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His inning the other day also had three outs plus an error. Interesting coincidence.
After 1 IP today, 11 Mariners faced this spring, no hits, 27% strikeouts. :- ) Go baby.
Blues vs Whites, 3.1.12
................
Baker gives today's lineups as:
CF Chone Figgins
2B Dustin Ackley
Rf Ichiro
1B Justin Smoak
C Jesus Montero
3B Vinnie Catricala
LF Trayvon Robinson
DH Jesus Sucre
SS Carlos TriunfelLHP James Paxton
Team 2
SS Brendan Ryan
2B Kyle Seager
CF Casper Wells
LF Mike Carp
1B John Jaso
RF Carlos Peguero
DH Luis Jimenez
C Adam Moore
3B Francisco MartinezRHP Taijuan Walker
Let's see, that's fully six players starting who aren't in my Blues vs Whites varsity-jayvee game. Therefore the five players left out, in addition to Gutierrez, are: C Olivo, SS Kawasaki, 1B Carlos Guillen, DH/3B Liddi, and CF Saunders. Stipulating first that the lineups mean very little:
1. The absolutely number one question for me about these intrasquads, right now, is whether Vinnie Catricala looks confident defensively. If he enjoys playing third, that's good enough for me. If he's out there looking like they're throwing horse cookies at him from the batter's box, well, siiiiigggghhhhhhhhh.
2. I like the fact that Wells is in CF rather than Saunders. Considering that there are two subs for Gutierrez, neither Saunders, well... and if I'm Trayvon, I'm not encouraged by the fact that Guti is down, and they don't have me in either CF spot. I see this as early handwriting on the wall, if I'm him.
3. Justin Smoak hitting in front of Jesus Montero is kind of interesting.
4. Figgins playing CF may mean that Kyle Seager can stay in Seattle. Baker points out that Figgins' defensive numbers weren't too good as an outfielder, even when he was younger, and I would agree that this suggests that Figgins can't start in CF.
But if Casper Wells handles the lion's share of all #4 OF duties, then Figgins could be the 5 outfielder, and this means an extra infielder on the roster. The 116-win Mariners in 2001 did something similar, if I remember right - Stan Javier backing up in the OF and Mark McLemore taking anything that Stanley didn't handle.
Shandler sees Wells as a 20 homer, 20 stolen base man.... remember the SSI mantra. Casper Wells IS what Michael Saunders WOULD LIKE TO BE.
That would definitely be a sweeeeeeet roster situation, Casper Wells getting 350 AB's as the 4 outfielder, and Chone Figgins his only competition.
5. Jesus Sucre is a starting catcher in the game. He's not in Jason Churchill's top 50 Mariners prospects, though catchers Tyler Marlette and Steve Baron are. John Jaso is not catching. This is called "getting a look" at Sucre.
6. Paxton has the easy lineup to deal with; Taijuan has the MURDERER'S ROW BABY! YEAHHHHH!
Comments
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Paxton with a couple of strikeouts and a triple to Seager.
Walker with a trio of groundouts and a single to Ichiro.
Hultzen with a couple of strikeouts and back to back singles to Luis Rodriguez and Adam Moore.
* * *
Wedge was on KIRO last night and was asked about the rotation after Felix and Vargas.
First pitcher he mentioned was Noesi. Then listed off Iwakuma and Millwood. He followed next with some talk about Beavin and mentions of Furbush and I think he said Ramirez. Finally acknowledged Paxton, Walker, and Hultzen, although none by name. Said something along the lines of, "Then of course we have the three kids, but they will all need some time before they are ready." I got the vibe that we will see at least a couple of them this year, but not right away.
Nothing shocking, I suppose, but gives a glimpse of where his head is currently at.
Also said he was really rooting for Millwood to make the team and what a great mentor he is, but that he would have to earn his way on. Millwood chose to come to the Mariners because of Wedge and Carol.
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There could be a lot of reasons for that....
Get to March 20th and Paxton's obviously the best pitcher in camp, other than Felix, and check the situation then...
...........
Baker called Seager's ball an error, off Trayvon's glove, not that it's a big deal.
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If Kevin Millwood is going to be a mentor, then does it not make sense that he needs someone to mentor... and if those somebody's are Noesi and Iwakuma, does that even make any sense??? Are either of them in the long term plans for the M's??
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MLB players barely speak to NPB players. That leaves Hector Noesi, who you'd have thought was going to be mentored by Felix Hernandez and Miguel Olivo.
Good one.
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Blake Beavan, Charlie Furbush, and as long as he's in camp, Paxton and Hultzen, and Walker, and I'm sure there's stuff he could say to all the young bullpen pitchers and journeymen in camp.
And I wouldn't be all over having Hector Noesi's mentors be Felix Hernandez (barely older and immensely talented make for a hard time teaching lessons I suspect) and Miguel Olivo (Having a pitchers mentor be a catcher is a bit like having an Architect be mentored by an engineer I think, related in their tasks but still very unique positions).
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To be fair, I was only paraphrasing Wedge. Mentor might have been used, or a word like it. I can't remember the exact phrasing, only the flavor the word left. And Wedge was just responding to a leading question like "You gotta like the leadership, or knowledge, or presence, or the way he could mentor guys, or whatever that Millwood brings to the table." Which I guess isn't really a question, but again . . . Paraphrasing.
While I'm at it . . .
Zdurencik was on KJR this evening speaking of many things. Being the intrepid reporter that I am, I fell asleep several times. Not because it was boring but because my gosh! That's a long bus ride home and 4 am is too late to be going to sleep on a work night.
