2014 Seattle Mariners

[Blitzer88]

Offense sure has hit the skids since that opening series.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Richards had electric stuff tonight, BUT the M's had some real piss poor AB's tonight!
Wouldn't be shocked if the offense went into a skid after being 1 hit.

 

[mbtitleist]

The Mariners offense has came back to life tonight with 12 hits thru 6 innings, including a home runs by Zunino and Miller in the 6th. In other news, Felix Hernandez is really good. 7 innings, 3 hits, 11 k's, 0 walks. Season totals so far for Felix, 21.1 innings, 30 k's, 2 walks and only 3 earned runs.

 

[mbtitleist]

Well Dave Sims said that it looked like Felix was coming out after 7 so that's why I gave a recap after the 7th, and I guess that's what I get for listening to Dave Sims. Felix came out for the 8th but a HBP and a single has given the A's runners at 1st and 3rd with 0 outs and McClendon just yanked him. Hopefully Leutge can keep the A's from scoring since those two would be charged to Felix.

 

[m0ng0]

a win is a win! Any way they can get them is good with me!

 

[Sports Hernia]

Lloyd was very lucky, he almost micromanaged a 6 run lead into a loss. He should have pulled Felix after the 7th or let him try and get out of a 2 on no out jam. I think you are putting your bullpen in a piss poor position by doing that if they don't come in pitching lights out. Call me silly but I'd rather bring bullpen guys in with no one on base so there is room for error.

 

[bigtrain21]

Lloyd was very lucky, he almost micromanaged a 6 run lead into a loss. He should have pulled Felix after the 7th or let him try and get out of a 2 on no out jam. I think you are putting your bullpen in a piss poor position by doing that if they don't come in pitching lights out. Call me silly but I'd rather bring bullpen guys in with no one on base so there is room for error.

I thought his big mistake was putting in Furbush. I like Furbush but Farquhar had just struck someone out and while Moss is extremely dangerous the next hitter after Moss was a tough right hander so after Furbush lost Moss he ended up having to pitch to Cespedes as the tying run in the game. I would have just left Farquhar in. Furbush ended up getting Cespedes out but that was scary.

 

[Subzero717]

Lloyd was very lucky, he almost micromanaged a 6 run lead into a loss. He should have pulled Felix after the 7th or let him try and get out of a 2 on no out jam. I think you are putting your bullpen in a piss poor position by doing that if they don't come in pitching lights out. Call me silly but I'd rather bring bullpen guys in with no one on base so there is room for error.

How is that micromanaging?

 

[Smelly McUgly]

I agree in general with the last two posts. I also think it was silly to burn through so many arms when we only have like one day off in the next two weeks. Either let Felix get out of his own jam or let Farquhar keep pitching. McClendon was trying to play the matchups a bit too hard with a six-run lead.

 

[jkitsune]

I'll chime in and agree. I've loved Lloyd's lineup management so far, in particular his willingness to make defensive substitutions sooner than the 9th inning, although I wish he'd play Saunders a bit more in general, given my general lack of confidence in LoMo.

That said, his bullpen management is a bit frustrating. In particular, did anyone notice that he had Wilhelmson warming up, NOT Rodney if Furbush hadn't been able to end the inning? Having a gutty, clutch, strikeout-capable pitcher is far more important in the 8th with the bases loaded and the lead in jeopardy than in the 9th with the sacks empty. He has the great luxury of having two excellent relievers in Farquhar and Rodney, but instead the vast majority of hitters that inning were faced by Luetge and Furbush. That's what I would call micromanaging. Simply put, splits are not important enough (in general) to burn a reliever for every batter, especially when you're going to have two weak starters going on Sunday and Tuesday and you may very well need your bullpen for 4 innings each game.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Lloyd was very lucky, he almost micromanaged a 6 run lead into a loss. He should have pulled Felix after the 7th or let him try and get out of a 2 on no out jam. I think you are putting your bullpen in a piss poor position by doing that if they don't come in pitching lights out. Call me silly but I'd rather bring bullpen guys in with no one on base so there is room for error.

How is that micromanaging?

