M's 2, Orioles 5
M's continue to show annoying inability to win all their games

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Anger management specialists warn, "There is always one poorly-chosen sentence between you and the unemployment line."  That's true enough in real life, but fortunately on the internet we have evolved past this consequence-and-caution paradigm.  Here, "anger management" is completely counterproductive - a short-sighted route to losing half your traffic.  

The loyal SSI denizen is justifiably irritated this morning. In this particular 16-year cycle, the 90 losses x 15 should followed by 116 wins x 1.  A tough loss to the Orioles' ace is, in this case, an invitation to "spirited" road rage and the inherent traffic build within.  Putting it in other terms, somebody go off on the Rangers and A's.  Quick.

Dr. D's own favorite anger management tactic, if it absolutely must be deployed, is avoidance.  When his wife unfairly fails to bring him coffee unasked, he retreats to his office.  When Dae-Ho Lee strikes out to kill the last rally, Dr. D turns to the Accelerated Sicilian Dragon at 3 minutes per game.  Alas, the morning after an addiction binge, this postgame stub sits there glaring at him without a trace of sympathy for his rook-and-pawn ending hangover.  So, the perfunctory, disassociated talking points, banged out from behind a massive sympathy neck cramp:

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[Wed 5:22pm] OBF "Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh... good walker teased us for a few weeks, how do we get him back??"

CRUNCH:  In the three games since Walker sprained his neck, he's got 12K in 12IP but with 5 walks and, IIRC, 5 homers.  The curve to Trumbo was pretty well the worst pitch in human history, and the Davis HR came on a "low-away" fastball that drifted back into the low-in wheelhouse.  Taijuan is still battling himself a bit physically, and missing five pitches a game into inadvisable areas to sluggers, but his Grade B- game has still been competitive.

Servais said after the game that Walker's curve ball, wasn't.  At this stage of his career that's a big game adjustment:  if the curve blows that day, don't throw it.  We work hard on these nuances at SSI.

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[Wed 6:46pm] MtGrizzly "Wow. Britton is nasty."

CRUNCH:  True dat.

He's also gassed, having thrown 30+ pitches the night before a morning game.  The KKKarnivore swims menacingly in the shark tank, eyeing the Orioles chum in the water.  Looks like another series victory for clean living.

Speaking of nasty relievers, Edwin Diaz is reportedly throwing 98 MPH into a teacup.  Vidal Nuno is not.  I think this point is going to show traction.

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[Wed 4:23pm] SABR Matt "What a play by Martin...and hey Doc...he made it look easier than most CFers would have. :)"

CRUNCH:  If we're talking the play against the wall?  Absolutely.

At the 1/4 pole, Leonydas has settled in at .203 with 20 homers, and his 80 OPS+ is representing our March "best case scenario" - this despite a .250 BABIP.  He's got Dr. D on the ropes again.  Fangraphs has him for +2.5 runs defensively so far, on pace for 2.5 WAR for the year.  And +10 runs per year is probably underselling King Leonydas' glove.  

The only lament is Moe's, who has wondered with excruciating politeness whether it's okay to play his .156/.220/.256 left-on-left bat on a daily basis.  (Noah Syndergaard is batting .089 against his salon manager, but batting .143/.250/.571 against NL pitching.)

Leonydas has been defending himself against RHP well enough that the ref could let the fight continue for a few rounds, if he were so inclined.  But what would it take to get us out of this Leonydas-for-155-games blot on Mariner society?

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[Wed 4:49pm] mojician "Matt's shtick about Trumbo almost got him traded to Detroit. If we're talking about stuff we called, I called Freak signing with the Angels several weeks ago. Tomorrows news today at SSI."

CRUNCH:  Not sure where we would have put Mark Trumbo on the Opening Day Roster; I know that in Dr. D's lab he wasn't going on Dae-Ho Lee's slab.  Also not sure he's going to finish the year batting .299.  But it's nice to remember Edgar Martinez once in a while; the M's B.E. "hitting" attack is such a distant memory that we no longer even remember to thank Senor Doble. Dr. D chooses to interpret the Trumbo situation as a preening opportunity for the Best Hitting Coach In the Game.  Pass on.

A traitorous prophecy about Lincecum, Counselor.  But now you've got to follow up.  What will be Lincecum's stat line?

(Sudden KK thought.  When was the last charge of treason that was tried in the U.S.A.?  Or what would it take, practically speaking, to cause one nowadays?)

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[Wed 6:15pm] MtGrizzly "Hilarious thing is, last year this game would be about over right now."

CRUNCH:  Used to be, the M's would lose 90 and half of those would be mailed in from Spokane.  Now they lose 60 and lose them the way a playoff team loses them, with their rookie SP laying down his best .25 ACP popgun fire and the M's offense insisting on baserunners despite a great Tillman outing.  Almost had 'em there.

TTO-ish count:  11 hits and walks for the M's, 11 hits and walks for the Orioles.  So they won by the odd 115-MPH home run.  Luck, we call it.  Sheer luck.

If the M's retain a top-3 ERA and an above-average offense, they'll keep winning about 60%, and we won't have to live and die with each blown save and neck cramp.  Against top-flight teams like, say, the Orioles, that winning percentage drops to 50%.  There are good things about baseball and bad things about it; the fact that everybody loses a lot would go into the latter category.

Life's a struggle, then you die. Well, you swoon, maybe, until Nate Karns cracks off his first yellow hammer on Thursday morning.

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Enjoy,

Dr D

Blog: 

Comments

1

Would have been my starting 1B-man...and that would not have been an even remotely challenging call.  When your hitting coach turns a guy around as visibly and suddenly as he did Trumbo...you wait and see if it sticks.  I'd still probably have signed Lee and used him as a DH job-share, with Cruz going into the outfield against lefties instead of Aoki, all other things being equal...but Trumbo, to me, looked resoundingly "fixed"...and he's leading the AL in homers.  No need to reconsider our judgment on Lind or anything, though.  Clearly at the same price the old guy with a bad back who is hitting .230 with no power and no walks was the right decision. (googly-eyes)

2

"Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States."

18 U.S.C. § 2381

According to Wikipedia, no one has been convicted or tried of treason since the Cold War.  The reason being is that treason is hard to prove, and individuals who levy war against the United States are charged with more loosely defined terrorism statutes that also carry the death penalty.  Treason is typically reserved for U.S. citizens convicted of spying for the enemy.  

As for my defense against being a pesky rodent Angels sympathizer?  The Palantir shows what it shows.  Predicting a Freak signing is the same as saying the Angels are trying to shore up their pitching, or Garret Richards may be back in six weeks.  Knowing the state of affairs of your enemy is not the same as giving them aid or comfort.  Speaking of comfort or aid, who was the guy with the Angels series tix at Disneyland?  I hear you have to give Arte Moreno, or his agent, money to get past the gate.  

Heh.  

3

Who has a better line at year's end - Lincecum or Miley? I would probably bet on Miley. Lincecum hasn't been very good in years and he hasn't had to face the DH. Unless he would agree to go to the pen, which he won't, I'm not sure why the M's would even want the guy. 

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