The one-man version of the two-man Advance Scout team continues this week as Alex finds himself leaving on a jet plane. Classes have started yet again for yours truly -- by the time you read this, I'll be in another one -- so this preview of two also-rans in late September is not as full of information as the preceding ones. I don't think King Felix will flirt with a no-hitter this time, but youneverknow.
On to the Advance Scout!
General: Well, Felix Hernandez is not scheduled to start, so...yes, there probably won't be a no-hitter bid from him ... A big thank-you to USS Mariner, which is where I started looking for information for this article ... No, I don't understand why Yuniesky Betancourt is batting third, either. Ask David Cameron, maybe: "Mike Hargrove deserves to manage a major league baseball club about as much I deserve to be the crown prince of Saudi Arabia." ...
Jake Woods: Hey, another lefty with mediocre strikeout numbers. He replaced Jamie Moyer in the rotation ... Sent from the showers to the showers last time out as a rain delay kept him at just four innings ... Fastball in the high 80s, changeup in the low 80s, and a looping curve around 76-77. In other words, let Bengie Molina loose ...
Gil Meche: Apparently walks much fewer batters with four days of rest than with five. His last start? Six days before this one, so it's all academic ... Not really all that good, though he has given up just five runs in his last three starts. His August wasn't pretty, however, with an ERA of 6.87 and more walks than strikeouts ... Left Wednesday's game after yet another rain delay, this one lasting more than 3 hours in what was an afternoon getaway game ... Pitched eight good innings in the start before that, but lost when a 1-1 game in the ninth went the way of Tampa Bay. And of course, Mike Hargrove didn't use J.J. Putz at all because of that tied score. Hargrove's "managing" is a trend throughout this article ... Throws hard[er than Woods, anyway] with a fastball that can reach 96. In theory, he uses the heat to set up a curve in the low 80s ...
Cha Seung Baek: So-so performance with Tacoma (AAA) this year after a worse one in 2005 ... Terrific on Friday against Texas, with four hits and three strikeouts over seven shutout innings, with just 93 pitches ... Fastball is 88-90 and utterly hittable, his offspeed pitches less so ...
Kenji Johjima: All I have is the suggestion for you to read this article in the Seattle Times ...
Ichiro!: Finally moved over to CF to make room in RF for the USS Mariner version of the Scottish play, whose capsule follows ... Power way down this year, and his HR/Fly rate is obscenely low at 4.7%. Sure, he doesn't hit homers anyway, but it was 7.2 two years ago and 10.3 last year. Oddly, his groundball rate is down and his LD% is pretty decent, but the power is just not there. On the other hand, he's stolen 38 of 40 bases this year (107 of 128 the last three years). So screw hitting doubles ...
Doyle: An explanation of why his middle name is used is here: "There’s a superstition that if a newborn is particularly fragile, the parents hold off naming them until they’re sure the child is through the worst — to not draw the attention of evil forces that might find and harm the kid while it is vulnerable." ... His frequent-and-comically-tragic-at-times injury history caused the superstition, which did not work out that well this year -- he went on the DL one day after being called up from Tacoma. He's back (for now) and just might crack 100 AB with Seattle one of these years ...
Adrian Beltre: Returning to the team after his son was born, and I sure hope the Mariners congratulated him ... The point's been made many times, but stick with me here. OBP by year since 2002: .303, .290, .388, .303, .317. SLG by year: .426, .424, .629, .413, .425. That's beyond an outlier. If an outlier took a wrong turn on its way to the median and ended up in another galaxy of some sorts, it might be able to see Beltre's 2004 with a powerful telescope ...
Finally, in lieu of a chart, which takes more time than is available...
It's Lilly-Woods tonight, Marcum-Meche tomorrow night and Burnett-Baek in a game that starts at 4:35 ET on Wednesday. As for the bullpen, as noted above, Putz is forbidden to enter tie games. George Sherrill is your classic LOOGY, and he has held lefties to a .186 slugging average this year.
Against RHP, it's Ichiro! CF, Doyle RF, Betancourt SS, Ibanez LF, Sexson 1B, Broussard DH, Johjima C, Beltre 3B, Lopez 2B. With Ted Lilly pitching tonight, expect Hargrove's platooning to yield Eduardo Perez subbing for Ben Broussard and perhaps Willie Bloomquist taking over RF. Yes, you read that right.
