"Walker, Tacoma Rainier" - no cause for alarm, kiddies
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Bismillah! We will not let him go, Dept.
1. It's very cool to have a AAA team that is one city down the highway. Nothing wrong with exploiting the extra 15 men on your roster, when a single-game situation calls for that. Calls for Pryor, as in.
Taijuan's ERA in the big leagues is 3.60, you realize. With a 21:11:2 three true outcomes in 25 innings. He's not exactly Brandon Maurer'ing himself out there.
It's a deft little "taxi squad" move until proven otherwise. Or maybe the M's read the right blogs and they want Taijuan to throw 100 changeups down in the strike zone, with arm action, so that he can take over the American League. Either way, I'm good. :- )
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2. Dutton guesses that the "TBA" is going to be an Attack of the Bullpen Tomatoes. Would that we did it three times per rotation turn.
It says here that almost any reliever can go 4-5 innings on zero notice. Let me read that sentence again. Most fans have been hypnotized by the choice to use those guys 12 pitches at a time. Come on. 60, 70 pitches, a little leaguer can do that.
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2a. We know you don't believe us. So reflect on the fact that for most of baseball history, it was routine to do this, when appropriate.
The M's themselves did it a few years ago, just called on one of their setup guys to throw the first 5 IP of a ballgame. No problem, of course. Was it Julio Mateo?
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2b. James Paxton could do this now, if so desired. In 1975, he would have done so. One can get too precious about babying pitchers, you know. Paxton ain't 21.
But that's not the point. It's a minor irritant to Dr. D that American coaches -- as opposed to Japanese coaches -- think that less work equals more strength. :: shrug ::
Yes, the belief is very widespread. As James put it this week, "widespread belief" is not "knowledge."
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2c. Roenis Elias' mistake rate is rising as the season grinds on. His problem is nothing other than "number of pitches that miss in a bad spot": that specific number is getting higher with time. Again: he's a rookie LHP, so no worries. But SSI won't shed any tears if/when Elias is shifted to the bullpen.
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3. SSI is fervently hoping that it's Tom Wilhelmsen who gets the first five.
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3a. SSI would also be fervently hoping that Wilhelmsen sustained 96 MPH, with the insane yakker, for those five. And that the M's then give him one more chance to do so. Jay Buhner says that if you get two hits you're in there again the next day ...
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3b. Were Dr. D a GM of expansion team #31, he would attempt to trade for Tom Wilhelmsen to make a starter out of him. He is the ideal RP-SP conversion candidate in baseball right now. It's not a guarantee, but it's worth a simoleon.
Great height and release point, starter's rhythm, Josh Beckett repertoire, experiences beginning to jell, Trevor Hoffman mileage on his arm, etc etc etc.
Wasn't Beckett like a 1-1 overall or something? Could somebody explain to Dr. D, in 1-syllable words so he can understand it, what Beckett had that Tom Wilhelmsen (physically) does not?
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3c. That's all just chatter. But wouldn't a Wilhelmsen start be fun?
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4. For what it's worth, I thought Phil Hughes was as good Tuesday as (say) Yu Darvish or Max Scherzer. The guy is a pretty well-kept secret, isn't he? After about inning #2, I was on "Fast Forward 3" most the game.
The Mariners' spin is that the last 5 games have been good enemy pitching, not bad friendly hitting. That has been MOSTLY Dr. D's spin, also.
Still and all, James Jones takes a reasonable little hack, going up the middle, and he puts up a tremendous struggle against elite pitching. The Mariners, it says here, are slow to adjust their ambitions against lights-out pitching. The A's hitters know they're underdogs.
Put a pitcher out there that the M's know is good -- let us say C.J. Wilson -- and the Mariners will calibrate their approach to match. Put a pitcher out there that they don't truly respect -- let us say any Oakland A pitcher -- and they overswing against pitchers' pitches.
Still. Let's give the enemy pitching some credit here. We do that when OUR pitches fire lockdowns, do we not?
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5. We are two up in the Wild Card.
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5a. Kendrys Morales had his shirt sleeves high last night. Who knew the man had guns like that. What a shame he was advised by Scott Boras this past year.
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Preamble. Who ever said that "percentage chance of winning the World Series" is the paradigm by which one makes decisions on July 31?
Suppose you use my definition: high-tension baseball games in September. Who made your definition the right one and mine the wrong one? Was the 1995 season, the one in which 50,000 people gave the ballclub a 20-minute standing ovation for losing its last game, meaningless?
For those who just joined us, 1995 is the reason there is baseball in Seattle. The M's aren't threatening to move, but the team "brand" and the fan following is not exclusively based on "percentage chance of winning the World Series." It is based on whether the local team goes to war.
We assumed that first definition, made it a given without first establishing the basis for it. SSI calls into question the "given." As do 30 GM's, incidentally.
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5b. There's a bunch of stuff, elsewhere, arguing against July trades for the Mariners. It's the usual Seattle shtick that --- > unless you are the heavy favorite to win, you should not try to win. If you are at all the underdog, you should be "responsible," which means --- > to run and hide from people who might punch you in the face.
We have literally seen people arguing that you should accept your fate, accept the season as pointless, avoid sacrificing anything to improve your team, even given that you SECURE the Wild Card game.
It's a bully mentality. We mean that in a good way.
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Check out this 90-second Vince Lombardi speech about "all that a man holds dear." It's impressive how prepared some people are to quit, at the slightest little shove to the shoulder. No, at SSI we'll view Safeco Field as an arena of battle, as opposed to a tournament chessboard.
Zduriencik does not shrink from two-fisted battle. He has spent his entire life competing. We'll definitely give him that.
Let's all give the Mariners a ::golfclap:: for the fact that tonight's ballgame means something enough that they're hectically juggling their 40-man in an attempt to win it. Whatever our complaints, right now we are eating ice cream.
Your friend,
Dr D