... as you know, Ah-nold's greatest acting performance was in Hercules Goes Bananas. He played a two-legged juggernaut who, fish-out-of-water-formula full on, could not buy the first clue as to what was going on around him.
He asked Nick Markakis?, was it? in the back alley, "Are you great evil?" to which Markakis sinisterly laughed, "Baby, I'm the greatest..."
Not sure Doogie knows where he is yet, and don't tell 'im...
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Q. So this is what SSI expected?
A. Brings to mind Bill Swift, who in 1990 just started suddenly running 1+ ERA's for two or three years. Somebody asked Lefebvre, about start #8, "If he keeps pitching like this, is he going to be in the rotation?" Lefebvre, "If he keeps pitching like this, he's going to be in the Hall of Fame."
Meaning, of course, that Swift wouldn't keep pitching like that.
And, of course, SSI's script calls for Joe Blantonish 100-110 ERA+'s for peanuts, not Greg Madduxish ERA's for 7/$100M. Fister was at 278 ERA+ before Monday night... presumably it will hit the 300's Tuesday...
..........
In his second start, Fister retired the last 12 guys, so at one point Monday, he had thrown 10 consecutive hitless (not just scoreless) innings.
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Q. What is the Mariners' take on his success?
A. Jack Wilson, watching the ballgame from shortstop, was asked by Shannon Drayer what the story was: he doesn't have a big fastball, his changeup does not separate (?), how can he succeed?
Wilson, instantly: he's got plus-plus command. Velocity is overrated. It's where the ball is in the zone...
And, knows how to pitch, yada yada. But Wilson's reaction was, that Fister's command was quote plus-plus unquote.
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A. Don Wakamatsu, on the postgame, was asked, "When did you know Fister had this kind of talent?" (um. - DrD.)
Wakamatsu: It goes back to the Yankee game in 2009, when we saw the makeup.
And, with the angle of his pitches (very downhill - Dr D), he's just going to get a lot of outs in the strike zone.
And, "It's just a pleasure to watch him pitch." Quote unquote. So, we take it that Doogie has the inside track in the Big Three scenario.
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Q. Angle of his pitches, Wok says? Fister doesn't get tons of groundballs.
A. In the reductio ad absurdum, picture somebody dropping "pitches" onto home plate from the roof. Hitters would whack the ball randomly up, down, sideways, whiff on it, etc.
Fister is of course very tall, and as a separate issue, does come over the top well, and as another issue, has a knack for hitting the bottoms of the knees when he wants to. It creates a vector that is unfamiliar for them, apparently, and oblique to the bat plane.
On that basis, you might see a low BABIP from Doogie that is not accidental, and that does not necessarily involve a high GB rate.
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...that at this point, Fister has the inside track (as in...the fifth starter job is his to lose) once Bedard and Lee are back. You'll see RRS in there as long as his arm can take it, because they like his make-up too. But if he struggles to keep his velo up, he'll hit the DL, Fister will be the #4 and Vargas the #5...and I'm cool with that.
...that Snell is the odd man out? Or is Vargas positive performance to date too little to force the issue when they're paying real $ to Snell?
They've got the luxury of extended tryouts through April.
Which is why I was pretty glad to hear Wok's comment, "It's a pleasure to watch [Fister] pitch out there" ...
Baker says that the M's speak in terms of limiting the #'s of LHP's. Vargas probably has an uphill battle to beat out Snell or Fister ... whether RRS faces the same problem when Bedard gets back, dunno...