After a tough go against the Red Sox and Yankees, the Jays' homestand continues -- this time as decided "overdogs." A punchless Mariners squad comes to town for what could be three tight, low-scoring affairs.
This week's Scout includes some down years by distinguished players, a trailblazing rookie pitcher trying to make a difference, and the longest bullet point in Advance Scout history. But it's for a good cause -- an in-depth discussion of the simply incredible hot streak a certain rightfielder from Japan is on.
On to the Advance Scout!
* After an embarrassing sweep at the hands of Tampa Bay in Safeco Field, the M's responded by winning the last four of their unusual five-game set with Kansas City ... In so doing, the M's (560) crept past the Royals (559) to get out of the AL scoring basement. They lead the Royals by a mere run ... The down years from Bret Boone and Edgar Martinez and the departure of Mike Cameron have all been factors contributing to the Mariners' slugging just .399 as a team, worst in the AL ... It was no A-Rod, Griffey and Buhner, but the unlikely trio of Miguel Olivo, Jose Lopez and Hiram Bocachica went deep back-to-back-to-back on Friday night ...
* Even by his standards, Ichiro is seeing the ball really well lately, going 27 for his last 60 (.450) ... Even more importantly, and despite a punchless lineup behind him, he's scored 16 runs over his last 15 games ... After sabermetric naysayers guffawed at Ichiro's .255 April, he's responded by hitting .400 or better in three of his next four months ... After hitting .432 in July, he's put up an even more implausible .457/.488/.638 in 27 August games ... He's on pace to set a post-All-Star-Break batting average record. Since the Midsummer Classic, he's hit an astounding .459/.488/.592 ... LOOGYs are of no use for controlling the slap-hitting speedster. He hits .407/.452/.552 off lefties ... Only the Angels (.298) and Devil Rays (.295) have limited Ichiro's career average to under .300 among American League opponents ... He's 12 for 27 (.444) against the Jays this year ... Ichiro's home run on Thursday night made him the first-ever big leaguer to top 200 hits in each of his first four seasons ... His victim, Jeremy Affeldt, admitted to requesting a signed bat after the game ... Only once did Ichiro top 200 in the Japan, but that was in just 130 games ... Ichiro: "To...do the same thing here, I didn't imagine doing that...I feel like my skills have gone up and I'm very happy with the way I've progressed" ... He's got a shot at history. George Sisler holds the all-time record for hits in a season with 257, and Ichiro is sitting on 209 right now. It won't be easy, but he's topped 50 hits in each of May, July and August -- making him the first big leaguer ever to notch three 50-hit months ... Ichiro made up for a throwing error on Thursday by subsequently nailing Aaron Guiel at the plate in the same inning ... One chink in his armour: After bouncing into just three double plays last season -- a testament to his speed, since he puts the ball on the ground regularly -- he's already hit into six this year ... Bob Melvin doesn't think the superstar gets enough credit for fighting through adversity this year: "This season is killing him...it hurts him bad when we lose...He continues to come out the next day and prepare himself as well as anybody I've ever been around" ...
* One interesting effect of Ichiro's amazing hit parade is the renewed attention now paid to one of the game's underrated legends: "Gorgeous George" Sisler. Ty Cobb called the line-drive-hitting, slick-fielding Sisler as "the nearest thing to a perfect ballplayer" ...
* Tonight's starter, Jamie Moyer, may finally be reaching the end of the line ... He's been tagged for at least four runs in his last five starts, and in eight of his last ten ... Opponents hit .287 off him when he's away from spacious Safeco. His road ERA sits at 5.18 ... Batters are hitting .336 off him in August, in which he's 0-2, 6.90 in five starts ... His last win was way back in interleague play, June 18 at Pittsburgh ... Despite his pitcher-friendly home park, Moyer still leads the AL in homers allowed (35), including 10 multi-homer games ...
* Veteran lefty Ron Villone was scheduled to start tonight, but Melvin instead inserted him for three innings of relief on Sunday after the M's played 21 innings of baseball on their doubleheader Saturday ... Villone was perfectly content to get bumped: "I like relieving. I like starting. I like pitching" ...
* After Eddie Guardado suffered a torn rotator cuff (that might knock him out of next season, as well as this season), J.J. Putz has been handed the keys to the closer role ... The righty usually makes it interesting, but he's converted his last five save opportunities ... His 10 home runs allowed in 54 2/3 IP is discouraging ... Righties hit .316 off Putz, but lefties have hit 8 of his 10 home runs allowed ...
* Among the bounty in the Freddy Garcia trade, Miguel Olivo has an absolute chasm of a split: he hits a robust .361/.413/.681 against lefties, but a measly .212/.266/.408 against righties ... He's going through a tough August at .215/.282/.415 ... Olivo went deep twice against Kansas City on Friday, his first career multi-homer game ... Melvin said that there was "no question" that Olivo projects to 20-25 home runs per season ...
* Similarly, Hiram Bocachica makes much more hay against lefthanders (.348/.464/.522) than against righthanders (.196/.263/.353) ... The versatile Puerto Rican was the first-round selection of the Expos in 1994 ...
* Tomorrow's starter, Gil Meche, has been steady since rejoining the Mariners' rotation ... In his six starts, he's gone at least six innings and allowed at most four runs in each outing ... After a 1-5, 7.06 start to the season, Meche has gone 3-0, 3.86 with a 5/31 BB/K ratio since his return to the big leagues ... He's 1-2, 7.00 all-time against the Jays ...
* Just one year removed from his All-Star season, Shigetoshi Hasegawa has been bit by the ball-in-play bug this year ... He's been relegated to a low-leverage role, in part because of his atrocious record away from home (1-3, 9.67, 14/10 BB/K) ... As disappointing as his first half was, he's been even shakier in the second half, posting an inadequate 6.52 ERA ...
