M's 10-and-4 ... actually 8-for-8

Q.  Great spring training, eh?

A.  It's been a great spring for Lookout Landing.  Man, they are in midseason form.  They're looking at 21-7, 2.72 this year.

If you haven't seen their postgames, well ....go get 'em.  Way too good'a reads for these kinda games.

.

Q.  How much does 10-and-4 matter?

A.  Weaver's Eighth Law:  Nobody remembers in May whether you won a game in March.

There's a Weaver Law I've got real enthusiasm for.

.........

Seems I've read some articles that showed spring records to have no correlation with records in the regular season .... ah, sho' nuff, here's a very convincing example. 

If I'm not mistaken, the very first Mariner team (1977?) scored 6, 8, 10 runs a game in stretches of March ... the fans got psyched up ... then Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana fired back-to-back shutouts or something.  Was sitting next to some guy who went, "This is a team that couldn't be stopped in Arizona"...

Earl and I :- ) don't care whether our teams win in March.  After two innings on Opening Day, everybody forgets it all.

.

Q.  Does it mean anything?

A.  All five of the M's starters are kicking tail - as a group they're probably 2+ on the ERA.

And Luke French is looking great, again, that being against the same fringe comp that he wasted last year at Cheney.  But French is not yet a writeoff.  Maybe he's continuing to announce something.

Pauley and Wilhelmsen look great... Pauley's allowed one run and has like an 8:1 CTL.  Most AAA fringe starters, I write off, but I believe that David Pauley can pitch a little bit in the American League.

Of the M's top 8 starters ... 8 of them look real sharp (maybe except Doug Fister, strictly speaking).  I don't suppose that's a bad thing.

........

The very fact that Erik Bedard is pitching, that means anything, yeah.

'Course, it isn't those 8 guys causing the 10-and-4 record.  Any AA shlub might have blown the victories for them; it so happens nobody did.

The individual performances are worth a look-see, but the record, no.

.

Comments

1

You covered absolutely everything I was curious about.
Up arrows:
Pineda instead of Robertson, Bedard's functioning shoulder, Guti's dietary reset button, MB and Figgy hot bats, Ackley making them think about it
Potentially an injection of two TOR-caliber starters and five-and-a-half improved bats (Smoak, Cust, Ackley new; Figgy, Guti, MB rejuvenated), but I'm getting carried away.
Down arrows:
Saunders whiffing, Cortes walks, Cust lack of walks
None of which is a big deal.

3

That's cold, Spec.
Geoffy's article today:  Bedard dazzles in an intrasquad, 3.1 IP, 6 K .... except two HR's.  To Rich Poythress.
Bat 'im cleanup :- )

4

Just a bad joke.
As for Ackley: the mantra since camp opened was that he needed "game repetition" at 2b, that you couldn't do in practice -- which seems like they've been laying the groundwork for a couple more months of Tacoma.
Plus, Ack will dislodge an actual MLB vet, not a Pauley or French.

5

Which, if you had been, would have been another exciting first here at SSI Central.
I guess mine was the bad joke :- )
.........
I can definitely buy the idea of game reps:  it's the difference between fighting a rearguard action, vs. being comfortable and aggressive.
After all, if Chone Figgins couldn't get comfortable there last year, ... ?
...........
Still and all, Ackley is a 'gamer', Bloomquist-type, and his state-of-mind is probably quite a bit different from Chone Figgins'...
Maybe when G gets back to the hotel he can give us a detailed report on Ackley's D...
.............
Ack would elbow out who.  Adam Kennedy I guess, with Ryan and Jack Wilson handling SS/MI?   That would occur anyway on May 20...
Good stuff Spec.  :daps:

6

I don't see how they leave him off.  He's got the vet swagger down there.  Josh Wilson's messing stuff up (or was when I was there) and Kennedy's playing wherever they tell him to and playing well.
IMO we're gonna break with Jack W/Ryan/Kennedy as the MIF (Kennedy was also playing LF for part of a game and doing just fine - Saunders might be in AAA again with Bradley playing hard).
I don't see Ackley getting there until June (after some Jack W injury or a slump by Ryan or Kennedy).  Maybe I'm wrong and they take him over Kennedy, but I don't see it right now.
And seriously, in a year Ackley's defense is gonna be a non-issue.  The kid has good range, soft hands, quick reactions, and looks to be at home there.  We'll see when he's having to do quick transfers with spikes in his shins to get the double play turned, but right now?  He does all the normal stuff with aplomb.
Just tell the pitchers to keep everyone off the base-paths and it won't be a problem at all. ;)
~G

7

... has since day one.  So, good call.
Great to hear the cross-check about Ackley.  We remember that Craig Biggio had a LOT of convincing to do, before anybody bought into him as a 2B .... the whole thing sounds like automatic sales resistance to me.

8
Lonnie of MC's picture

... that nice little DP that Ackley started on Monday!  He made a very nice catch and throw to Kazmar to get it started.
Lonnie

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