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Just a token nod to the blue and teal so's Matt doesn't file litigation over finding more sophisticated sports onsite :- )

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Justin Smoak scored and drove in the M's only run, on a 426-foot shot off a 17-win pitcher who otherwise fired a shutout.  ESPN's home run tracker gives us the trend on the force with which Smoak has hit his 2012 home runs.  The most recent dingers are at the top of the chart.  

The tags are No Doubt, Plenty (normal HR), or Just Enough.  You could project a hitter's next HR year off clustering of No Doubters or Just Enoughs.  As we recall, Adrian Beltre hit a ton of JE's among his 25 homers in 2008; he then hit 8 homers in 2009.

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You probably noticed for yourself how many of the first 11 dingers were below average (103.5 MPH) in their speed off the bat.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the weather, wind conditions, etc. in Safeco Field wouldn't have much or anything to do with speed off the bat.

It's a pleasure to look at that near-perfect little trend among the most recent 5 dingers.  And, hm, when was the last time Justin Smoak hit a 108+ MPH shot ... one since April 2011, off Andy Sonnanstine.  Smoak used to hit these 108+ MPH homers more routinely:  two of his first four 2011 homers were 110+ ... wouldn't it be nice if somebody went and organized his Speed Off Bat trends for us?

Oh, wait, somebody did:  ThirteenOfTwo has a magnificent article that endeavors to track the impact of Justin Smoak's hand injury (and swing speed) by using Speed Off Bat, line drive rate, fly ball rate, etc.  He reminds us that Smoak's rookie season, 2010, was comparable to Jesus Montero's this year, and that in April 2011 he came charging out of the gate with a .280/.400/.525 month.  Not long after, he cracked both his thumbs.  Not long after that, pitchers stopped walking him.  Other things happened too.  See Thirteen's assessment.

A rival fan there battles Thirteen to the death, fighting for his right to tag Justin Smoak as a player who was feeb to begin with.  However, you the SSI reader watch both Batted Ball data and the CF camera, and you remember Smoak's effortless home runs the opposite way, back in 2010.  You remember him in 2H 2011 and all during 2012, swinging mightily at the ball, watching it caught 10 feet in front of the warning track, and cursing the ballpark for its injustice.  

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There is no question that Smoak's power is gone for one reason or another.  Certainly the Mariners are wit'choo on this one.  They're sending him home this winter with a public challenge to "Get Stronger."  

I guess we need Gordon here, or Dr. G, or somebody who's fractured their thumbs and tried to hit 108-MPH homers.  Is it likely that Smoak's thumbs, recovering under stress the whole time, are only now bouncing back to full strength?  

Following Dr. G's earlier Nostradamus-like prophecy on Felix ... perhaps Smoak's painful thumbs got him a little bit out of the habit of doing his bench presses? The Mariners have all of Smoak's weightlifting specs and they don't like them.

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Before Smoak's 108-MPH homer tonight, he had three hits and a 106-MPH homer last night.  He was .281/.361/.406 his last 11 games, before two more hits and an HR tonight.

Spectator had the right idea.  Hopefully Justin Smoak gets to take over Michael Saunders' seat in "Honorable Dry Dock" at Seattle.  Nice that he's given a flash of the old power before he does so.