.
Dr. D knows not whether any of these child-sized Warm Fuzzies will grow up to be the large and shaggy kind. But for one night we got a heaping bag full of them, Bad Witch protests begone. The M's blew out the Orcs, Lloyd says he sees signs of sunny hitting weather, and ... Felix goes tomorrow. There's a double dip that Dr. D can live with.
No stats. Just feelings. Stats next time.
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UNCLE FUZZY: The M's had gotten down 3-0 to Chavez real quick, most of it on bad luck. In the first couple innings, J.A. Happ had given up 19 fungo-strength grounders and 17 had gone through. But! The M's did not drop their heads. The "feeling in the dugout" shtick, the one that says "first show us some decent luck, and then it's Game On" was totally kaput.
Honestly. But that's kind of a weird uncle feeling.
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MOMMY FUZZY: OK, you got 6, maybe 7, like maybe 12 starters. J.A. Happ is a pending free agent. His biggest value was to Pitch Like A Professional during the time that our kiddie rotation was shrill and shrieking. That is no longer critical.
Just so you know, LrKrBoi29 my good buddy, major league teams do not trade for rental pitchers based on xFIP. They send scouts out. A scout today would have said -- again -- J.A. Happ is throwing the stuffing out of the ball.
You don't want to reinforce a competitor, but Happ should probably be dealt to the National League if he's not going to be Plesack'ed. We're assuming you get back something better than the Luke French for Jarrod Washburn howler. Maybe somebody here could look up the typical trade value of a good solid #3 starter going to a near-contender who is dying in the rotation. Bet you that you could Google that on Fangraphs.
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DADDY FUZZY: It felt like Robinson Cano had begun a sloooowwwwwww turnaround right after they talked about his getting his front foot down in time. Then, So, seven hits in the last three days, to every area of the park, and six of them had outfielders ducking out of the way. Bet you he's at or over career norms the last 2-3 weeks, and it's possible he'll stay that way.
The last few days, it felt like there is nothing wrong with the M's offense that The Real Robinson Cano couldn't fix.
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DADDY FUZZY: No sooner had we opined that Nelson Cruz could be heating up again, then he hit a "move the runner over" sac fly that moved itself over the right-center wall. You know the other time we felt like this during the Zduriencik Era? When he picked up Russell Branyan in his rookie GM year, and Branyan slugged about .600 in the first half.
It was super fun to watch Branyan then, and it's super fun to watch Cruz now. Will be fun to watch him in the All-Star game, too.
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COUSIN FUZZY: There is a saying in soccer, that great passers do not "assist" goals. They ISSUE INVITATIONS. :- ) The ball has just that extra bit of weight to it, to where the striker's eyes light up and he Just. Can't. Resist. scoring.
Mike Zunino doesn't set targets for pitchers. He issues invitations. With Mark Lowe's slider, he tilted his glove down just a bit, cradled it with his left hand, bobbed it down, just absolutely willing Lowe to keep the ball down. (He didn't.)
There is nothing wrong with an extreme defensive specialist, but you can't have two of them, and it's a shame you can't pinch-hit for Zunino in game situations. Really, you need to be able to pinch-hit for a .199* hitter like that. If you had Jesus Montero here, you could. Just sayin'.
You won't see this cousin much, the soccer baseball dealio, but you can just barely sense what they are trying to tell you about their catcher. That they can't afford to rest his bat because he's critical every night. Who knows how much he has to do with all this teamwide pitching success?
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DADDY FUZZY: Brad Miller seems to go nutso when Chris Taylor is on the club. Do they room together and play Outlast or something? Benihana called it the Great White Whale, the young cheap player who gives you 5 WAR. We have given up on Miller's stardom by no means, amigo. Whether the Mariners win or not, they've got young players who are really cool to watch.
And hold up your hand if you think it is a coincidence, the way Miller hits when Taylor is looming. Thought not. Maybe Jack Zduriencik doesn't, either.
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BABY FUZZY: Mojician called for two things to fix the chemistry: powerflush Willie, and punt Dustin Ackley. The Counselor is half there already. And the chemistry probably looks half fixed to him...
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COUSIN FUZZY: Mark Lowe came into the game in the 7th with the M's holding a slim 4-3 lead, and Dr. D said to himself, "you know what? They're going to hold a 1-run lead for 3 innings. This is a pretty tough bullpen."
Then Furbush and Rodney got up behind him for the 8th. Do you remember that Fernando Rodney used to be the best 8th-inning setup guy in the league? Well, slap me silly ... if the guy's main problem is that sometimes he can be wild, why not let him walk the wire WITH a net? Why make that guy the one reliever with no net?
Lowe in the 7th, Furbush-Rodney in the 8th, Carson Smith in the 9th, that looked pretty sleek to me.
Happy Felix Day,
Dr D
I would think that a package of Happ, Ackley and throw-ins could bring back a nice OF piece, or a pretty good player that's a salary dump, or at least some uber prospects from a near contender needing rotation help OF help or a 2B To get over the hump.
With Elias, Nuno and Wilhemson going down, it will be interesting to see if we call up a temporary bat to go along with Rollins and Iwakuma.
But Happ will not be a Mariner next year, getting some sort of return for him this year would be nice. He was tough last gnith, but it's a pick 'em if he's any better than Elias going forward this year. With Elias in Tacoma it does give you the ability to adjust to a re-iinjured "kuma...but so does an Elias in Seattle. And I would much rather see Elias than Beimel in the game.
The 3rd guy getting the call today will be interesting.