Weekend Update
M's 4-5, Reds 0-4. Sweeeeeep

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You ever put your T-shirt on inside out and go a couple of hours until somebody tells you?  Dr. D feels vaguely odd if a Mariners ballgame goes by unremarked.  He has no idea how in the world he got to this place in his mindset.  But if an 1882 A.D. franchise falls in the woods and nobody blogs it, did it really occur?

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M's 4-0:  FRANKLIN GUTIERREZ READS SSI

Many of you kiddies are too young to remember the "Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx."  Back in the day, SI would put Tony Mandarich on the cover of its magazine with a loud headline "BEST NFL PROSPECT EVER" and Mandarich would shortly be taped to a goalpost ... by the opposing defensive lineman.  Thomas Hearns.  Jack Lambert.  Pete Rose.  In fact the first issue ever of SI featured Eddie Matthews -- who immediately broke his hand and sent the Braves into a long losing streak.

Exactly one day after SSI murmured softly the name of Stefen Romero, Franklin Gutierrez hit the greatest upper-deck shot in the history of his life.  When you were five years old, did you ever stand in the back yard with a wiffle bat and imagine walk-off homers in the World Series?  In Saturday's game, Guti had a waking dream:

  • Scoreboard was 1-0
  • Two men on base
  • Some very left-handed pitcher threw him Ball One and Ball Two
  • Guti rolled his eyes and prepared himself for a fastball 90 MPH down the middle
  • When it occurred, Guti loaded up like Andy Murray on a one-bounce lob at the net
  • The ball went 473 feet, past the walkway of the upper deck
  • That ball began and ended the game

Later Guti said he couldn't feel the ball on his bat; DaeHoTheDog will tell you sometimes that happens with his driver.  My two favorite things, in watching the tape, were (1) the Andy Murray factor, and (2) watching Gutierrez AIM the ball into the upper deck.

For the three or four of you who didn't read it anywhere, it was the longest home run of the year, except for Stanton over in the N.L. hit one two feet farther.

:- ) In theory I'd still swap out to Romero.  But it's a real clubhouse, and if Guti wasn't going anywhere before, he certainly isn't now.

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FELIX

Was throwing free and easy.  Notably, he was snapping his curve off with extra RPM.  We doubt you would do this if your elbow was barking -- try spinning a tennis ball against the brick wall even once, if you've got tennis elbow.  But Felix was just CRACKING that curve off with fingers whistling in the wind.

It's nice to see his velocity charts are level, to say the least -- if he'd continued to slide into June, we'd be talking about it.  But right now there's no reason to even talk about it.  Take a moment and savor the thought that, in the midst of a pennant race, we've got an Aircraft Carrier.

The 2015-16 Warriors struck me as a team that was (1) championship-class, (2) ADD a Most Valuable Player.  I think the 2015-16 players are what you get if you add an inner-circle Hall of Famer to, say, a Popovich Spurs team.

Right now the 2016 M's look to me like a pennant contender, add Felix.

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M's 5, REDS 4

For the second time in the series, the M's spotted the Reds three runs. And then they relaxed into the game.  Let me read that sentence again.  

.... Their next ten hits were singles -- no desperate hacking for the 5-run homer to get back into it -- and there was an air of inevitability to the sweep.  Down 3-0, the M's smiled wryly and began stacking baserunners, just the way the old Reds used to.  I think I'm going to cry.

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Not pictured below:  a team that merits relegation
Not pictured below: a team that merits relegation

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BY THE NUMBERS

110 and 120 - the offensive OPS+ index and defensive ERA+ index

+48 runs - the M's run differential

+43 - the number of games the M's have played

+8 - the Rangers' run differential

+44 - the number of games the Rangers have played

DL - Where are Sonny Gray and Billy Beane

363:329 - the M's advantage in strikeouts

150:125 - the M's advantage in walks

59:45 - the M's advantage in homers

#3 to #15.5 - the M's advantage in defensive efficiency

8.4 / 2.9 / 1.0 - the Seattle staff's pitching Three True Outcomes after the Reds series (a typical Felix slash line)

-24.5 - how many games are the Angels, Orcs, and Lastros behind the M's as a group

2% - what is the pesky rodent Angels' chance of winning the division, per Fangraphs

3% - what is Orkland's

Double - how many digits are the Astros behind in the standings

61% vs 23% - how does Fangraphs see the Mariners-Rangels duel this summer

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ALL HANDS ON DECK

From Friday March 27th until maybe a week later, Dr. D will be away from the keyboard.  When the cat's away any self-respecting mouse will play.  

See you at the ballpark,

Dr D

Blog: 

Comments

1

Man, he's already giving us notice that he will be out of the office for a bit next March. 

;)

We will try to pick up the slack then.....and this Friday, too.

2

So long as you throw a potato into the hobo pot this weekend Keith-O.  :- )

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