there was a lot of emotion spent in Cleveland, and it affected us a little bit (against the Angels). Our starting pitching struggled a little, and when that happens, it changes the whole outlook of game. You have to keep it all in perspective and understand that six days ago, everyone was flying high. Six days later, you’re on the exact opposite side of that spectrum. You can’t do that. You can’t be on that roller coaster."

Close your eyes. Imagine the sea. What's that feeling stirring in your heart? Mariners baseball. Now go back to your wedding. Remember standing in the waiting room, listening to the organist. What was that tension, that tightness in your chest, the knowledge that nothing was ever going to be the same? Mariners baseball. Mariners baseball is like an above-average performance review. It's like kicking a guy in your office you really hate. It's like reading Stranger in a Strange Land for the first time. It's what makes you feel like a ninja when you're the only one awake in the world at 4:30 AM, when your lawn is mowed and edged and the whole thing looks really good, when your kid makes you a birthday present and it doesn't suck as bad as you thought it would. Mariners baseball is a Bradbury story and a Van Damme movie all rolled up in one. It is nectar. It is life. Mariners baseball. Mariners baseball. Mariners baseball. Mariners baseball! Lineups: 1 Michael Saunders CF Elvis Andrus SS 2 Dustin Ackley 2B Mitch Moreland 1B 3 Kyle Seager 3B Lance Berkman DH 4 Kendrys Morales DH Adrian Beltre 3B 5 Michael Morse RF Nelson Cruz RF 6 Raul Ibanez LF A.J. Pierzynski C 7 Justin Smoak 1B Jeff Baker LF 8 Jesus Sucre C Craig Gentry CF 9 Brendan Ryan SS Jurickson Profar 2B P Joe Saunders! SP Justin Grimm SP

Lots of news to cover today, obviously. First of all, manager Eric Wedge said he expects Carlos Triunfel, flying to Seattle from Reno, to get here right around game time. He indicated that Triunfel will play shortstop, second and even some third base. "He’s not going to play every day, but he’s going to get at least semi-regular playing time,'' Wedge said. Wedge and Jack Zduriencik had some interesting remarks on Nick Franklin, when asked why Triunfel was selected ahead of Franklin. Beyond the 40-man roster issues, both indicated that defense was a big factor. "He’s where he needs to be right now,'' Wedge said of Franklin. "He’s a young player. Needs to keep playing every day. It’s not just about hitting; it’s about every aspect of the game. We want him to be the most complete player he can be when he does get his opportunity." Said Zduriencik: "I think what Nick needs right now is to play down there every day, get his at-bats. He’s playing second and shortstop. I think most people would tell you, at least right now, Carlos is a more accomplished shortstop. I think that was a key component in why we wanted him up here. We like (Franklin) quite a bit. I think Nick just needs to stay down there and continue to swing the bat." Here's Zduriencik take on the decision to cut loose Robert Andino and replace him with Triunfel: "You evaluate everything at face value. As we watched Triunfel, what he did in spring training, what he did last year, of course,  and as you watch what he’s done this year, I think all of us – the whole organization – felt this was a guy that’s a pretty good defensive player. He’s got a great throwing arm, and there was going to be a point in time when we needed to see him at the big league level. We thought that was important. "The timing of all these things, you just decide when it is. He had almost two months down there in Triple-A. He’s been very successful there this year. You get to the point you make a decision on this player moving forward, as well as the other factors. With Robert Andino, we signed him this year to be a backup infielder. We thought it would probably be a short-term deal. You just evaluate where you’re at, and where you’re going, and what you’re trying to accomplish. I think with Triunfel, and the things he’s done, he deserves a chance to be up here right in front of our eyes so we can watch this kid play." Wedge said catcher Jesus Sucre impressed him in spring training, and that he felt it was best to throw him right into the lineup. Here's Wedge on the decision to send down Jesus Montero and cut back his catching responsibilities: "It’s been a long process for us. It’s not something we just started talking about. We’ve been trying to give him every opportunity we could, and still trying to protect him, still trying to get his bat going, still trying to take care of him physically. In the end, his bat – that’s the carrying tool. With as much time, effort, emotion and energy he had to put in behind the plate, it didn’t seem like we were putting him in the position to succeed offensively. "He’s still going to catch some down there. He’ll back up Zunino. He’s going to get a first baseman’s glove. He’ll be working at first base every day. We’ll start him off DH’ing down there. Hopefull, we'll get him on first base as soon as possible, and still have him catch one or two days a week, the focus being on getting that bat going." It didn't escape Wedge's notice that Montero reported immediately to Tacoma when contractually he could have taken three days to do so. "That does mean something that he did report right away,'' he said. "I was proud of him for doing that." Zduriencik pointed out that other players who started as catchers have thrived at first base, including

