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INPUT/OUTPUT: Didn't see the game. As a Spurs fan, there were higher priorities.
CRUNCH: SSI woulda DVR-scanned the Mariners too, but a "bottom line" peek at the MLB scores forewarned us.
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INPUT/OUTPUT: the Yankee$ sweep three. They go from .500 to +3, while we go from +5 to +2. Balmer also goes to +3.
CRUNCH: :: shrug :: It would be a lot of fun if a huge pack of teams loped along together, all through the summer. And a huge Spalding Sandwich blocked shot for the "purists" who feel it their responsibility to groan every time the playoffs get bigger. Had you rather just NL vs AL, like in 1922? What would be your objection to that, if any?
More seriously, James tried to set up a framework, to figure out "the number of meaningful games played in a baseball season," depending on the number of playoff teams. It's complex and defies a dogmatic answer.
What Dr. D knows is, if there's only one Wild Card, he has mostly written off the 2014 season. In Seattle, that second Wild Card has infused life and vitality. In which cities do you want to add meaningful games? Do you want to maximize tension in Boston, or maximize it for cities #4 through #9?
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INPUT/OUTPUT: Michael Saunders is out again. For a problem that is looking chronic.
CRUNCH: At first blush, it looks like a big hit to the M's lineup.
Let's don't get carried away about losing The Condor, though: his .330/.360/.560 spurt the last 28 days, it still came with a 5/17 EYE ratio. That, and watching him hit via the CF camera, causes Dr. D to doubt that he's going to hit .330/.360/.560 the rest of his career.
His OPS+ remains 110-120 in an outfield corner, so how much are you going to drop off? Supposing Gillespie OPS's 100?
I was enjoying Saunders' performances, too. Am just saying, it ain't like we lost Cano or Iwakuma.
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INPUT/OUTPUT: the magnificent, the glorious, the immortal Derek Jeter gets ceremonies, "seats," and various/sundry in Seattle.
CRUNCH: Yes, because Derek Jeter has not yet received enough accolades, for playing baseball.
And I don't notice that the Yankee$ threw Edgar a party. Nor would they have, had he done a year-long celebration of himself.
:: shrug :: If people get off on that, great. Seriously. Baseball's for fun. Derek Jeter is indeed a baseball immortal, was The Real Deal, and if people want to throw parties, who is Dr. D to complain.
I don't intend it in a mean way. It's just that I'm not an autograph type. On a lot of levels. :- D
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INPUT/OUTPUT: Elias gets KO'ed. His ERA (4.13 in Safeco) continues to lag his talent, which is no biggie.
CRUNCH: Have we talked about rookie lefthanders before? About Mulder's, and Gio's, and 9,000 guys' rookie seasons? You invest two years in order to get the dividends.
A quick glance at Thursday's F/X, and the video, confirms. Elias gave up the big blows on mistake pitches. We don't believe in calling every HR and 2B a mistake pitch, like the radio guys do, but in this game the fingers did get bitten off when Elias stuck his fingers in the doggie's mouth.
- HR to Ellsbury: Behind in the count, he centered a fastball
- 2B to Soriano: 87 MPH slider not only in, but up (a "hanging" slider)
- Several other base hits were similar
A C.J. Wilson or Gio Gonzalez does a simply remarkable job of minimizing these kinds of pitches. Rookie LHP's don't. But Elias is getting there: his changeup is more and more often thrown "dead fish," way outside to RH and dropping out of the zone, and his curve is more and more often thrown to start inside the zone and break out of it.
Rookies battle their mechanics, they don't know the hitters, it's just a real rough ride for them to reproduce the incredible precision that is manifested by a certified Cy Young contender.
But Roenis Elias can pitch for my ball club any time. Right now he's looking at a two-year grace period from Dr. D, should he need it. Don' look like he will.