I posted above about Erasmo, he'll be back pronto.
But Chone. Every picture of the dugout we saw last night (until the post-game celebration) had Chone alone, by himself, as if he had the plauge...or was it.
Maybe I missed one shot of him interacting with his peeps, that is possible.
The TV guys said that Wedge told them Chone took it like a pro. OK...maybe. So he's a proud guy, I can get that. But it isn't like he has a history of taking Seattle demotions like Mother Theresa in teal and green.
There just isn't a place for him right now (never was). Well, unless that place is pinch runner/last pinch hitter off the bench.
There was always a problem brewing here. Let's watch and see if Wedge can keep it under wraps. I'll be the first to high five him if he does.
How much trouble can a perturbed has-been make in a locker full of young guys?
moe
M's MOTO ready to shift gears?
............................
Boy, if we didn't know better, we'd have thought that Eric Wedge had found a 3-4-5 MOTO on Saturday, neh? In 2010 and 2011, any resemblance to baseball had been strictly coincidental. In 2012, the future is already, in May, beginning to jell a bit:
Kyle Seager is slugging .512 on the year and he is more of an SSI Best Bet than he was when I wrote the article. The grounder rate continues to skim the moguls effortlessly at 30%. The flyballs are clearing the fences like African impala. When Seager wants to go up the middle or the other way, no problem! He's not Michael Saunders 2011, hopelessly wedged into one 30-foot-wide section of the diamond. Kyle Seager is a natural "hitter" who has realized that he can take these yahoos deep.
Jesus Montero is relaxing into his game and has hit .300 with a .500 SLG the last 28 days. That's in Safeco. If he's here to stay at this point, then The Arrival took him about 10 games, kiddies.
Ichiro had a 114 OPS+ going into Saturday, before his trrrrrriple and his two BB's. He's having one of his five best seasons, and is now on pace for 6.7 WAR (!). His BABIP still lags wayyyy behind his line drive rate and he is beginning to square the ball more with his new air game: his grounder / flyball ratio has gone from 1.2 to 1.7 (with his career average being 2.4).
I loved the play when he cleaned the bases off with a triple. He gave it a half-followthru, like a golf pitch shot, and he hit it so softly that it went for three bases. Rather than caroming back off the wall, the ball sort of died in right center and Ichiro easily coasted into third. LOL. Just like the good ol' days: he stretches the bat out at the infield and says "you might wanna cover that hole over there."
.........
There was a lot of bad luck involved in the Mariners losing their last 5 straight games by a total of 6 runs. This team is as dynamic and fluid as it ever was. There is a difference between frustrating and DOA, a difference between "not there yet" and ... Jose Vidro.
We're not saying that these yahoos are the 1965 Dodgers, but this team is roster decisions away, not amateur drafts away. Chone and Erasmo being the first two roster decisions. Billy Beane said that you spend two months figuring out what you have, two months fixing things, and two months dominating. Maybe Zduriencik and Wedge cut that first phase in half. Can't wait for the next moves.
.
BABVA,
Dr D
Comments
Did you predict today's first inning? I love watching young talent grow up like that!