Matty with a very intriguing opinion on J.J. Putz:
Doc…I’ve been saying that about Gutierrez since we traded for him…that he has Cameron’s Disease…a deadly condition which prevents a hitter from swinging at close pitches with 2-strikes. That’s why his K rate is very high despite obviously having a patient approach.
Hmmmmmmmmm....
That is a VERY interesting suggestion. :: taps chin :: It would explain a lot...
A little ping-pong with our D-O-V partner in crime:
Jeff Clement is starting to worry me. I was very high on him breaking out this year before last night…but watching him take ABs was PAINFUL. He still can’t hit a breaking ball inside…got tied up on Cha-Cha’s luke warm cutter twice for big Ks.
Ya. Again, notice how horizontal Clement's bat is on the inside pitches, and contrast that to what y'see from good ML lefty hitters. It's a mechanical flaw more than anything, IMHO.
=== Mike Wilson, Sizzlin' OF ===
Very rare to see a guy with a true football frame, who has legit baseball-fast hands.
Reminds of a young Sammy Sosa, though the swing (very loose and confident, short path to the ball, low hands, long followthrough, weight goes to the ball wherever it is) reminds of Andre Dawson, Dave Winfield, Vlad Guerrero.
=== Jeff Clement, Fizzlin' C ===
Is no closer to solving his problems on the inside offspeed pitch, than he was last year. He's over the top of every single one of them, and the pitchers (even the NL pitchers!) are just abusing him with it.
It's a funny thing, because lefty hitters are supposed to be deadly on low-in pitches.
=== Russell Branyan, Sizzling 1B ===
Y'might not have noticed just how much of an experiment this is going to be. Russ Branyan, for six (6) years in a row, has had fewer than 250 at-bats a season. The man just hasn't played.
Cool Papa sez:
Jon at Bleeding Blue and Teal has a convenient video of, as well as some interesting thoughts on, Aumont throwing his patented sidearm slider that breaks 12-6.
As you know, Aumont's front leg would send an Aiki-shihan screaming out of the dojo in his bare feet into the forest night. Medieval warriors used to plant their halberds into the ground against charging hordes, who met less-abrupt ends than Aumont does over the pike of his front leg...
Q. Can Griffey play left this year? Is he capable?
A. Well, he played 144 games last year, all but 6 of them in the outfield.
At Mariner Central, there's a cool thread on Junior's knee. http://www.marinercentral.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1823 He's already icing it the first week. What's the mainframe crunch on this?
Q. The 2001 Mariners did not have a terrific pitching staff. They had a league average pitching staff…below average rotation, well above bullpen.
A. This is key, because it goes to the broader question of: what happens when you have a sensational DER?, because the 2001 M's had a DER that was, quote, "eerily better than the rest of the league" as Baseball Prospectus put it in their 2002 annual.
Intuitively, is it possible that the 2001 Mariners had a "below average" rotation, one that offset their sensational relieving to cause a net "average" effect? When you just look at these guys like a kid looking at baseball cards... , were they Felix plus four lousy pitchers? Were they AAA pitchers filling in for injured stars (as many ML staffs are every year)? Were they four mediocre pitchers and a guy with 82 walks, 69 strikeouts, and a 1.7 flyball ratio in the #5 slot?
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