One thing I really like about Zunino (besides that the homer hit hit left the park in Peguerro-like time) is that he seems to have a plan at the plate. I mean that he takes a catcher's mentality up there and sits on the pitch he would call. Or so it seems.
He certainly doesn't get them all right and he misses by a mile when that happens, but when he does his compact-powerful swing puts him on the ball squarely.
Smash factor. His swing isn't any "faster" than Smoak's (would be my bet) but being so compact, when he gets his pitch he gets to the ball quickly and he hits it in the nuts. He doesn't float many balls that limp out to the warning track and die, does he. He's loud when he hits it.
Gary Carter, Doc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPLOEhUq5QQ
moe
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M's 4, Sox 5
For those of you who didn't see the game on TV? Maurer came in to face David Ortiz. As Matty pointed out instantly, this means that Taijuan starts in four days. As the booth pointed out concurrently, Taijuan "was throwing 95, 96 MPH in the 9th inning" of his last start.
Maurer fired the first pitch to David Ortiz, 96 MPH, and I'm here to tell you 96 doesn't do it justice. The ball simply exploded, Ortiz sort of blinked a couple of times, and there were ooh's and aah's in the booth.
Second pitch, 86 MPH circle change with superb arm action, and Ortiz swung way through it.
0-and-2 on Ortiz, Mike Zunino called for a fastball. Maurer shook him off briskly, a big sideways rip of the head. Zunino called changeup. Another big sideways rip of the head. Zunino called "cutter" in on the hands. Maurer bounced into his delivery and threw A 93 MPH CUT FASTBALL on the hands. Somebody tell me when was the last time you saw a 93 MPH cutter. (GameDay called it a 94.1 MPH slider.)
Maurer stomped off the mound almost as he let the ball go. Ortiz took a garbage swing, stumbled a little, looked out to the mound and saw a fringe major leaguer who thought David Ortiz was a waste of time. Somebody tell me you saw Ortiz' ugly glare out to the mound, a good three seconds as he took the left turn back to the dugout.
.......
Johnny Gomes got a cut fastball, then two changeups? sliders? for a 1-2 count. Then Maurer threw a 99 fastball, outside. Then Maurer threw a 99 fastball, again, and struck Gomes out.
.......
Maurer yielded a single up the middle, and then (IIRC) his three fastballs to Bogaerts were 97, 99, 99. Struck out the side.
.......
The text doesn't convey the speed and decisiveness with which Maurer worked. And the camera caught Maurer speedwalking off the hill -- the look in his eyes was crazed. Reminded you of JJ Putz' talk with Brandon Maurer... or Gil Meche learning to cue up hard rock before the game, maybe?
........
Here, check out Luke Hochevar when he went to the bullpen in 2013. His fastball was +3, +4 MPH, and he stripped down his repertoire to the same one Maurer used Wednesday:
- Really hot fastball, but used 40-50% of the time (1970's Orioles principle)
- Overhand curve (Hochevar) -or- devastating circle changeup (Maurer)
- Throw the cutter/slider way in on lefties, or way outside to righties, or below the zone
That is simple, and it is repeatable, it is tough to deal with one time through the lineup, and it could make Brandon Maurer a big star.
.........
We don't say he's a finished product; even in the same game, the next inning, he seemed to dial back out for about 5-6 pitches there, lost decisiveness. But like Michelangelo always says: the more the marble wastes, the more the statue grows :- )
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WBC-san = gimp?
Almost wrote up, last time, that we thought he was getting considerable pain in the shoulder. After tonight (now 10 ER in his last 9 IP and 2 G), it's quite worrisome.
- Here, look at his velo trends long term...
- ... And he is still laboring, despite the March-April off
- His command was way off both games, consistent with shoulder pain
- (So his fastball is like only +3 MPH to his two offspeed pitches. Yowch)
- His history
- His body language is that of somebody who is physically uncomfortable
If anybody knows how to (1) "pace himself," to be effective despite the gimp ... and to (2) get his command back, it's Iwakuma. He will right the ship, unless of course his shoulder is gone.