Joe Saunders vs. Justin Grimm, 7:10pm Another day, another roster move for the M’s, though it certainly sounds like that wasn’t the plan this morning. In any event, the M’s DFA’d Andino and brought up Carlos Triunfel. The latter isn’t in the line-up tonight, but C Jesus Sucre is. From what I’ve seen of him in Tacoma, he’s a good receiver, has a cannon of an arm, but I think the M’s really love the way he calls a game. This again is one of the aspects of catching that’s somewhat difficult to measure (though Max Marchi’s WOWY study gets at it), and it’ll be interesting to see how they talk about him, particularly if he doesn’t hit (he’s not likely to hit). Justin Grimm’s facing Seattle for the third time. He’s still primarily a fastball-curve pitcher, but he throws a change-up to lefties on occasion. He’s got reverse platoon-splits in his brief MLB time this year, and he actually had similar splits in the minors as well. That’s still not much of a sample, but this is not a guy that you absolutely need to stack lefties against. The M’s have chosen to stack their lefties against him, however. After the Ibanez experience in New York, I’m not going to mock them, but I’ll say that Ackley hitting 2nd is questionable no matter who the opposing starter is. Joe Saunders, of course, has massive splits, and the Rangers are fairly well-positioned to exploit that, though of course Saunders dominated them in Safeco in early April. Moreland moves up to 2nd in the Rangers order, the result of a blistering May. Texas uberprospect Jurickson Profar is up with the Rangers, taking the spot of the injured Ian Kinsler. Profar’s a natural SS, but will play 2B today. While insanely talented, he’s just 20 and is, in the very short run, unlikely to fully replace Kinsler’s 110+ rest-of-season wRC+, but he is another example of the Rangers depth and player development prowess. Damn it. Neither the M’s nor the Rangers have fared terribly well with injuries this year; Rangers prospect Mike Olt is just now resuming training in extended spring training following a vision problem, Cody Buckel was shut down after walking 28 in 9+ innings, and the M’s lost Danny Hultzen and Erasmo Ramirez to arm trouble. But the Rangers have been able to patch together serviceable (or better) stints from pitchers like Grimm, Nick Tepesch and Michael Kirkman while the M’s have watched Saunders, Beavan, Harang and Maurer all post negative WAR. On paper, this is a mismatch. The Rangers are really, really good and the M’s are reeling. But just as the M’s looked better than they actually were after knocking off the Yankees, they are clearly not as inept as they appeared in Anaheim or as cursed as they appeared in Cleveland. They’re still not good, but the M’s can lower everyone’s blood pressure with a good showing against a very good team in this series. Line-up: 1: Saunders, CF 2: Ackley, 2B 3: Seager, 3B 4: Morales, DH 5: Morse, RF 6: Ibanez, LF 7: Smoak, 1B 8: Sucre, C 9: Ryan, SS SP: Saunders The M’s have turned over the in-stadium music to M’s beat-writer Ryan Divish of the News Tribune. His knowledge of early-90s hip-hop is the equal of Keith Law’s, so I’d expect we’d hear some Tribe and Wu-Tang Clan tonight. James Paxton starts tonight in the pitching hell of Reno, NV. With Jeremy Bonderman crashing and burning last night (he’s got one more start, in Colorado Springs, before his opt-out date on 6/1) and Harang and Maurer scuffling, this would be a good time for Paxton to show he can work deep into games. Dylan Unsworth takes the hill for Clinton. -- This post came from: U.S.S. Mariner, and is copyright by the authors. This RSS feed is intended for the personal use of readers and not, for instance, spam blogs.Game 48, Rangers

Lots of wheels were turning today with the Mariners, and when they stopped, utility infielder Robert Andino was off the ballclub. He was designated for assignment, a move that cleared space on the 40-man roster for catcher  Jesus Sucre, who as expected was selected from Triple-A  Tacoma. Sucre now becomes the backup catcher to Kelly Shoppach with Thursday's demotion of Jesus Montero to Tacoma. Sucre was thrown right into the starting lineup tonight, catching Joe Saunders. With Andino gone, the Mariners needed infield help, so the next move today was recalling Carlos Triunfel. As an indication of how late these decisions were made, he had flown to Reno with Tacoma, and had to fly back to Seattle. Not sure if he's arrived yet, but he's expected to be in uniform for the game tonight with Texas. Triunfel was chosen over Nick Franklin for a couple of reasons, I'm sure: One, he's already on the 40-man roster, unlike Franklin. Two, he has more experience at third base than Franklin, allowing the M's to be covered in terms of a backup to Kyle Seager. And three, he's regarded as a better defensive player, particularly at shortstop, than Franklin. Triunfel also had playing time at second base in Tacoma, so he's a good fit in Andino's utility role. When we talk to Eric Wedge, we'll find out exactly what role he foresees for Triunfel, 23, who was hitting .300 (51-for-170) with 29 runs, 14 doubles, two triples, four homers and 19 RBIs in 44 games for Tacoma. In a related move, Brad Miller -- who many regard as the Mariners' shortstop of the future, ahead of both Triunfel and Franklin -- has been moved up from Double-A Jackson to Tacoma. Miller was hitting .294 with six homers and 25 RBI with Jackson. Andino was expected to give the Mariners some pop in the utility role, but he was hitting just .184 (14-for-76). Triunfel was a September callup last season, appearing in 10 games. He was 5-for-22 (.227) with a pair of doubles.