Houston Astros (AWFUL) @ Seattle Mariners (Mediocre)

BayAreaMadSkill · Post #1 » by **BayAreaMadSkill** » Tue Apr 9, 2013 4:34 am

First game has gone really well. And, I would like to say that Saunders has shown me something, but he's facing Houston. I could probably go out there and put up a quality start.

Morse needs to stop sucking with RISP, and Morales continues to show what a damn solid hitter he is.

Oh, and Carter Capps rocks.

How's the giant monitor, Sweezo?

Post #2 » by **Sweezo** » Tue Apr 9, 2013 7:04 am

Who cares about Morales and Morse? By playing the Astros regularly this season our record will benefit GREATLY. What a horrible team...

Alright, I do care about Morales and Morse. A lot. With Saunders/Guti/Morales/Morse at the top of the order, I'm not afraid of a game's worth of futility. The team has some work to do with RISP but Morales seems more than capable of coming through when needed. If Smoak and Montero can show a little bit of power I'll be ecstatic.

Saunders was effective but boring as hell to watch in person.

By the way....Zunino Watch 2013 is officially on. He's currently 8-16 with 3 HR and 12 RBI in only 4 games with the Rainiers.

BayAreaMadSkill wrote:
How's the giant monitor, Sweezo?

I can't even put that **** into words. It. Is. Gigantic.

I'm skeptical when I hear things like "it will really improve the in person experience." But it really improves the in person experience. They are able to do a lot of cool graphics and intros that not only felt unique, but also well-produced and very Seattle-centric. For example, they had player intros with a picture of the player standing in front of Pike Place Market with the player's name up on the "Public Market" sign.

One complaint I've heard from friends from out of town who've gone to games at SafeCo is that's a bit generic. I think the video screen helps set it apart. I love going to SF Giants games because they're fun, lively, and you never forget for one second what city you are in. I got a very similar vibe from the game today.

Post #3 » by **Sweezo** » Tue Apr 9, 2013 7:06 am

BayAreaMadSkill wrote:Oh, and Carter Capps rocks.

That slider looks better than I remember. He was locating it in the mid-80's and then following up with a 96+ mph fastball. He looked unhittable and I think they showed he's sporting a 7:1 K/BB ratio early on. I'm in no hurry to supplant Wilhelmsen by any means, but if the time comes I am not all that worried.

Post #4 » by **Sweezo** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 2:36 am

Maurer didn't even make it out of the first inning. 0.2 IP, 6 ER. This may seem harsh but I wouldn't be shocked if he's on the train down to Tacoma tonight. He's in the dugout and he looks like he's on the verge of tears. Which sucks. I've been pulling for him to win a spot in the rotation after the spring, but he seems like the stage is still a little too big for him.

And now Kameron Loe comes in to serve up a home run or five. Glad I didn't bother trying to get tickets to tonight's game [although looking at the stands it looks like no one else bothered either].

TTown · Post #5 » by **TTown** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 4:59 am

geez man, you're talking like we're losing 14-2 to the bleepin' astros or something...

oh wait.

Post #6 » by **Sweezo** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:44 am

TTown wrote:geez man, you're talking like we're losing 14-2 to the bleepin' astros or something...

oh wait.

Note the time stamp on the Loe comment...he hadn't thrown a pitch when I said then, and then...what, 3 HR? How is it Shawn Kelley gets in the doghouse because of one hanging slider before the team even got back from Japan, but we'll trot Loe out there with impunity?

A team like this cannot afford a game like this. We barely drew 10k fans to the stadium tonight in the second game of the year. Think anyone who shelled out $50 per ticket, $8 per beer, $20 in parking, etc. left the stadium feeling pumped about going through that exercise again any time soon?

And what about seeing Bay/Ibanez/Morse hitting home runs, and then Smoak/Montero/Ackley doing nothing in order? Disappointing.