Oddly, it doesn't bother Dr. D much as it should. In the broadest sense, it has seemed all year as though we just need placeholders for K-Pax and Taijuan. That sounds weird, considering that WBC-san was like #3 in the Cy voting last year, but .... Iwakuma has always been a high-mileage visitor. It's all gravy, what we get from him.
Especially now that we're packing the Chris Young blunderbuss under the trench coat.
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Offense
After Logan Morrison rifled an overhand curve back through the box, Mike Blowers had a great comment. "It's great to be on the fastball. But to stay back like that on the curve, with two strikes [when you're hyper - Dr D] ..."
Blowers also pointed out how "softly" Morrison is striding. "Earlier in the year he was jumping at the ball" -- we would say "lunging."
.......
Would be interested to hear Mo' Dawg's take on why the ball jumps off Mike Zunino's bat the way it does, in terms of that "mis-hit" thing. Obviously Zunino and Morrison are strong, and are upper-body based. But as to why they get such carry .. hm.
.........
It was weird in the 9th inning. We were down one run, but coming up were Cano, Seager, LoMo followed by Zunino: it felt like we had a middle of the order, like our rivals do. How long has that been?
Cheers,
Dr D
Comments
He doesn't have the pitch recognition or built-up database to be able to run a decent average yet. He's completely guess-hitting, using his CATCHER's mind ("here's what I would call for my pitcher to throw in this situation") to supplement his BATTER's mind.
This version of Zunino is nowhere near a finished product. I said Olivo was his floor - well, apparently not. He's more thoughtful than that, and way better defensively.
I said I expected him to be Charles Johnson as a player (Johnson was a .245/.330/.435 career hitter who had a couple of monster up years when the singles fell in, but he handled the pitching staff very well and won several Gold Gloves to start his career, before reputation can bag those things for you). I still think that's his midpoint...
But if and when he takes the blindfold off at the plate, look out. His ISO is .220 with his current pinata-style approach that nets approximately zero walks (he has 1 fewer HBPs than base-on-balls...)and a 33% K rate. When he walks and can hit singles to go with his 20+ homers a year, he's gonna be a beast. The Ms (and I) were slightly disappointed that neither Buxton nor Correa fell to us in that draft; Zunino was the consolation prize for missing out on the top-2 hitting prospects in the minors at this point.
I'll take more consolation prizes like that...
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LoMo. This is what I wanted to see from him. I think he has it in him to hit like this for long stretches. He was a .290/.380/.470 hitter in the minors who made the bigs at 22 and had two immediately successful years hitting .260/.350/.460-ish. If he just does THAT again he's the best first baseman we've had in a while.
When he looks like this at the plate it's really easy to buy in. Smoak hasn't looked like this at the plate since the Spring before his dad tragically passed away. If LoMo can keep his calm at the plate to mix with the danger in his swing, I'll be a truly happy camper. Like you said Doc - it felt like we had a MOTO in the 9th instead of Bloomie - Gillespie - Endy.
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Maurer. I fought you on the bullpenning of Brandon because I hate seeing 200 inning dudes with frontline stuff turned into 70 inning pen arms. But he definitely needed to simplify things, and once I saw how his attitude changed in the pen I was immediately down for it. He's been doing this in the minors so I really wanted to see him take the mound and rock, not nibble. I had no fear when he stepped on that mound - he really is a different dude from the pen.
He got an extra two feet on his explosive fastball and threw it where he wanted. He threw a slider-change-thing the bombed out of the zone. He ripped up some hitters and went up with a plan. If you're gonna strike out the first guy and the last guy, and cut up everybody in between, I'd call that a marked improvement for a guy who was getting hit WAAAAAY too much for the stuff he has as a starter. His stuff is even more explosive as a reliever, but he's throwing it like he means it. Telling the batter what's about to happen instead of asking him if it's okay.
The guys in the booth were stupified. They'd seen 95-mph Maurer last year, and in Spring Training, and earlier this year. But his aw-shucks routine and trepidation on the mound were palpable. This guy had none of that attitude and even better stuff. "Lloyd must have taken him aside and told him to pitch as if his hair were on fire," mused Jay. "I remember Lou doing that a few times..." And then he made choking noises at the back-to-back 99s that Maurer rung up. The more like Lou our Lloyd happens to be, the happier I am.
