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I think ZZ does tour Japan, right?  Like pancakes with corned beef hash and eggs on top.  Which I plan to assimilate shortly...

Segue'ing off from a cute ZZ promo into a particularly egregious rant, even by my standards.  Dr. D has a real peeve going, modern 'net rats talk about tolerating people who think differently (and then invoke TOS at the slightest irritation).  

At SSI we walk the talk, bab-eh.  Bring it!  No whiners.  You think different, type it in.  The response will be tennis volley'ing, not punishment.

Ahhhhh ... just skip on to the next paragraph.  Dr. D is just cranky because of too much time in the Field Gulls comments the last coupla draft days.  You get 18,000 kinds of really angry treatment towards those who aren't part of the GroupThink ... then somebody posts a .jpg of a rainbow pony, or mentions something spiritual we are talking three words, and five guys simultaneously call for a lifetime ban.  Inconsiderate to other commenters, don'cha know.

Ah well.  Remind me to stick to the lead authors.  Do you think those guys bring more Seahawk game than SSI brings Mariner game?  :: shudder ::

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MtGrizzly, fellow F-500 denizen

Blengino on Miller and the M's: Brad Miller appears to be engulfed in the team-wide offensive malaise sweeping through the Mariner clubhouse. Player after player has abandoned the approach that allowed them to graduate from the Seattle farm system, becoming overly aggressive in a single-minded pursuit of pull-side power at the major league level. Miller’s walk rate has cratered, and he has become one of the most pull-oriented hitters in the game. His K and grounder rates are up, though he should see some positive regression in his line drive rate. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/some-hitters-to-start-worrying-about/ - See more at: http://seattlesportsinsider.com/article/state-mr-magic-closer#comment-14...

1) Dr. D loves Tony's work.  And, it's a bit of a window into MLB(TM) processes.

2) Isn't this pretty well against "baseball code," for him to be --- > jockeying with his old org like this on a national site?  I thought radio silence was supposed to be the route to your next gig.  Maybe times have changed.

He's really gentle about it, picks his spots, but I thought he was supposed to be studiously ignoring his old gang.  Well, it's extremely info-taining, no doubts there.

3) Blengino is senior to the SSI Think Tank in terms of saber tools available to him ... not so as to say, necessarily senior to the Tank in terms of conceptual thinking and getting from point A to B on an individual conclusion.

He's got plenty 'nuff light bulbs on we don't, but I wonder if the reverse is not also true.  Your thoughts?

.........

4) It is a very recent saber discovery --- > that good hitters blast away for .500, .600, .700 AVG's (not SLG's) if they pull the ball in the air.  It's the 2014 evolution of the old "fly ball rate" craze.

Something tends to get lost in the translation.  Earl would talk about looking to hit 2-0 and 3-1 pitches out of the park, to once in a while load up and go for it, when a batter's intuition told him he had an opportunity.  

As opposed to what Justin Smoak does, and what Brad Miller has doing - to approach every single pitch as an attempt to "massage" the AB until that all-important 3-1 pitch arrived.

4b) The M's are still in the process of shrilling down.  I think Tony's article was written a few weeks ago.

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Mo' Dawg, fellow scratch golfer

moethedog: The original Star Trek used to have all these Expendable Security Guards who were vaporized at the rate of two or three an episode. If Maurer's job lat night was to keep the Klingons off our bullpen, giving them one more day of rest, then he performed admirably. - See more at: http://seattlesportsinsider.com/article/baseball-prospectus-wbc-san#comm...

Well, maybe only one of us is a scratch golfer.  But a 24 handicap is pretty much scratch.

He hit this one to 8 feet, thereby increasing Dr. D's enjoyment of the upcoming three or four games.  You can juuusssssst about feeeeeeel the groundswell of a thunderous rotation --- > into routine mini-win-streaks --- > and a fun summer.

......

It says here that Maurer is making nice progress.  He's establishing the fastball, getting the bats started, then going off the plate gloveside with his slider and off the plate armside with the change.  Young pitchers can look gruesome sometimes ...

Brandon Maurer is one of those guys to whom the Good Ole Baseball Cliches apply in abundance.  You got a Pitching Coach Cliche, this is the guy you want front and center.  Not James Paxton.

Like Gordon and Jim remind us, Maurer is new to having good stuff.  He's learning.  But I'll take 100 of him.  If the M's lose a few with him in the #6-7 SP slot --- > for me, that's intelligent developmental time invested.

BABVA,

Dr D