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A fandango! Being (1) a lively dance for two, and/or (2) "a foolish act." Invented at SSI, the term quickly became popular in many countries.
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MtGrizzly sez,
Darn. Walker needs more time. At least one more Erasmo Snell start. Maybe two.
Or, this being the M's, maybe five.
Or: they do what they do when "Closers" are throwing the ball badly in the 7th or 8th inning, or on rehab stints. "He just needs the adrenaline." And they believe it. When it suits them, they're perfectly commited to the idea of, "Just get him in there where it means something, and he'll bear down."
But yeah. They had the ultimate Taijuan outcome during Erasmo's start: he got cut in half lengthwise, and the M's came back and poached the game anyway. Is Taijuan really not ready? Or what?
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In Seattle we have a great lightbulb that other 'net rats don't: Ian Snell Syndrome. Gordon provided the corollary: pitchers that size angle it precisely into the plane of the bat. This was obvious to people in uniform -- Wakamatsu referred casually to Doug Fister's awesome "angels" -- but I hadn't realized it. Not on a conscious level.
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Rick sez,
Over the last 28 days, Saunders's OPS is .912, Seager's is .896, Cano: .940, , Over 14 days Miller is OPSing .804 (!). I think we are starting to see the outlines of a very effective Mariner offense. We still need that right handed bat. Hart? But the biggest difference is Michael Saunders is moving from possible trait bait to lineup fixture. Even of you add in the two months of hitting while recovery from a shoulder injury (the Logan Davis theorem) Michael put together an OPS of .761. I think it's way past time to retire the idea that Saunders is inconsistent and merely teases at times.
All it takes is for one or two of those Draws At the Deck to give us a "picture," and it's all the difference in the world.
Did you see Saunders rip that 95 jam pitch down the RF line the other day? LH-on-LH, it clocked 95 MPH, it was inside corner which is effectively faster ... Saunders just effortlessly torched it way over into his pull field. Kid's got some talent.
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Also, the slot in which a player bats --- > it means little in terms of math. But it can mean a lot to the player, who aims for different outcomes in response to the batting order.
Michael Saunders has the ability to function as an R scorer (OBP and speed), or to function as an RBI man (slugging percentage). It has never been clear to me whether he is even 51-49 better at one of the other. His collection of skills is strange, and his R vs RBI skill set is strange.
But man, they put him in the #1-2 spots in the lineup in front of Cano, and the focus on R has resulted in his doing both.
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Rick sez, also,
LOL, Terry. Yeah, OBF, I'm not always certain about Lloyd's approach to platooning, but I am thrilled we have a manager willing to do it. If Lloyd needs a scotch or two to decide that Saunders can hit, then I'm willing to send him a bottle if it helps.
So we're both down with the concept, at least in the abstract.
McClendon -- who I like better than most of youse, call it a 6-7 on a scale of 10 -- has the idea that if you give Saunders a platoon-like amount of playing time, then it helps him bear down. Is this very unlike Billy Beane's philosophy of 8-to-make-5 starters at the bat positions?
They tell us the M's are happy, laughing, and confident. Nick Franklin and Brad Miller, for example, seem to get on very well despite the fact that they're competing for so much money. Do you think the job-sharing is working out?
If so, that's a major plus in McClendon's favor, 1/3 of the way into his first Seattle season.
Lloyd is taking a lot of Internet grief over his handling of Saunders but he may well be right - the guy may very well need a day off every fifth day. I think a lot of commenters assume that if he played every day, the production would remain the same. It may not be the case and Lloyd is pretty darn qualified to be the guy making that call.
Heck - there are plenty of off days in the playoffs, right? :)