Great read, Doc.
It was particularly gratifying to me to see MLB Net and ESPN both mention that Seattle had set a FRANCHISE record of 8 consecutive games allowing 3 or fewer runs. Even if this post jinxes them and the streak ends today, (and the streak will end at some point), it's nice to hear someone other than myself applauding the job this team is doing on the run-suppression side of the equation.
That shift (compared to last season), has got to be almost 100% attributed to Captain Jack.
I think earlier in the season, there was "pressure" that the offense NEEDED the defense to keep opponents under 3. I feel a different dynamic today. I feel like there is an EXPECTATION that the defense is likely to hold the opponent under 3, so the offense is loosening up and starting to perform to ability.
I feel a shift that says, when the next pitcher does struggle, the offense is going to be in a position of WANTING to bail them out, (because they've earned it). But, instead of pressing and folding, I think we might well see an offensive explosion.
SABRMatt sez,
+++++ Yuniesky Betancourt is getting a great opportunity to watch a far less talented middle infielder take his job. And his reaction? He doesn't show up for batting practice, take ground balls, or listen to his coaches at all...he pouts, makes cheap excuses, and boycotts his own life to get back at the boss for benching him.
You know what we call a guy like that? UNEMPLOYED
Betancourt is about to get his butt sent to A ball...and it's a short hop from there to the waiver wire. +++++
C-Points. :- )
The amazing thing to me, is how the other 24 Mariners have been both privately and PUBLICLY supportive of the rookie Wakamatsu imposing the doghouse collar on the entitled vet Betancourt. This rook manager is making all the right moves, playing his card with surgeon-like precision.
The media has joined in. Betancourt is absolutely the only one taking any heat. It is beautiful to see Commissioner Gordon take control of Arkham Asylum.
My fave quote, off Dreyer's blog IIRC, "you can't have 24 guys busting their tails and one guy who doesn't care," or somesuch. I just can't believe my eyes on this culture turnaround. From a ROOKIE manager. Wow.
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+++++ Baseball Intelligence Instead of Tools: That's Zduriencik's philosophy...in one simple line. He drafts guys who are smart about the game...who play hard and who work their butts off to get better.
That's what Franklin is...that's what Baron is... +++++
And, of course, Willie Bloomquist is the definition of this kind of player. :- ) Even the sharpest baseball analysts figured, well, his intelligence and drive will help him get better.
I don't have much use for the idea that intelligence is a giant trump card in a position player's pocket. I'll take fast hands and an attitude of outsmarting the pitcher (in the context of the pitcher's three simple pitches). Now, intelligence in pitchers, that's a different story.
Offense -- in baseball that's the pitcher, attacking the strike zone -- requires intelligence. Defense -- in baseball that's the hitter, reacting to the pitcher -- requires speed and intensity/focus.
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Of course, that little birdwalk doesn't really address your basic point there, Matty. Capt Jack targets RESULTS players as opposed to TALENTED players. Head cases, apparently, need not apply. It's fascinating to watch what he does do when handed a head case like Brandon Morrow.
I've been nothing but impressed with Morrow's forthrightness this week. It reads like a Catholic parishoner coming forward with penance, asking to be allowed back into grace. Unreal.
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San-Man sez,
+++++ Building a winning ORGANIZATION is a much, much, much more daunting task than assembling a roster full of talent.
Z keys on those intangibles that don't show up on radar guns. He looks for **baseball** INTELLIGENCE. So, he goes out and gets guys like Vargas and Olson.
But, he cedes to Morrow's request/demand, and then Vargas and Olson, (guys of seriously less talent than Morrow), come in and thrive as starters. Meanwhile, Morrow is struggling more and more as "just" a reliever. (He's also being called a wuss all over the web, which he probably knows about, too).
Why is Morrow listening today, but wasn't yesterday?
Because he had the opportunity to *SEE FIRST HAND* the results from pitchers who have put in the time. ....
You want your really, really talented guys to work harder? Bring in less talented guys who just continue to outperform them. THEN, they might get the message. If not, it won't take long to know you're dealing with a lost cause.
To learn ... first you have to listen. +++
The winning culture is definitely gathering momentum as the snowball rolls downhill. The young players who were starting to get used to losing attitudes are now being exposed to players who EARN their playing time. Impressed with this spectacle, a lot of them are changing their attitudes.
Too often, the sabermetric take is that Zduriencik is doing nothing more than selecting the right $/VORP players. I actually don't think he's done much of that at all, so far, except for Russ Branyan. What he HAS done, is shop the Scrubs pile to come up with fungible pitchers who have helped the club. Jason Vargas, David Aardsma, Sean White, and these kinds of guys aren't sabermetric $/VORP adds. They're guys who, sabermetrically, looked lousy. But Capt Jack is more than willing to kick a Carlos Silva to the curb so that he can get some fresh water in the pipe.
This momentum has kicked in the benefit of improved enthusiasm from some veterans, including Bedard and Washburn.
But as Sandy sez, Zduriencik is building a BALLCLUB (OF's helping the pitchers etc) and he is instilling the fear of failure in everyone.
Crowd psychology is momentum-based. It's a real treat watching men who understand it.
Cheers,
Dr D
Comments
Garrett Olson sucks...so there'a a high probability that we're about to allow more than 3. :) But the Mariner bats should be able to handle Koji Uehara...granted he's right handed, but he's also a high-ball pitcher, not a groundball guy...and he's not overpowering so guys like Lopez and Beltre should have a shot.
8 straight days 3 runs or fewer...team ERA+ rrises to 117! Hey Doc...have you noticed how important the outfield defense has been? Well?? :)
Yes we have Washburn and Bedard having career years in the DIPS sense and Felix still being Felix...but we also have some very shaky DIPS lines like Vargas, Olson, Batista, White, Aardsma, Lowe all with good ERAs at the moment. Just saying.
His minor league line, (410 innings), shows:
2.96-ERA; 8.8-K/9; 3.0-BB/9; 0.6-HR/9 (and the eyebrow raiser - 7.3 H/9).
No, he's not Strasburg, but a 8.8 K/9 rate in the minors, almost exclusively as a starter is reasonably impressive - and the kind of number that actually tends to translate decently to the majors.
Gil Meche in 471 minor league innings had:
4.07-ERA; 8.6-K/9; 3.86-BB/9; 0.8-HR/9. Basically, by *EVERY* measure, Olson has been a better minor league pitcher than Meche.
If you said Olson is still very much a work in progress, I'd completely agree. He certainly isn't likely to sustain success with his current peripherals for any length of time. But I'd hardly throw a guy putting up meh #5 SP peripherals into the "sucks" category when he hasn't reached 200 major league innings yet.
Oh, yeah, OF defense is important. I've been big on OF defense since the late 1980's, when Bill James "invented" what he called DER, "Defensive Efficiency Rating," and stated that it correlated most with speed in the OF.
I just don't jibe with the way the pendulum has swung so far these days, in which Endy Chavez is deemed to be worth more than Adam Dunn or Bobby Abreu. When backup fringe players are valued more highly than HOF candidates like Abreu, we've got a wire shorted out.
But sure. I like OF defense, and it has helped the run prevention.
... think will post on it...
I've seen Olson pitch quite a bit now...color me unimpressed with his delivery angle, his ill command, and his lack of deception.