* 29-year-old rookie Bucky Jacobsen has been a pleasant surprise -- one of the few for the '04 Mariners ... Like many of his teammates, he rips lefthanded pitching (.356/.420/.689) ... Bucky puts up a solid .361/.412/.557 line away from home ... Bucky's nine homers are the most by a Seattle rookie since old friend Jose Cruz Jr. hit 12 in '97 ...
* Journeyman Jolbert Cabrera has gone through a tough August at .227/.271/.409 ... In seventeen career games, he's hit a poor .190/.227/.238 at SkyDome ... He's played every position but pitcher and catcher for the M's this year ...
* Willie Bloomquist is ice-cold, going 0 for his last 15 ... He's been dreadful against righthanded pitchers, against whom he hits .207/.240/.239 with no home runs, four walks and 24 Ks ...
* Lefty reliever George Sherrill has yet to walk a lefthanded batter ... His WHIP against lefty hitters is an excellent 0.91, but he's been used as a one-inning guy rather than as a LOOGY ...
* Fellow lefty Matt Thornton had an outstanding relief outing on Saturday, pitching three scoreless, hitless innings and earning the win ...
* Longtime Angel Scott Spiezio is suffering through an atrocious season -- easily his worst -- at .209/.283/.350 ... The switch-hitter is particularly weak from the right side, where he hits .191/.257/.294 ... He hits just .193/.261/.348 away from Safeco ... He's been awful since the All-Star Break at the dish, hitting only .185/.257/.272 ...
* Bret Boone comes into town on a modest five-game hitting streak (.333) ... He's not getting a lot of bang for his buck, as he's slugging just .413 while having struck out 106 times ... He's on pace to have his worst season since his dismal '97 campaign with the Reds ... He's struggling badly against righthanded pitching, hitting just .242/.286/.374 off them ... Boone expressed more relief than satisfaction with his go-ahead two-run homer on Friday night ...
* Randy Winn is also riding a five-game hitting streak (.435) ... He's been successful in his last 12 steal attempts ... A switch-hitter, he's better from the left side, where he puts up .295/.362/.463 numbers ... He's a much better away hitter, as he notches .327/.396/.514 numbers on the road ...
* Raul Ibanez is also in the five-game club (.421) ... Weirdly, Ibanez struggles in night games at .230/.297/.393 ... He's having a solid August at .337/.398/.467 ...
* Thursday's starter will be Native American Bobby Madritsch, who's been a surprising workhorse since being promoted to the starting rotation earlier this month ... He's gone at least seven innings in each of his five starts ... This month, he's put up a 2.84 ERA, with a .218 opposing average ... He's put up a 2-0, 0.90 line in four appearances away from Safeco Field ... Madritsch is just the eighth Native American in baseball history. His mother is Lakota Sioux ... Although his father raised him in Chicago, he's been speaking in connection with Boys and Girls Club events on reservations ...
* Edgar Martinez, one of the great professional hitters of our era, has hit a bit of a wall at age 41 ... He's struggling against righthanded hitters at .258/.330/.362, and has lost playing time to Jacobsen ... He's enduring his worst season since his injury-riddled 1993 campaign ... Two incredible streaks will come to an end this year: Ten straight seasons of a slugging percentage greater than .480, and nine straight seasons of an on-base percentage greater than .400 ... Edgar has enjoyed SkyDome throughout his career, putting up a .336/.415/.571 line ...
* Former Tiger Ramon Santiago is ice-cold: 1 for his last 16 (.063) with two minor-league stints over that span ... He'll start occasionally over the last month of the season, but his weak bat has limited his role to primarily pinch-running ... Think the M's miss Carlos Guillen? ...
* 20-year-old Venezuelan Jose Lopez has flashed some slick leather at short, but he's still developing as an offensive player. He's put up a .231/.259/.317 line in his first 104 at-bats ...
* Promising righty Julio Mateo will return from his elbow tendinitis injury in about two weeks ... Since Guardado was facing a long recovery time from rotator cuff surgery, he decided to also undergo knee surgery to remove some bothersome cartilage ...
* The M's had five prospects competing at the Olympics: pitchers Philip Devey of Canada, Craig Anderson of Australia, and Aussie Ryan Rowland-Smith, plus infielder Yung-Chi Chen of Chinese Taipei and outfielder Wladimir Balentien of Holland ...
* Seattle is expected to target Mike Sweeney this offseason. The Royals were reportedly interested in a Sweeney-for-Meche deal before the deadline, but there was no urgency on the M's' end to give up value for a month of Sweeney when they can simply sign him this winter ... The Mariners claimed 23-year-old righty Brett Evert from the Braves, and assigned him to AAA Tacoma ...
* Seattle's expected September callups will be righty Aaron Taylor, third baseman Greg Dobbs and highly-touted ex-White-Sox-farmhand Jeremy Reed ...
* Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, both avid Mariners fans, got to take batting practice at Safeco last week ... Vedder managed a few singles against BP fastballs, but McCready was totally overmatched ...
Probable Batting Orders
* Note: The Jays are not scheduled to start a lefthander this series.
vs. RH
9 Ichiro
8 Winn/Bocachica
7 Ibanez
DH Jacobsen/Martinez
4 Boone
3 Spiezio
5 Cabrera
2 Olivo
6 J Lopez/Santiago
Pitching Probables
Tuesday: LH Moyer vs. Towers
Wednesday: RH Meche vs. Bush
Thursday: LH Madritsch vs. Miller
Bullpen Usage
Long: Baek R
Short: Hasegawa R, Thornton L, Sherrill L
Setup: Atchison R
Closer: Putz R
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