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KETEL MARTE

Dr. D is this close to picking a fight over Marte.  He'll hold off for just a bit longer.

You've heard the phrase "see ball, hit ball."  It sounds stupid, until you compare it to "GUESS ball, hit ball."  We are here to tell you that Ketel Marte does the former.  His OBP is therefore at .377 and SSI confidently predicts that it will never, ever drop a point lower.

More seriously, Marte has a "natural" shortstop arm -- and hands -- that Miller and Taylor can only dream of.  He zings the ball effortlessly, hitting the first baseman shoulder high.  Must we hear that EVERY Mariner "tweener" is a joke at his harder position?  Can't the pundits think of some other way to say that they appreciate how difficult baseball is?

:- ) 

Grizzle says he wouldn't "plan" around Marte.  No way no how.  Would be surprised if ANYbody were on the other side of that one, though Grizzly said it just right.  The question here is whether Marte might provide a 2, 2.5-WAR shortstop for the league minimum.  That would mean we had how many of those, four, five?  .... Zduriencik has pointed out that AFTER a promising AAA prospect has looked good in the majors, then his trade value goes up by several factors.  Let's suppose there are four, five teams out there this winter who take a fancy to Marte's chances, as the Rays did to Nick Franklin's.  Well, that apparently means you can deal him (1) in a package for an impact player, or (2) straight-up for a 3-WAR vet who will give you -0.5 once he arrives.  I fancy the latter.

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BRAD MILLER

Corollary to the above.  The M's now HAVE a club-controls Ben Zobrist.  Any chance we could file a request that they develop him wisely?

Nnnnaahhhhh.

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HISASHI IWAKUMA

The M's had a graphic talking about the "followup" games to the franchise's four no-hitters.  The ERA was 1.35 or so.  In other words, after a Mariner throws a no-hitter, he does real great in the next game too.

Of course, the four guys were Randy Johnson, Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Old Hoss Radbourn.  So we weren't exactly expecting a meteor shower of extra-base hits.  

... Iwakuma blew down the stRangers by pulling the string on one overswing after the other.  It's real simple:  if a batter sees the temp at 94 degrees, sees the right-center fence casting its shadow over Robby Cano, and has eyes the size of saucers, then Hisashi throws an offspeed pitch and it's strike one.  If a batter is flicking his eyes around at the plate, hoping nothing disastrous will happen to him during the at-bat, then Hisashi flings a 90-MPH fastball onto the black.  IceX, do they have any more Hisashi's over there?  The first one is pitching perfect.

Angie (bless her heart) relayed this stat:  When pitching 7+ innings, Iwakuma is 20-3 in his career.  Dr. D is not exactly certain what to make of this statistic, but ...

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Speaking of the no-hitter, this was in a Bill James mailbox coupla days ago:

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In other words, as a fan, when you see Russell Wilson run for 850 yards from the quarterback position, and an average RUNNING back (say, Robert Turbin) would NEVER have a season with 850 yards rushing, you're entitled to wonder about his chances of stardom.  No apologies required.

The same thing is true when, say, watching a left hand starter throw 97 MPH on his 105th pitch of the day, or watching a benched young C/1B smoke a jam pitch on three hops off the right field wall, or watching Joe Beimel brought in to face the other team's right hand cleanup hitter.  If you see something really weird happen on a baseball field, it probably tells you something.

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CARSON SMITH

Good:  1.  He's running 12k, 3bb, and never gives up homers at any time, so he's got a career xFIP of 2.37.  There was a time, in sabermetrics, when we would argue with Baseball Men, insisting that twelve strikeouts a game --- > indicated a pitcher was good.

2.  He is legitimately scared er, anxious out there, which is understandable and correctable.  YOU go out there and pitch the 9th, pokey, with the understanding that a single run will result in your character being assassinated to the entire Pacific Northwest.  Most relievers take over the 9th inning after their fourth year, not after their fourth month.

2b.  SSI is firmly convinced that another set of coaches would have him in a far better state of mind.

Bad:  His fastball command is dubious under any circumstances, relative to other ML closers.  And for some reason he's only throwing 90 MPH lately.  What happens when you got a plus-plus-plus pitch and a minus pitch?  It's worrying.  Not decisive, because there are a lot of white-knuckle closers, but it's worrying.  

Smith, when he's healthy, touches 95.  But the whispers had already been that you don't want to pitch this kid two games in a row.  

Verdict:  His mechanics leave us in mortal surprise that he can get the ball airborne in the first place.  Dr's Prognosis is that Smith will wind up a very good setup man -- for some manager who isn't stuck on the idea that "a real setup man is a guy you can count on."

Arthur Rhodes was this way.  Use him in spots, talk to him sweet, ride him like a granny mule, and he was a virtual Get Out of Jail Free card.  Pitch him macho, and he'd run a 4.50 ERA.

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JAMES PAXTON

... NOW they're talking about rehab starts.  Mike Montgomery's and Vidal Sasson's travails could put some extra wind in the sails of this idea.

We regret inform playoff chances now 1.4%.

Bah humbug,

Dr D