How many pitchers did he use that inning? It's that stupid righty-lefty BS that isn't important until late in the game (and yes most managers do it). I've had zero problems with Llyod until this, I still think he is the right guy for the job.

 

[Sports Hernia]

I'll chime in and agree. I've loved Lloyd's lineup management so far, in particular his willingness to make defensive substitutions sooner than the 9th inning, although I wish he'd play Saunders a bit more in general, given my general lack of confidence in LoMo.

That said, his bullpen management is a bit frustrating. In particular, did anyone notice that he had Wilhelmson warming up, NOT Rodney if Furbush hadn't been able to end the inning? Having a gutty, clutch, strikeout-capable pitcher is far more important in the 8th with the bases loaded and the lead in jeopardy than in the 9th with the sacks empty. He has the great luxury of having two excellent relievers in Farquhar and Rodney, but instead the vast majority of hitters that inning were faced by Luetge and Furbush. That's what I would call micromanaging. Simply put, splits are not important enough (in general) to burn a reliever for every batter, especially when you're going to have two weak starters going on Sunday and Tuesday and you may very well need your bullpen for 4 innings each game.

Thank you, you explained it better than I did. :th2thumbs:

 

[Smelly McUgly]

Erasmo has some stuff, but he cannot locate his pitches consistently at all. That dinger he gave up might as well have been BP.

 

[Blitzer88]

Erasmo has some stuff, but he cannot locate his pitches consistently at all. That dinger he gave up might as well have been BP.

Yeah, I really think that when Walker and Kuma come back that Erasmo needs to go to the bullpen and Young let go. Really like what I have seen from Elias, don't think he should be sent down or moved to the pen.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Erasmo outside of the first game this year has rarely impressed me. He seems to be a 5IP 3-4 ER guy. His pitches get real flat and
FAT when he misses up.

 

[Smelly McUgly]

I think people love Erasmo because he induces so many swinging strikes. I think his control sucks too much for that skill to overcome his inability to consistently locate pitches, though.

This park is half-empty.

 

[jkitsune]

Erasmo has some stuff, but he cannot locate his pitches consistently at all. That dinger he gave up might as well have been BP.

Yeah, I really think that when Walker and Kuma come back that Erasmo needs to go to the bullpen and Young let go. Really like what I have seen from Elias, don't think he should be sent down or moved to the pen.

Sending Erasmo to the bullpen at this point would be a significant waste of his talent. When a guy has enough upside to potentially be a solid 3-4 starter, I think it's a mistake to give up. Erasmo has struggled with injuries, and I think we're seeing the honest truth, which is that he's essentially a rookie starter. He was never intended to be our #2 starter - if he were our #5, I think we'd all feel a bit more comfortable with his performance (i.e., he's struggling but he has also flashed brilliance and upside, which is much better than most team's #5). Erasmo also got squeezed quite a bit last night. Not that that's an excuse, but his control is traditionally much better than you would think having watched that game.

Roenis, on the other hand, I think could use some time in AAA. I like what I've seen, and he got a super raw deal in his first start, but of the two starters we're talking about, Elias jumped from AA and has also struggled a bit w/ the transition. I think Elias would have more to gain from being in AAA than Erasmo would, and I do agree you should probably send one of them down when those two come back.

Why would you let Young go? Even if he's not a starter, if he's an effective long reliever that's a significant asset on a team stocked with talented, young, but unproven starters who may be prone to exiting games early. We've been a bit spoiled early with Felix, Paxton (until he got hurt), and Erasmo having long starts and getting into the 7th inning (except last night), but we may see more 5th or 6th-inning exits than we want to moving forward. If Young proves to be good, having a reasonable long reliever/6th starter that isn't Blake Beavan would be a significant benefit for us.

I'd say, ideally, the rotation would be: Felix, Iwakuma, Walker, Paxton, Ramirez, and Young would be a long reliever/6th starter. Roenis would be in AAA as a starter, and is also an option as an injury replacement.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Erasmo is a 5th starter at best at this point in time.

 

[Blitzer88]

Man, this offense is not good right now. Outside of the Angles series, they haven't really done anything.

 

[Subzero717]

Things are different this year. All of a sudden guys will start hitting.