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HISASHI IWAKUMA

Had to battle:

• The fact that he hasn't built up his strength (gassed after 80 pitches; velo down; location iffy, especially late)
• A tough lineup with star left handers
• A dinky little park ...
• ... with the wind blowing 20+ MPH
• The home plate ump (4 pitches well inside the zone taken away, never mind close pitches)

Sometimes a #2 starter cruises, and sometimes he shows his toughness.  If Iwakuma didn't have the heart of a samurai, no way he gets out of there with 2 ER.

...

Time and again the home plate ump botched calls that cost the M's dearly.  For example, to lead off the 7th inning, Joel Peralta worked the count to 2-2 on Shin-Soo Choo and then struck him out with a nasty splitter that got nine kinds of strike zone.  See the lead image (from MLB.com, minus the glaring red neon signs).

The ump called it a ball.  Choo then walked.   Somebody told us youse guys prefer numerical verification of subjective observations ergo

• Run expectancy with no runners, 1 out:  0.254 runs
• Run expectancy with one runner, 0 out:  0.859 runs

That botched call on Peralta was a swing of +0.63 runs on a single pitch!  To say nothing of the fact that two batters later, when Peralta should have been back on the bench, he had to throw 8 pitches to Mitch Moreland.  8 dangerous pitches.  No, that's not an Iwakuma example; it was just Dr. D's "favorite" example of the umpires' pro-Texas agenda.  

;- )

But yeah.  Iwakuma, like Jamie Moyer, cannot afford to set up Strike Three, throw it, and then have the ump take it away from him.  At 88 MPH you have to have your strikes.

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JOEL PERALTA

The question was, does he have one more year?  So far, it certainly looks like he does.  

This dude has exactly one (1) pitch, the splitter, but it is plus-plus and he has 20 years' experience faking the fastball.  Tuesday, he faked it with tantalizing 88-MPH fastballs up out of the zone.

I thought it was dumb to bring Peralta in to the 7th to face the meat of the Rangers' lineup.  That's when you bring in your stud, Benoit.  I thought Servais was too nervous to think with nuance.  I pictured him "freezing" and going with the Book, that being Benoit in the 8th.  When Benoit should have been deployed to neutralize the good hitters.

But Peralta did mow down Choo, and Fielder, and Moreland, and then I remembered the thing about Peralta's reverse split.

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NICK VINCENT

The question was, does his cutter really cut that hard?  So far, it certainly looks like it does.

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MIKE MONTGOMERY

The question was, can he use the extra (bullpen) velocity to challenge, not walk guys ... to be a blunt instrument?  So far, it rather looks like he can.

Still not sure what good reliever he would aspire to mimic, but that doesn't mean there aren't any.  Robbie Ross, maybe?  Actually Monty and Robbie Ross may be brethren in search of a successful RP comp.

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TONY ZYCH

The question was, are there any questions about this guy?  Not in Dr. D's mind.

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JERRY DIPOTO

The question was, can he point his finger at a bullpen meatball and say "THAT one?"  With 1.2% of precincts reporting, the first returns are that he can.

Wow.  Four relievers in, not a single run -- in Texas -- and they haven't even touched their three finishers yet.  Also known as a "best case scenario."

.

SO SUE ME

After 2 games, the M's OPS+ is 181 and their ERA+ is 269.  And:  they'll be playing with house money on Wed afternoon.  And:  the Orcs have no idea who will even be pitching this weekend, despite the fact that they had March to figure it out.  We pwn baseball, as any soccer mom could see.

.

Resistance is futile,

Dr D