M's Make their Move towards being a Bat-First Ballclub
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1,000 RUNS
There was a paper airplane flown in from the bleachers with a suggestion written on it in felt-tip marker: 1,000 RUNS! Which you might take as meaning (a) 1,000 runs or (b) best offense in baseball. 1,000 runs is a very lofty goal; only one team since 1950 has done it, that being Lofty's 1999 Indians which had Alomar, Manny and Thome in the MOTO. Still, that team won 97 games despite a dead-on mediocre pitching staff.
That 1999 Indians team didn't even have Joey Belle; what it did have was the older Travis Fryman, and Harold Baines, and Einar Diaz, holding up their ends (about 80 OPS+) to not ruin what the first six were doing. Do you like our chances to do that too? From Leonydas - Zuumball - ZoomByYa?
In terms of things turning out well for the 2017 Mariners... Dr. D and Matt have already Best Bet-ted the Maniger. Also like what we see from Dyson; surprisingly good swings on lefties. Segura looks totally legit. Valencia, guess we'll trust dee poet. Zuumball, will be interesting to see. Your choice would be?
Think I'd have to go with Maniger. Like we sez, the lad seems to do EVERY thing right.
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That the Mariners might have the best offense, THAT is --- > not at all farfetched. Last year, the M's were #3 in the league despite playing in Safeco, just a few runs short of #2. Also, Jean Segura is not noticeably worse at hitting than Ketel Marte.
If you missed it, here is a must-read. StatCast with five awesome things about the 2017 Playoff Mariners. DO NOT NEGLECT TO READ THAT ARTICLE. Boomstick, Speed, Diaz, Launch Angles, all verrrrrrry very ominous for the pesky rodent Angels.
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ARIEL MIRANDA IS IN THERE
The over/under on SP6 had been April 8th. Way, WAY under. So we shift to the fanview of: Big Three plus "Run Prevention Model." All these #4-10 starters have in common that they're well capable of pitching mortar shots for our CF's to run down. Particularly Miranda, who has coughed up 12 homers in 58 big league innings (1.9 homers per 9, with 1.4 being prohibitive gopheritis).
What's the case FOR Ariel Miranda? When Dipoto got him, he said "athletic, quick fastball, finish splitter, upside remaining." Here are some old-timey SSI articles on these claims:
POTD ARIEL MIRANDA 30,000-FOOT VIEW - an Aug 16 comparison to Roenis Elias
POTD MIRANDA DETAIL LEVEL - a HI, MID, and LO projection on Miranda
DIDYCEL'S DISSERTATION ON PROPRIOCEPTION - Dipoto credits Miranda with unusual coachability. Didycel earns an M.A. in his thesis on the concept.
My favorite thing about Miranda: that he has the Mark Melancon "tube" action on his fastball/changeup. Two pitches on a string, different arrival times. And yet his "out" pitch is the third pitch.
And here are all SSI articles pertaining to Elias, er, Miranda.
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DR's PROGNOSIS
So, the TOR and then the Run Prevention Model. Oddly, Miranda's promotion now has Dr. D back to watching the Gallardo game, so as to count fly balls.
BABVA,
Dr D