On to the Advance Scout!
General: Well, Felix Hernandez is not scheduled to start, so...yes, there probably won't be a no-hitter bid from him ... A big thank-you to USS Mariner, which is where I started looking for information for this article ... No, I don't understand why Yuniesky Betancourt is batting third, either. Ask David Cameron, maybe: "Mike Hargrove deserves to manage a major league baseball club about as much I deserve to be the crown prince of Saudi Arabia." ...
Jake Woods: Hey, another lefty with mediocre strikeout numbers. He replaced Jamie Moyer in the rotation ... Sent from the showers to the showers last time out as a rain delay kept him at just four innings ... Fastball in the high 80s, changeup in the low 80s, and a looping curve around 76-77. In other words, let Bengie Molina loose ...
Gil Meche: Apparently walks much fewer batters with four days of rest than with five. His last start? Six days before this one, so it's all academic ... Not really all that good, though he has given up just five runs in his last three starts. His August wasn't pretty, however, with an ERA of 6.87 and more walks than strikeouts ... Left Wednesday's game after yet another rain delay, this one lasting more than 3 hours in what was an afternoon getaway game ... Pitched eight good innings in the start before that, but lost when a 1-1 game in the ninth went the way of Tampa Bay. And of course, Mike Hargrove didn't use J.J. Putz at all because of that tied score. Hargrove's "managing" is a trend throughout this article ... Throws hard[er than Woods, anyway] with a fastball that can reach 96. In theory, he uses the heat to set up a curve in the low 80s ...
Cha Seung Baek: So-so performance with Tacoma (AAA) this year after a worse one in 2005 ... Terrific on Friday against Texas, with four hits and three strikeouts over seven shutout innings, with just 93 pitches ... Fastball is 88-90 and utterly hittable, his offspeed pitches less so ...
Kenji Johjima: All I have is the suggestion for you to read this article in the Seattle Times ...
Ichiro!: Finally moved over to CF to make room in RF for the USS Mariner version of the Scottish play, whose capsule follows ... Power way down this year, and his HR/Fly rate is obscenely low at 4.7%. Sure, he doesn't hit homers anyway, but it was 7.2 two years ago and 10.3 last year. Oddly, his groundball rate is down and his LD% is pretty decent, but the power is just not there. On the other hand, he's stolen 38 of 40 bases this year (107 of 128 the last three years). So screw hitting doubles ...
Doyle: An explanation of why his middle name is used is here: "There’s a superstition that if a newborn is particularly fragile, the parents hold off naming them until they’re sure the child is through the worst — to not draw the attention of evil forces that might find and harm the kid while it is vulnerable." ... His frequent-and-comically-tragic-at-times injury history caused the superstition, which did not work out that well this year -- he went on the DL one day after being called up from Tacoma. He's back (for now) and just might crack 100 AB with Seattle one of these years ...
Adrian Beltre: Returning to the team after his son was born, and I sure hope the Mariners congratulated him ... The point's been made many times, but stick with me here. OBP by year since 2002: .303, .290, .388, .303, .317. SLG by year: .426, .424, .629, .413, .425. That's beyond an outlier. If an outlier took a wrong turn on its way to the median and ended up in another galaxy of some sorts, it might be able to see Beltre's 2004 with a powerful telescope ...
Finally, in lieu of a chart, which takes more time than is available...
It's Lilly-Woods tonight, Marcum-Meche tomorrow night and Burnett-Baek in a game that starts at 4:35 ET on Wednesday. As for the bullpen, as noted above, Putz is forbidden to enter tie games. George Sherrill is your classic LOOGY, and he has held lefties to a .186 slugging average this year.
Against RHP, it's Ichiro! CF, Doyle RF, Betancourt SS, Ibanez LF, Sexson 1B, Broussard DH, Johjima C, Beltre 3B, Lopez 2B. With Ted Lilly pitching tonight, expect Hargrove's platooning to yield Eduardo Perez subbing for Ben Broussard and perhaps Willie Bloomquist taking over RF. Yes, you read that right.