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The Shout Box denizens are enjoying the M's bats most thoroughly.  Let us wallow in the vast glory that is the Safeco hitting attack.

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PREAMBLE

With the beard shaved and, admittedly, a few years shaved, Dr. D in real life looks quite a bit like Jack Black.  The above photo should rightfully be the site avatar.  But Jack Black is a little too centered and rational to represent the author, so we go with a character that is a little more period-accurate.

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PROLOGUE

Josh appreciated Gnatto's report about [the Shout Box on mobile phones] and sez

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Thanks for the heads up – we get thousands of shouts per day so I definitely do not get a chance to read them all.

I have forwarded this off so we can get it taken care of.

You can always tell the guys to email me with any issues – big or small – it is pretty much the only way we hear about problems. We are working on a report feature… hopefully that will help.

Sorry about that!    [josh "at" neongecko.com]

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TALKING POINT ONE

American League offenses are usually strung out smoothly along a continuum, but this season they fall into four clear strata.

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wRC+ (similar to OPS+)	Team
128	Red Sox
117	M's
97-103	8 teams
81-91	5 teams, including A's and Rangers

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True, the last few days the Orioles have been struggling to crawl out of the "average/solid" strata; at the moment they are 107, not 103.  And the Astros have been scrabbling against the side of the canyon - they've fallen to 95.  But except for that, the stratification is neat and clean.

The Red Sox have been around for a while.  I seriously doubt they've ever had a team OPS+ of 125 or higher.  It would be amusing if 2016 were their best offense of, say, the last two hundred years.  Dr. D would appreciate a reader explaining their lineup to us.

The Blue Jays were the best offense last year, of course.  They were at 117 last year and nobody else was above 105.  This year so far they are a little below average.  Comments?  Assistance?  Various and sundry?

The Astros were the #2 offense last year, albeit with a mere 105 offense.  It's wonderful to see their glory-hog air conditioners get what's theirs.  I mean it in a good way.

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TALKING POINT TWO

The Mariners' offense is dominant this season and, note carefully ---- > it is deploying 80% returned Jack Zduriencik players.

Jerry DiPoto didn't bring in Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.  He brought in a 1B who hit .180 most of the first third, and he made a cosmetic change in LF who didn't hit much either, and he changed catchers.  He put a glove-first player in CF for Austin Jackson.  BOOM SHAKA LAKA the offense is tearing the league limb from bloody limb.

Mr. Sabermetrician:  WHY are all the Mariners' hitters having career years together?

... for 40 years, Dr. D has been watching teams either (1) mail it in, or (2) "buy in to the message."  If you can watch, I say WATCH not numbers-crunch, --- > Seattle 2015 and then Seattle 2016 back to back? and still believe that these variations are random?, .... well, power to you, buddy.  You'll go to your grave believing that.

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TALKING POINT THREE

Bill James truism:  just don't make outs on the bases.  Boston and Seattle truism:  the top two clubs in the AL don't run at all.  Boston has +1 run on the bases, Seattle =0.  As we all know, Speed Never Slumps.

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TALKING POINT FOUR

Heard during the James Shields game in Safeco.

CINDY WANDERS THROUGH LIVING ROOM:  Wow, 10-0!  ... wait.  Does that say 8th inning or 3rd?

DR. D:  Give me a line for my blog.  That's an All-Star starting pitcher they did this to.

CINDY:  I think Edgar deserves a raise.

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TALKING POINT FIVE

Fri 8:02am: rick82 This lineup has four regulars and semi-regulars sporting OPSes over .900 (Cano, Cruz, Seager !!, DHL). That's Griffey-Edgar-ARod-Buhner territory. Then sprinkle in some plus .800s from Martin, Smith and. Guti. Wow. This offense is seriously good.

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Yep.  Essentially you've got (1) our Big Three Sluggers coming from the infield, batting .290/.370/.525 in Safeco and going 30-100 ... hey, why shouldn't they hit, they're getting paid the better part of $60,000,000 per year between the three of them ...

 and then you've got (2) the Yahtzee corner bat slots of 1B, DH, LF.  Position scarcity, Rickster.  :- )

The (3) bottom of the order is playing control the zone and chipping in.

You decided to (4) put Earl Weaver bats on the bench.  The ballclub is as loaded toward platoon bats as a modern team could be.

So, yeah, theoretically you've got the infrastructure that should handle heavy rush hour base traffic, as JeDi would put it.  We just needed to flush the corporate malaise, and this output was always latent.  A 31-22 record was merely what ESPN expected from the Mariners last year.

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TALKING POINT SIX

The current M's OPS+ is 117.  That of the 2001 M's was also 117.  So what's standing 'tween us and that?

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BABVA,

Dr D