7-3 (2-0-1)

by ~ April 17th, 2009 at 12:11 pm

I haven’t watched either of the last two games in their entirety; just too much going on, but here are a couple talking points.

  • Last night’s version of Wlad Balentien looked 100% like the 2008 version.  With the bases loaded Saunders just threw changeup after changeup off the plate and Wlad couldn’t figure out how to hold up.  I’m really rooting for Wlad to pull it together and it’s still way too early to give up on him, but at bats like that make him look like a AAAA flameout.
  • I think a lot of us noticed this in watching the last couple of ballgames and USS Mariner has posted on the topic as well, but Yuni needs to stop protecting the hole and play a more traditional shortstop.  He likes to make that backhand and long throw, but too many balls are getting up the middle.  Since Jose Lopez isn’t great going up the middle either Yuni needs to start positioning himself a few large steps closer to second base.

What else is there to talk about?  The lack of offense and erratic bullpen finally caught up to Seattle in their 3rd loss.  I’d like to see more strikethrowers in the game once the starter exits.  Chris Jakubauskas is a starter for at least another week or three, leaving Shawn Kelley as the only reliever with consistent command in the bullpen.  Being a rookie it will take a while for him to earn Don Wakamatsu’s trust, but I certainly believe he’s the real deal and needs more responsibility ASAP.

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  • Project Monkey

    Wlad just looks lost. Overwhelmed maybe. It’s hard to tell, but he just can’t seem to take that last step to MLB player.

  • SABR Matt

    Maybe because he’s NOT an MLB player…as I’ve been saying since last year.

  • epeyt88

    im not sure what you mean by lack of offense. yeah, were not the highest scoring team in the MLB, but where definately not the worst. we score almost 5 runs a game…not bad at all. when you have the lowest ERA in the league that’ll help ya win.

    and shawn kelley being the only guy in the ‘pen that can throw strikes? jak did a great job when he was there, corc has pitched well overall, aardsma…very well, and lowe has done a good job too, even batista has thrown a couple good innings.
    the only thing wrong with our bullpen is that we dont have a lefty.

    if im missin somethin then please correct me…but im impressed with just about every aspect of our team this year.

  • Mariners121212

    You are missing out on a lot go and check out the pullpen’s walk totals.

  • http://bleedingblueandteal.com Jon Shields

    I didn’t say the bullpen was pitching poorly, I just said that no one outside of Shawn Kelley is consistently in control. It’s no surprise, guys like Aardsma, Morrow, Corcy, Lowe etc have always been a little erratic. They get by a lot of the time because the flamethrowers can get themselves out of trouble by striking out a couple guys, and Corcorcan throws groundballs so he can always get bailed out by the double play. But when you have guys that walk hitters there is always the change of the big inning, the dagger.

  • Slurve

    Our bullpen has a high walk total but also a low ERA that shows that while we’re walking guys we’re also blowing guys away. Sooner or later it’s gonna come back and bite us in the ass but we’re functioning right now and that’s what matters.

  • Bilbo

    Why the hate for Wlad? He looks a lot better in the box and has been off to a good start this year. Yes he had one tough at bat in a critical situation but he is also coming off of a few days off and a wrist injury. Jeez.

  • Project Monkey

    he looks no different then last years…that’s why I’m ripping on him.

  • SABR Matt

    I don’t see this mythical improved in Wlad…he looks exactly the same to me. No ability to hit offspeed stuff unless it’s centered, no ability to adjust his thinking mid-at-bat to account for what a pitcher is doing to get him out, marginal contact hitting skill (guys like Betancourt and Lopez are pretty dumb at the plate too, but they make up for a little by being able to foul pitches that fool them off and try for better ones to make contact on) and bad defense. I’m not seeing what is so attractive about Wlad.

  • Project Monkey

    ??? I don’t follow that logic lol How does fouling off pitches they aren’t good at hitting a bad thing? Fight off bad pitches(pitches they can’t hit), wait for a good pitch. If you’re not good at hitting the curve, then make em throw something you can hit.

  • http://bleedingblueandteal.com Jon Shields

    He didn’t say that’s a bad thing. He says Wlad can’t do that. He’s saying that while Yuni and Lopez don’t have the greatest approach at the plate, at very least they can foul off bad pitches and hope for better ones. If Wlad swings at a bad pitch chances are he’s whiffing on it.

  • SABR Matt

    Right, Jon. Betancourt and Lopez have just as bad plate discipline as Wlad does…but they can defend themselves a little better and don’t strike out very much because they have unnaturally good ability to make contact when they get fooled. A K is an automatic out for a batter…making contact gives you at least a 27-28% chance of getting a hit even when you make fairly weak contact, and of course if you foul it off you have a 100% chance of trying again in the at bat.

  • tonybologna

    i really wish that corcoran gets either sent down to Tacoma, or DFA. I was thinking we should have kept Dickey as reliever than Corcoran.. I have so much anger and anxiety toward mariners whenever Corcoran came out from the pen. Do we have any pen pitchers who can throw hard in Tacoma? When jimenez comes off of the DL, Corcoran should be out of the mariners…

  • http://bleedingblueandteal.com Jon Shields

    I never understood the appeal of Dickey. The knuckleball is cool, but you never know if it’s going to be on or not, and even if it is going well you don’t know where the pitch is going to end up. You throw the same knuckler the exact same way 4 times and you could feasibly end up with a ball, a strike, a ball low in the zone that induces a groundball, a ball up in the zone that goes for a home run.

    I like Corcoran. He’s one of the league’s better groundballers, making him a guy that is great to have even with a shaky MIF defense and iffy control. If Wak can figure out how to use him correctly he can be a real asset. I definitely don’t feel the same animosity towards him as you do, and I’d take Corcy over Jimenez.

    As far as hard throwers in AAA, we’ve got Luis Pena and Jesus Delgado, but both are also wild.