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Jerry Dipoto explains that Ben Gamel (slashing a cool .354/.427/.600 in Tacoma) was sent down, rather than Guillermo Heredia, because of short-term platoon matchups. When we get past starts by Dodgers Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw, Gamel is likely to be back up:

“Ben will factor in again very quickly,” Dipoto said.

Dipoto said Heredia gives the Mariners “an opportunity against left-hand pitching,” but also acknowledged that it’s been a tough season in the batter’s box for the 27-year-old defensive specialist, who has a .219/.299/.313 slash line.

“He had a terrific start and really it’s been a cold three or four months for him with the bat, but he does do terrific things defensively,” Dipoto said. “I don’t think we go 6-4 on that trip if Guillermo’s not playing center field in Houston in the eighth inning (Aug. 11) … I do recognize the things that he provides us. He’s a terrific teammate who brings high energy, but it just hasn’t been a very good year for him with the bat. At some point Ben Gamel does offer more, and Ben will get an opportunity to swing the bat here pretty soon.”

Kind of weird if you ax me. I mean, isn't the point supposed to be that Heredia produces, at least a little bit, against LHP's if that's your strater-gee?

.....

In the same article, Dipoto seemed to tack over towards the idea that Gordon could play a good amount of CF even with Robinson Cano here; "it gives us so many options .. we haven't had before."

Alas, Robbie's fate as a first-ballot HOF'er is to go all Ben Zobrist for us.

If it actually worked out that way, with both players throwing their enthusiasm into it, it would be the best of all worlds, sure. Pulling that off would be a leadership trick way beyond anything Dr. D would have predicted.

At any rate, we'd be back to the season-opening lineup that racked up the runs. The M's were #13 in the majors in runs in April, and #13 again in May. Like Earl sez, if you're having trouble getting runs, put your bats on the field. Healy and Gordon both along with Robbie.

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Also at My Northwest is a decent read on James Paxton's injury. Nothing structural, but the swelling of the tissue is so extreme that he misses at least one start.

Felix time again? One more time Dr. D will don his rose-colored lab goggles, and wonder about Felix and the restoration of the fear of failure. Dr. D is a big believer in fear of failure. Nothing else keeps you sharp quite the same way.

The M's site has a cool read on Edwin Diaz, with a nice video embedded of his save in the 1-0 Boston win. Here's another read with an amusing text exchange between the Seattle and Cleveland GM's.

And since Diaz converted his first save, his 99 total leads every other closer in baseball by at least 10. Also also, when he saved 4 games in one series against Houston, he became the first closer to do that in 14 years (!) (Joe Nathan). Also also also, his 24 1-run saves already tie a major league record.

In other words, he's having a historic season.

That's what you call accumulating pieces towards a pennant.

.......

And now for something completely different from the '14 Hey Bill archives. I didn't know this; did you?

Speaking of airspeeds...Other than the defunct Concorde, why can't we get safe planes to go faster? It seems normal airspeed hasn't changed in 40 years.

Asked by: 3for3

Answered: 7/29/2014

The sound barrier is a real problem. In the late 1960s sonic booms had become a serious issue. My own father once was leaning off a ladder, painting a house, when a sonic boom hit and he very nearly fell off the ladder, 30 feet in the air. There were enough incidents in which people actually DID fall off a ladder a die (or similar) that the government acted to ban flying at the speed of sound as a routine issue. This may be a manageable problem; that is to say, there may have been some other or some better way to have managed the problem, but that was the choice we made. I think we could have "safe" planes in the sense that they are entirely safe for the people on them.

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James on Twitter has an idea that he seals off with a punchy last line:

To a certain extent, the modern game has fallen victim to the OPS delusion, the belief that one point of slugging percentage is equal to one point of on base percentage. It isn't. A good sequential offense is much stronger than a let's-all-hit-homers offense.

Does Wade LeBlanc have a chance against Walker Beuhler tomorrow night? I'll let you know in 26 hours. But LA is a piddling 65-57 as compared to our majestic 70-52. Meanwhile Oakland faces off against Houston. You go, Cy Young'ers (7:6 Houston).

BABVA,

Dr D

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Robinson Cano

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