As to the broader point, the M's pitchers' BABIP, we've been discussing the Mariners' DER all winter.
It *is* interesting that the Mariners had a good DER and an excellent BABIP, although they had a middle-of-the-pack UZR.
It would be an interesting investigation as to the reasons that a team converts lots of batted balls into outs on an absolute basis -- but UZR says the fielders aren't getting to balls very well.
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It goes without saying that the Mariners have been deploying pitchers, and batters, who put the ball in play. If they didn't turn around and shoot themselves in the foot offensively with low BB / low K batters, I'd be more inclined to assume that they're tailoring to their park.
However, since they have saturated their roster low BB / low K guys on both sides of the ball, I suspect risk aversion.
Perhaps Zduriencik (bringing in his own guys) will indeed go with 5k, 2bb pitchers and load up on high K, high BB batters such as Ackley and Smoak. Let's hope. Gutierrez, Chavez, Wilson, Olivo and Kotchman don't make it seem like a given, but we'll see.
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Whether or not the Mariners think that Safeco puts a small premium on FB's, Luke French, Doug Fister and Ian Snell should not be pitching as though they were Curt Schilling.
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