Still, I picked up some things here and there. For one, I caught a bit of him raving about Hultzen. In particular the strikeout of Peguero, which was on four fastballs. They had the gun out and clocked Hultzen at 94, 95. Paxton and Walker were hitting those numbers too.
He also is excited about Catricala and made it sound like the guy could be playing a big roll in the Mariners season quite soon.
As a fun aside, there was a national reporter on the show later on. The hosts were quizzing him about Braun and testing procedures. When their time was up, they thanked him and began to move on before he cut them off with a "Wait, I didn't even get to ask about the Mariners! How are those young pitchers looking?" After the hosts went on about how great they look, he replied, "You know the Mariners have had a couple of bad years lately, but I think in a couple of years we're going to have a whole lot to talk about in Seattle." It was cool to hear a national reporter (Joe something--writes for mlb.com and sports illustrated) so aware and excited to hear about Paxton, Walker, and Hultzen. Legitamely so. These guys are making a buzz outside of Seattle too. He was also high on Montero.
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For Danny Hultzen to take down Peguero on straight fastballs, that's kind of like Jason Vargas telling Ichiro, okay, here come four straight curve balls, here it is hit it...
We know that Hultzen can do everything *except* put hair on the fastball. Now he's getting 94-96? With a SIDEARM delivery?
...........
Even nationally, those three guys are starting to gather a Halladay-Carpenter-Escobar kind of hype. Or Isringhausen-Wilson-Pulsipher ... G, tell me it isn't the 1993 Mets here...
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Is this:
The Mariners had six prospects in my top 60 this year, which is a heck of a nice backbone. Beyond that, the depth isn’t particularly great, but there are several intriguing high-risk, high-reward players in the lowest levels of the minors. They could use more depth at catcher and second base, and the pitching has a fairly sharp dropoff after the top six or so arms. In a lot of ways, this is a similar system to the A’s, with a number of big headliners (especially on the pitching side) but merely average in other areas.
So we graduated Michael Pineda, Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, Mike Carp, Kyle Seager and Tom Wilhelmsen last year, traded Campos and Lueke and still have SIX prospects in the top 60 - with high-reward players still in the low minors?
Jeez...
What's a guy have to do to win another MLB Executive of the Year award?
The pitchers are legit, Doc. Really, really legit. Y'all know I was against drafting Hultzen since Rendon fit our need for an offensive 3B perfectly...
But if Catricala can stay at 3B he won't have the glove of Rendon but might reproduce most (or even all) of the bat.
80% of Rendon + 100% of Hultzen is a good deal, if both guys we have can hold up their end.
It's why I don't expect to draft Marrero this year. Yes, we need a SS, but we have Franklin, Miller and Kawasaki to compete there. If Cat can't play third then F-Mart, Liddi and Miller are competing there too.
I don't need an okay college SS who's mostly pro-ready. Just like I don't need a mediocre starter like Beavan as more than just injury depth.
We're stocking up with Real Players (tm) and I can't WAIT to see it all come together.
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Have you noticed the swag on all our young talents? Can that many mostly-white guys have swag?
Ackley, Catricala, Carp and Franklin all act like they own the joint even as they soak up every drop of info they can wring out of the major league staff and players. Did you catch Franklin's quote about making the roster?
"It's a lot to take in, but I love it," Franklin said. "I think this is where I should be, and it's fun to be around these guys and a great ballclub. I'd love to spend the rest of the season with them, but I'd say it's going well and I'm just looking to get started."
Franklin believes he belongs in the bigs. Carp got angry that other people didn't believe it. Catricala and Paxton have both given interviews where they are chomping at the bit to show they're major leaguers.
Smoak is a different sort. He had a lot of quiet confidence to start last year ("Too much pressure to hit MOTO? I've ALWAYS hit MOTO...") and I expect that back this year. Montero's the same, so much so that his stats suffered when the Yankees sent him back down when he obviously thought he was ready to go.
Paxton, Hultzen and Walker all go out to eat together, discuss their results in the inter-squad games together, and believe they'll be here SOON. To start the year or to finish it, it sounds to me like they all believe they should be throwing major league innings in 2012. They're brimming with confidence.
We have a dozen BMOC who swagger through the minors and into major league camp with the same confidence in abilities that led them to dominate lower competition.
There aren't a lot of guys who have been shown to press. Not a lot of Saunders types. Trayvon might be the closest.
It's not just talent. Confidence without Ryan-Andersonesque braggadocio flows through the veins of this organization now.
It's kinda beautiful when the two come together in such abundance.
~G
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Anybody getting a '90s Cleveland Indians vibe here? Quietly put together a bunch of kids and let them blossom together. Didn't do any free agent spending, just patiently got really good. And stayed good for quite a while, too.
While M's fans wring their hands over Gutierrez being out for a couple of months, I see a chance for Wells or Saunders to show their stuff in center. Or even Robinson and his new glasses.
Figgins a bust? There shouldn't be any "Oh, man, why didn't we sign a third baseman? Catricala, Liddi, Seager, Martinez. Any one of them could put the position in a hammerlock for ten years.
The point is, there are now multiple, intriguing choices at most positions. Jack pulled that off in under three years. Look at a roster with young talent like Smoak, Carp, Ackley, Montero, Hernandez, Paxton, Hultzen, Walker, Catricala, Franklin, Robles, Wells, Seager, Ramirez, Robinson. Even guys like Saunders and Moore are young enough to take jobs from good players.
If we'd gotten Fielder in here, Jack may have taken a different direction this year. Like keeping Pineda and trading some of those prospects to take a real shot at contending this year. I'm not so sure I don't prefer to sit back and watch all these kids come on. A lot of people are going to be surprised at how fast it happens.
This could be an amazing year.