M's 8, Rangers 2
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14-AND-17 with +8 RUN DIFFERENTIAL
Don't know why I hadn't thought of it this way, but the Mariners are missing their #1, #2, and #3 starters. And their Mike Trout. (Everybody else has played close to 30 games, to Haniger's 20, but Haniger is still #7 in the American League in WAR.) Yet the Mariners are close to .500 and have a +151 -143 run differential.
So, we've been about an 85-win team about to add four big names at the trade deadline. LOL. Well, maybe not. But we were missing Segura too, with Felix and Smyly, so the run differential ain't really all that bad. Maybe you even count Steve Cishek's injury, considering the games we blew in the late innings.
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HEREDIA IN CENTER FIELD! READ ALL ABOUDDIT!
Scott Servais finally noticed the following:
- Heredia 133, Gamel 156, Motter 130 OPS+
- Dyson 60
So the first three jardineros were minding the garden on Saturday. Every cotton-pickin' one of our OF's had two hits per man out there, and remember, those ain't our big boys. We blasted the Rangers' #3 starter for eight runs.
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Ben Gamel reassured Dr. D about his scatterchart. First, he one-arm inside out-ed (??) a hitter's count fastball back up the middle. He might as well have been Dan Vogelbach on that at-bat, gentlemen. Later, he deliberately socked a line drive over the shortstop's head Ichiro-style. Hey, I ain't saying the Truth lives or dies with a couple of hits. Just saying it was sweet to see, y'know?
He had only one hit the night before, BUT he lost a home run on the deep right-center warning track that woulda been out of half the parks in baseball. Also he had another 95 MPH+ fly ball caught, this to right field, if I remember.
If your age-23 AAA stats are supposed to represent your possible age-27 American League stats, Gamel's were .300/.358/.472. He hit 14 triples that year -- ten homers and scads of extra base hits. I presume some of the XBH were swatted and some of them legged out....
"One arm inside outted"? You get a new phrase ever day at SSI, babe.
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Taylor Motter had his usual two doubles. He's the same player he was when he was "slugging .600." He's a guy who lays off pitches he can't hit, and takes a big rip at pitches he can. His O-Swing % is still in the teens (!!) and you still love his chances to stick the landing on 2+ WAR in 350-400 at-bats. Best comp yet remains --- > Jeff Sullivan's "Brian Dozier Lite" suggestion.
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Neither Gamel nor Motter figure to ever make any All-Star teams. But as background scenery for Sudden Jean Segura and Nelson "How Good Is He Going To GET" Cruz, they'll do. Have you ever seen a sports team where all the players are super fun to watch, and the team itself is agony personified? The Slick Watts / Dick Snyder Sonics were kinda like that, around 1975. Anybody remember those guys?
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Admittedly, Jarrod Dyson is pretty easy on the eyes. You get games like this one! But I'll take 5.6 runs per 27 outs in center field over 3.3 counting legs. And Guillermo Heredia can field a little bit, too.
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RAREFIED TERRITORY
That 130 OPS+ ... that would have put you #14 in the league last year, just ahead of Manny Machado and Adrian Beltre. The Mariners have seven (7) batters clipping along at 130 and every one of them has looked it. Can you name them? Don't call Kyle Seager; he's only at 100. And Danny Valencia is only there if you limit his stats to his last couple weeks. Seven OTHER guys.
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MAKING THEM SEE ZYCH
While we watch the losing M's with half-lidded eyes, Tony Zych is getting his re-orientation out of the way. Saturday he threw game #8. That slider was back to Wipeout Status, showing a -14 MPH separation and nasty late bite. That's CLEEEANNN, man. He's just about back.
In fact, the last 14 days we have the following relievers throwing lights out:
- Edwin Diaz
- Nick Vincent
- James Pazos
- Mark Rzepczynski
- Now Zych
Vincent and Zip haven't allowed a run in weeks, and Pazos has fanned 14 of the last 36 men he's faced.
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Dillon Overton Sunday,
Dr D