Hat cocked, arm on fire, dismissively brilliant on the mound - I can't help but love that version of Maurer.
The Blue Jays took their power pitcher with mercurial results (Morrow) and kept him in the rotation. He's led the league in K/9 but has a career ERA of 4.40 as a starter - he just can't seem to get his stuff to earn the box score results it should.
The Orioles took their 4-pitch wunderkind (Tillman) and kept him in the rotation. He bounced back to the minors for his first 3 big-league half-seasons, then exploded on the scene with real results (and made an All-Star team)... but is sinking back to mediocrity. They can't seem to light his fire and get him to sustain that flame.
If putting Maurer in the pen gets 100% of his game for 70 innings, then I'll take it and love it. We have other starters - I want the best arms we can get out there doing a number on the league, and Maurer's arm is unquestionably good. We'll need to see the consistency, but maybe now his results can reflect his talent. I hope so, for his sake AND ours.
~G
When Saunders and Hart return.
I got to spend some time in Rome in March with the wife. She loves Moses and it was first on the list when we arrived. Located in St. Peter in Chains Church, where you can also see the ACTUAL chains St. Peter was bound in during his arrest in Jerusalem (well, if you are skeptical, I don't blame you...but maybe....). My wife just LOVES Moses's gnarly, Josh Reddick-ish beard. Moses is awesome...but David, the sheer size of David amazes. Sculpting like that is one thing. Sculpting like that on a ladder...
Doc, you find the best pictures. On top of top flight content, no less.
Gotta love the off kilter hat brim tribute by Maurer too...maybe that'll become a Mariner bullpen signature. I wonder did McC or Rodney put him up to that...or was it his idea?
TW is showing more and more stretches where he really carves people up, also. McClendon seems to be getting a real feel for how to get the 'pen guys in the right situation. 3 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks - inherited bases loaded and no outs, but only 1 run scores -- very nice! But completely overshadowed by Maurer last night.
McC took one look at Maurer's stuff in ST and went, wow, that guy should be Zach Greinke :- ) ... indeed he should. And agreed, that "giving up" on that is a very last resort.
It's getting to be "nagging" on my part, but the pivot point for me was Maurer's lack of starter's rhythm, the "max effort" approach, which is ungainly even by AA standards ... oddly enough G, didn't his "hair on fire" rhythm seem much SMOOTHER to you in relief last night? He found an attitude and that attitude seemed synch up with his body.
Man, 96-99 MPH, did JJ Putz throw any harder?
.........
As you'd expect, I agree with all that about Zunino. Well put as always amigo.
But do these kids even know who Carter was? Or Dave Valle for that matter? :- ) Let's go with Bill Dickey?
..........
Gary Carter, by himself, is a long, LONG ways towards a championship roster.
To feast your eyes on the very marble that was fashioned by Michelangelo ... must have been moving.
? How big IS the statue of David ? If you get past the nudity, which for me seems puzzlingly gratuitous (as opposed to, say, Rembrandt's Bathsheba or Susanna and the Elders) ... it's interesting to ponder that "lean and mean," angular, body in synch with the Old Testament career of David. A fascinating interpretation of David.
Hmmmmmmmm. Brings up the idea of all the high-profile, 4 BB relief aces. I wonder if that variation of Maurer would work.
Good stuff BSR.
Getting out into a triple-deck stadium, out of a bartending career, and embarrassing yourself like TW did, it's got to be like electroshock. Will take a whale of a lot to really put it in the past.
TW's "leverage index" is 0.92 on the year, meaning that even as a reliever (!) the pressure on him has been LESS than in any random game situation, including the 8-2 games etc. And it is 0.71 the last 30 days -- easily the lowest on the entire staff, except for Maurer.
So, definitely, McClendon seems to have grokked a subtle solution to the Wilhelmsen issue, as he has watched the action. Wasn't Wilhelmsen the primary 8th-inning guy coming out of ST? Nice adjustment.
........
Last month, Wilhelmsen's CTL ratio has been 17:4 in 17 innings. He's been 100% of the way back, albeit throwing in garbage innings. Let's keep him there awhile...
