"I wouldn't bet anything I was afraid to lose, that (over the last 10 starts of 2014) James Paxton doesn't outpitch either Jeff Samardzija or Jon Lester, one of the two."
Which is exactly why Paxton isn't on a plane to Florida, as many suggested. I would take half of that bet, if you wanted a backer, Doc.
Z kept his two young guns. For that I applaud him.
Maurer is blossoming into a large caliber weapon. Leone is pretty darn good. The Bartender? Ditto.
We're "armed." Fo' sure. Is there a team in baseball with young MLB ready (or arrived) arms like us? Paxton-Walker-Elias-Wilhemsen-Maurer-Leone......and on it goes. OK, he was tardy on getting a bat. I'm absolutely in on the scout vs. GM analysis about Z, too.
Robert. E. Lee once wrote, "To be a good soldier, you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love."
There is much of that attitude in Billy B. The 2nd half is the hard part for Jack Z. But we are certainly better than we were yesterday.
Let's hope the new reinforcements are enough to sweep the field.
Good stuff, Doc.
moe
.
Q. How long does it usually take for a surging rookie pitcher to get the 8th inning?
A. Ask Justin Leone. (Or Dom. Or Don, Cor-. Thx SeattleNative. Shows you the impression Jeff Sullivan makes!)
Leone isn't being "punished" or anything like that; it is typical for a manager to take one (1) year to establish confidence in a new young pitcher. Earl Weaver's Fifth Law: the place for a rookie pitcher is in long relief.
Maurer has apparently shoved his way through MLB's best bullpen to grab the setup job, inside 10 appearances.
.
Q. Does Lloyd get cpoints for insight AGAIN?
A. He's making a a lot of impressive finger-points. Dr. D hasn't had this feeling about a manager's SELF-confident, creative, decisive, talent evaluation since Lou Piniella.
We ain't saying that McClendon is HOF material. Just making a fair observation, giving credit where due. It's a gutsy move to promote Maurer that quickly. The M's needed that win, right?
You could NOT afford to waste Zunino's dramatic 8th-inning homer -- either in this specific game, or in the attempt to salvage July, generally. In context, this was LEVERAGE-leverage. Quite remarkable to anoint Maurer for the job.
........
Although Dr. D suggested, more a year ago, that Maurer's destiny was to become Luke Hochevar, SSI's confidence in Maurer is lagging McClendon's. Maurer does not look settled to us; his confidence "feels" rather fragile to us.
The point is, Lloyd McClendon is underlining the Hochevar thing harder than I am. That's interesting, no?
.
Q. Scouting report, as to Maurer's Thursday performance?
A. He came in sort of wild - like it was going to be an off day for Maurer. Not makeup-wise; just command-wise.
- Pitch 1: cutter, yanked for a ball
- Pitch 2: fastball a little outside, ump fortunately gave it to him
- Pitch 3: fastball missed by quite a ways
Also the mechanics were a little jerk-y on those three pitches.
Zunino instantly, inside of 3 pitches, switched modes. Pound 'em with the fastball; forget the pitch mix, just throw strikes.
- Pitch 4: 96 MPH fastball, just get it over
This ball was hit on a line to RF ... McClendon had just then replaced Corey Hart with James Jones, so Endy Chavez was in RF and made a nice catch going back.
.......
Next up, Maurer threw 5 of 7 fastballs to the RH Mike Aviles .... no changeups, and the 2 sliders were well inside off the plate. Good show. The speeds: 97, 97, 97, 96, 96, and in Brandon Morrow fashion, that was an extra-tough 97 MPH. Aviles, "a good fastball hitter" sez Blowers, couldn't get around on a 3-1 fastball because of the movement.
The "nasty factor" on the 3-1 pitch was a sky-high 82, which corroborates Blower's insta-take.
........
Jason Kipnis came up and Maurer was in a groove by then, so Kipnis had no chance. The 0-2 pitch was my fave Brandon Maurer weapon: a screaming 90 MPH cutter that swerved through, and out of, the LH Kipnis' wheelhouse.
If you just joined us, lefty power hitters want the ball Down-In. Maurer's 90-93 cutter is analogous to Hisashi Iwakuma's "up the ladder" fastball -- it's right where hitters are hoping, but too much so. There is no pitch on the Mariners' staff I'd rather watch, than Brandon Maurer's screaming cutter down-and-in to lefties. He just flat humiliates them.
........
Zunino + Maurer is a nice combo, primarily because Mike Zunino has a good feel for how to keep Maurer happy.
.
Q. Fragile confidence, huh. Would you want Maurer protecting a 4-3 lead in the 8th inning of a Wild Card game in Los Angeles?
A. Maybe that's the method to McClendon's madness. Better get Maurer acclimated early.
.
Q. Is he Bard-, Ogando-, Robertson-, Hochevar-level setup yet?
A. His stats have him at that point ... he's got 21 strikeouts, 4 walks, and 0 homers in 16 innings. Check the Fangraphs velocity charts:
Is his stuff Ogando-level? We started talking about this scenario quite some time ago, didn't we?
.
Q. So it's kind of like trading for an All-Star short man, too. Does Paxton go Saturday?
A. They said on TV that he does. Paxton, that is.
I wouldn't bet anything I was afraid to lose, that (over the last 10 starts of 2014) James Paxton doesn't outpitch either Jeff Samardzija or Jon Lester, one of the two.
............
That's how it goes with young teams like this. A Bobby Wagner or K.J. Wright blossoms? It's as good as trading for a star.
More "blossoms" to come, no doubt. But Brandon Maurer, sez McClendon, is there already.
Cheers,
Jeff
Comments
That Robert E. Lee quote. Wow.
We have McClellan running the team now. It's the Army of the Potomac, and it looks good, on paper. Should have 61 wins, right? But we're getting kicked around, and our offensives look like strategic withdrawals. Need a Ulysses S. Grant to go to war with it.
I just led off a Ranger article with it. Gracias amigo.
We mean Dominic Leone not Justin, right?
Bleary-eyed, I reverted to the old days, showing the massive influence of th' old Leone For Third site :- )
Your observations made regarding Maurer are right on target. Eventually, the young man could mature to become an outstanding closer, or not. It will take time and baby steps for sure. As you most properly write: BABVA
If you're writing somewhere else, I want to know about it!
the Civil War references. I'm currently re-reading Grant's biography. He, of course, got kicked around as a (supposedly) drunken nobody until people began to notice that, unlike so many in the Union army, he was a general who would actually fight, fight aggressively to win, and in the end achieve his objectives, despite the enormous cost in his soldiers' blood.
Why settle for setup guy?
In case you missed this one: Maurer as Secret Weapon
I am taking absolutely nothing away from the talent of our pitching staff. After all, you could say it's just Felix being Felix, Kuma being Kuma and Rodney being Rodney.
But for everyone else, it almost seems like there's something special in the water. Is there something different from previous seasons?
I'm thinking that somewhere in there, there is.
Better advance scouting?
Maybe it's Lloyd's positive vibe, or sense for the right man in the right place.
Maybe Waits isn't getting enough credit.
But my sense is it may primarily be pitch-calling--a byproduct of Zunino's feel for the game and the situation and his pitcher. And if that's the case...at his age...Yikes!