=== Mike Carp ===

With a 3-homer game last night, now has 39 PCL homers in his last 145 games.  The man is going bananas.

It used to be that he ran EYE ratios like 78:89 with modest power.  He has taken a liking to the jack and is ripping them off in bunches.

His EYE has gone from 0.80 earlier, to 0.35 now.  But Shandlerites will recognize a conscious decision to open up the swing.  There can be no question that Carp can tell a ball from a strike; he brought his excellent 0.67 EYE with him from AAA to the majors with no transition whatsoever.

No, Carp's K/BB ratio occurred because he decided to start whacking the ball over the fence.  Earl would be proud.

..............

When Carp first came up to the bigs, SSI was startled by his poise and presence - practially a Pineda-like demeanor about him in his first few games.  

The one thing that I questioned was whether Carp had projectable power.  So you can see why a 40-homer outbreak from Carp would perk up my ears.  That was the one thing I didn't think he had. 

Now that Carp is showing 40+ homer power in the PCL, to go with the natural feel for the game .... hm.  It would be nice if he could find an org that needed some lefty homers.

.... for this coming homestand, I'd rather see Carp in the lineup than Peguero, that is for sure.  I'd probably rather see him than Cust, despite Cust's mini-resurgence, and I'd rather see him than Mike Wilson if they're going to let Wilson go stale playing two games a month.

............

Here's a guy where you might actually apply MLE's without a big AAA/MLB adjustment period.  Carp is seasoned, has an idea about the big leagues and could be ready to hit 25, 30 homers prorated.  

(Carp has 35 games in the bigs, at a 102 OPS+, and has had lots of time to assimilate the two exposures to MLB.)

He's played some left field at Tacoma.  If this were Oakland, Carp would probably be up and doing battle for playing time.

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=== Dustin Ackley ===

As several SSI commenters have noted, Ackley took one month to get his swing N Sync, and then began his detonation of the PCL.  

If you were to pro-rate his last 10 games there, he would hit 30 homers per year with 70 doubles and a .470 OBP.   So if it were a question of "putting a little string together," that time has long come and gone.

.........

Mike Curto was on some radio show and an all-sports jock, a guy who doesn't know much baseball, asked Mike melodramatically, "Listen.  If you did NOT KNOW.  Dustin Ackley was a NUMBER TWO draft pick.  Is there ANY reason you'd think he's special."

You know, implying that Ackley is nothing but a hype job.

Curto politely responded, yes, other prospects don't have Ackley's eye, don't work every AB to 3-2 counts and then foul away tough pitches out of the catcher's mitts .... and other prospects don't have such quick bats.

Just a game or two watching Ackley, in spring or AAA or any league, and you can see the scary-quick bat launch.  The ability to studiously peer over the pitch as it comes in and then SNAPPP! deliver that barrel to the ball at light speed.

SSI believes that any scout could watch Dustin Ackley for a single weekend and see the Wade Boggs in him.

..........

Don't think that any of us know (or care) enough about Super Two to be able to estimate when the M's would be safe to call Ackley up.

But they're twisting in the wind like 3-day-old lynch victims, and Ackley's down there smoldering and taking out his frustrations on PCL pitchers, and he's still down there.  So somebody should go figure out the Super Two timeline.

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=== Wishful Thinking Dept. ===

Cust still has a SLG of .291.

Gutierrez has now played 10 games at Tacoma, and can jobshare with the M's as he comes up to speed.

..........

If this were a Strat-O-Matic tournament, which it is not .... and matching up hitters against certain pitchers .... my ballclub for this coming homestand would look something like this:

1. Ichiro rf
2. Ackley 2b (LRod platoon 1-2 gms per week vs LHP)
3. Smoak 1b
4. Carp dh (Kennedy DH 3gms per week for ... Wilson)
5. Gutierrez cf  (Saunders, Wilson helping in offensive/defensive platoon) 
6. Wilson/Kennedy lf/dh (Carp LF, 2 gms/week)
   
7. Olivo c  (Gimenez/Bard backing up)
8. LRod + Ryan ss (in off-def platoon, e.g. Ryan with Erikkk, LRod with Pineda)
9. Figgins 3b (LRod 1 gm/week)

 I could see that offense having some 14-hit, 2-homer games.  

As the rotation jells into its 4 strikeout pitchers, it's appropriate to slide glove emphasis over into offensive support.

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BABVA,

Dr D

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