Centered his ki and chucked it straight-line at the plate. Some guys just have everything fall into place in the pen. They stop over-thinking things. Meche was the master of 4 pitches but never really the master of the mound, or himself. Maybe it was the injuries, or maybe some guys just take a LONG time to get good with multiple tools.
It's great to have 4 pitches and all kinds of options, but if pitching is both an art and a science, then how hard is it to be a great painter, and sculptor, and dancer, and singer?
Focus on painting and sculpting, or singing and dancing, and stuff gets easier. Focus gets sharper.
Maurer as a starter just seems unfocused, and that disjointedness comes through in his motion and approach to the plate. If the bullpen suits him better, then do what's best for HIM rather than letting him toil in mediocrity while we hope he masters all his disciplines and can do what's best for US.
Also, bring back a healthy Paxton and Walker soon so it doesn't matter as much. ;-)
It's indeed impressive. Yes, the nudity is definitely "out there". If (when?) you do make it to Italy, do what you can to get a ticket to see DaVinci's Last Supper in Milan. Most Milanese haven't had the privilege, they allow so few visitors to keep the work from added deterioration due to human heat and moisture. But it will make an impression on you to last the rest of your life. And to think we almost destroyed it in WW2 bombing raids. It's amazing what that painting has been through.
Nice piece on the M's bullpen after last night:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/seattle-mariners-pitcher-brandon-mau...
Does being a reliever perhaps better fit his personality?
"I think quite a bit more, actually, yeah," Maurer said with a smile.
When Moses comes down off of Mt. Sinai it is said that he had to wear a veil because "his face was shining". Renaissance-era translators read the text as "his face was horned" which can be seen in Michelangelo's sculptures of him.
I did a semester in Florence in college. Given all the cheesy mini David souvenirs you see everywhere in Italy, and how endlessly you've see the image in pop culture everywhere in the world - not to mention the life size replica statues you go by every day in Florence - I put off visiting the Accademia until late in my stay. You kind of feel like you've already seen it.
In reality, as I found out, you must see the real thing in person. It is much bigger than you expect, absolutely spectacular. And yes - moving to experience. Nothing else anything like it that I've ever seen. The Lincoln Monument lit up at night, when the crowds are gone...is comparable in some ways, in terms of scale and emotional impact.
When you look at pictures of Florence, It appears as a nice looking church. Then to see it in person, a cathedral so large and yet so colorful, I was really amazed. I understand Michelangelo considered it the world's more beautiful church, if not building.
I don't like the way Moses is stuck in the corner in the church he's at, except that it gives you the feeling of seeing something spectacular that is easily overlooked. BTW, Cisems, that horn factoid is fascinating as well. I'll have to share that with my wife.
bsr, you weren't part of the Gonzaga in Florence program, were you?
All this talk of Florence is making me hungry for a T-bone. Come to think of it, the most spectacular thing I witnessed in Florence was a chicken cacciatore at a restaurant there. I've been searching for one that delicious ever since, even went back and searched for the same restaurant last March with hopes they still served it (found the restaurant - but it's not a regular item on their menu).
One last thing regarding the Last Supper, if you see Monuments Men, they have a scene in which the local cityfolk are protecting the wall the painting resides on during a bombing raid. I was reading about that while waiting my turn to see the painting, and when I saw the film a couple months later, it seemed to depict that episode brilliantly. I didn't care much for the movie overall, but I loved that scene. Same thing regarding the movie Pompeii. Terrible movie, but if you ever see Pompeii, you'll want to imagine what the street life was like back then, and there's about a 30 second scene that does a wonderful job depicting it.
I was on the Syracuse program (though I didn't go to Syracuse, it was a mix from schools all over). The Duomo is indeed spectacular, and when you read the history and consider when/how it was built - it's even more incredible. I imagine you are familiar, but if interested this book is a fantastic read:
http://www.amazon.com/Brunelleschis-Dome-Renaissance-Reinvented-Architec...
Kuma hasn't been right after his brilliant game with the bad neck.
A bad neck pretty much flushed Darvish late last season, so I'd be careful with Kuma too.
I'd DL him for the ASG break and bring him back fresh right afterwards.