Monday Afternoon Machiatto - 6.19.17

.

DR'S DIAGNOSIS ON CHRISTIAN BERGMAN

Scott Servais appeared to be undecided about his rotation guillotine, come high noon on Felix Friday.  Reading between the lines, the Mainframe sees Servais as genuinely hesitant.  If so, that would be a clear surprise to Dr. D who regarded Bergman the automatic victim.

How did Bergman throw on Sunday?  Nowhere near as well as his [In-Texas 6 IP*, 4 H, 2 ER] line would lead you to believe.  That's not to knock Bergman, who competes hard, and who has shown that he can trick major league lineups to a certain extent.  He can keep you in a game, within reason.

But Sunday he lacked his quasi-Fister command and needed to go to a change speed game. Which would be fine except the Rangers had 7-8 very hard hit balls and 1 strikeout.  The game might have turned out to be a Quality Start, but it could just as easily have been a 5 IP, 6 ER game.  Bergman is tough when he has his best command, and tough when he's got the feel on his overhand curve, but that's not an every-night thing.  It's not even an every-other-night thing.

Dr's Diagnosis is now in; we've seen enough, on good days and bad days.  Christian Bergman rates as a valuable #7 starter.  He's been a good soldier.

Image: 

M's 4, Rangers 10

.

James Paxton returned and fired a 35-for-41 strikes blizzard that had many people -- notably Dr. Detecto -- thinking he'd never walk a batter again, all the rest of his born days.  His last two starts, he reminded us that he's still early in his career, early in his new low-slot incarnation especially.  This speed bump may have knocked a wheel out of alignment, but does nothing to diminish SSI's enthusiasm.  True, it's a bit of a letdown that K-Pax will not run a 1.75 ERA the next ten years.  :- /  Demote him to "sensational young pitcher" and leave it at that.

Paxton sez, 

.

"I'm trying to figure it out right now," Paxton said after allowing a season-high seven runs in 3 2/3 innings as he fell to 5-2 with his second straight loss. "Something definitely isn't right. The last few starts you can tell something isn't quite there. I'm healthy. There is no issue with my arm. I'm not hurt. It's just my timing is off. I'm looking at video and trying to figure it out."

.

And Servais sez,

Image: 

Linkables

.

The TNT has a good piece on the Mariners' crowded outfield, and exactly what Servais intends to do about it.

.

Playing time in the outfield is a premium commodity since Mitch Haniger returned last Sunday from the disabled list and reclaimed his job in right field after missing nearly seven weeks.  Club officials view Haniger as a cornerstone of their future, and his performance to date, though still a small sample size, continues to validate that view.

When Haniger suffered a strained right oblique muscle on April 25 in Detroit, the Mariners plugged in Ben Gamel, who quickly established himself as a lineup fixture.

.
Image: 

Friday Afternoon Frappuccino, 6.16.17

.

At My Northwest, we are reminded that the 29-man Rainiers Roster has its downside:

.

While the moves have proved to be necessary, the conversations to send the players down are not fun.

“It’s hard,” manager Scott Servais said. “Unfortunately it’s not really their fault. It started with the bad outing and now the long guy has to wear it and often times he’s wearing it with a plane ticket back to Triple-A. It’s not a great conversation to have.

.

Image: 

Dipoto is Layering His Rotation

.

Mo' Dawg sez

.

Last night [Andrew Moore] had his first AAA start that would be labeled as "cruddy":  6 innings, 7 hits, 4ER's, 0 BB.s and 6 K's.  He gave up 3 runs in the  2nd (and 4 of the 7 hits, it looks like).  89 pitches, 63 strikes.

Even when he's bad, he's not far from pretty good.

.

Here is a table of 2016 Quality Starts leaders.  If an MLB star is able to go 26-for-32 in a season, he's competing for hardware as the best pitcher in the game.  If he goes 22-for-30 or 22-for-32 he is David Price or Cole Hamels.  Chris Archer had 19 and we are not talking about #3 starters here.

So Dawg is being a little modest about his Adopt-a-Twirler kid, when he offers an admission of "cruddy."  6 IP, 4 ER, a perfect 0:6 CTL, that kind of DAMAGE CONTROL is one of Andrew Moore's biggest stealth skills.  You can't overstate the feeling that you're going to be in the game today, so let's put some good AB's on their guy.  Lockdowns aren't going to be Moore's thing.  Giving the offense a good situation, that will be Andrew Moore's thing.

Image: 

M's 6, Twinkies 4

.

WILD CARD

We are -1.5 games back of Tampa for the last playoff spot; the Rays' elimination number is 94 for us.  Granted, we're running in a big pack and chewing mud, but we're only into the second turn.  

The kewl thing was this.  5 games ago, our Liddle Three handed a .500 record to our Spahn and Sain.  Who promptly botched the opportunity, going 0-2.  But the Liddle Three took the ball back and ... went 2-1, which hands the ball back to our ace lefties.  Awrite, feebs.  Pitch good this time.

.

ZUUMBALL

Was leading the American League in June RBI before the game Wednesday.  Promptly swatted a three-run bomb to make it 19 RBI in 14 days.  Look, that's a quarter of an 80 RBI season in two weeks.  Whatever else occurs, Zunino has helped the club here since his callup.  He'll be voted a ring, I suspect.  ...

If you don't watch the games, and why would you if you have SSI, Zunino has gone to an Edgar stance and swing.  He's way upright, hands high, bat pointed up, as though he's trying to dislodge a panel in a 12-foot suspension ceiling.  We've said it before:  he is LIGHTNING quick to the ball.  I can't tell you where his pitch recog is, but you are not going to FIND a major league player who is shorter to the ball with more power.  Maybe Trout.  Not Cano.  Not right this second.

Image: 

Bill James on Jarrod Dyson

.

In Dyson's first two months here, I thought "Well, that's one more part-time hero who died in the sun of overexposure."  He hit an empty .229 in April and his .203 in May was not empty, but it was ummm .203.  A two hundred hitting Jarrod Dyson is not what we signed up for, even if he did have a couple homers that month.  Even worse, he looked like he couldn't hit much - getting behind in counts, failing to punish pitchers when he did get ahead, and so forth.

Not that it made him a bad player.  Even at a 70 OPS, let's say, Jarrod Dyson can definitely help a team.  ... more in a role, but ....

Image: 

M's 14, Twinkies 3

.

HE WHO PUT HIMSELF SOLIDLY BACK INTO THE RAINIERS DERBY

Sorry, Yovani backers, Dr. D's cable went out at the best possible moment and he missed the first half of the game.  Else the Mainframe would render appropriate homage to a 6 IP, 3 ER start that featured 5 whiffs, only 1 walk and (no real surprise here) 0 homers.  No, this is not an urban legend.  Documentation is searchable on the internet.  It includes a ton of hard 2" by 12" cutting fastballs thrown with a big lead.  Good on yer.  It's a beginning, somethin' to build on.

Edit to add, Bob Dutton relayed a Yo-Ga nickname.  Anyone who is able to chill during the flames of a 6.24 ERA richly deserves the nickname.  (Sorry, can't help myself!  Stop me before I bash again!)  No, after last night he is Yo-Ga for four days.  Hopefully he'll be Yo-Ga for four months ... well, for six weeks, anyway.  Dr. D sees positive Yo-Ga :- ) starts and thinks in terms of drawing hapless enemy GM's in.  Like a lurer fish with a dangly on its tongue.

Image: 

Pages

Subscribe to Front page feed