BayAreaMadSkill · Post #7 » by **BayAreaMadSkill** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 3:27 pm

Morse is a monster! 8-)

So yeah; Last night I had a softball game, got home, expected to see us up 3-1 or something, and it was 14-2 Astros. I mean, seriously; Any team who loses to the friggin Astros that badly has some serious problems.

Smoak sucks. Cut him or send him to the minors, and put Zunino or Montero at first, opening up the other spot for catcher. Ackley sucks, but I dont know who would replace him in the field right now.

Bay had some really nice swings.

Post #8 » by **Sweezo** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:18 pm

BayAreaMadSkill wrote:Smoak sucks. Cut him or send him to the minors, and put Zunino or Montero at first, opening up the other spot for catcher. Ackley sucks, but I dont know who would replace him in the field right now.

If they end up making some changes, I'd say move Morse to 1B [he has experience there...Zunino and Montero do not] and give Bay more starts in LF. That's not at all ideal as it's not building towards anything, but Smoak's running out of time. He has a batting average of .179. And a slugging percentage of .179. POWER BAT!

It's times like these where cutting Casper Wells is painful. Moving Morse to 1B and having an OF of Guti/Saunders/Wells isn't bad at all.

nuke the whales · Post #9 » by **nuke the whales** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 11:44 pm

Funny thing is, Smoak's OBP is still higher than Morse's is. Of course if the org cared about OBP Jaso would still be here.

BayAreaMadSkill · Post #10 » by **BayAreaMadSkill** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 12:07 am

nuke the whales wrote:Funny thing is, Smoak's OBP is still higher than Morse's is. Of course if the org cared about OBP Jaso would still be here.

Oh man we got Sweezo Jr right here. :lol:

You're right. Smoak has been far more successful than Morse. Cut Morse, Smoak is a beast.

Stats don't tell everything. I'll take 1-4, HR, 3 RBI from Morse as opposed to 1-4, BB from Smoak.

Sorry.

Post #11 » by **Sweezo** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 2:46 am

Saunders' hurts himself making a play at the wall and comes out of the game after the first out. You've got to be kidding me. The dumpster fire continues to burn.

BayAreaMadSkill wrote:
nuke the whales wrote:Funny thing is, Smoak's OBP is still higher than Morse's is. Of course if the org cared about OBP Jaso would still be here.

Oh man we got Sweezo Jr right here.

You're right. Smoak has been far more successful than Morse. Cut Morse, Smoak is a beast.

Stats don't tell everything. I'll take 1-4, HR, 3 RBI from Morse as opposed to 1-4, BB from Smoak.

Sorry.

Now, certainly everyone knows to take early season sample sizes with a big fat grain of salt [especially for someone like Jason Bay who's only had about 15 plate appearances], but consider the following:

Smoak 2013 wOBA: .239
Morse 2013 wOBA: .430
Jaso 2013 wOBA: .420
Montero 2013 wOBA: .118
Bay 2013 wOBA: .447

Maybe one could make a convincing argument that the M's with Jaso [replacing either Smoak or Montero] at C/1B and Bay in LF would have performed better on offense at this point that the M's with Morse in LF and both of Smoak/Montero at 1B/C every day?

Post #12 » by **Sweezo** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:12 am

Beavan's serving up batting practice. Goddammit...we're going to lose a series at home to the Astros.

BayAreaMadSkill · Post #13 » by **BayAreaMadSkill** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:37 am

All I get from those stats is that Mike Morse is better than Jaso. 8-)

And yeah; Beavan sucks. Anyone know why this idiot was allowed to be in our rotation? He wasn't even good last season, and certainly didnt show me a whole ton of promise.

Oh well.

We suck. Nobody loses to the Astros.

Post #14 » by **Sweezo** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:16 am

BayAreaMadSkill wrote:Nobody loses to the Astros.

I can think of one team that does...

BayAreaMadSkill · Post #15 » by **BayAreaMadSkill** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:30 pm

Sweezo wrote:
BayAreaMadSkill wrote:Nobody loses to the Astros.

I can think of one team that does...

The Rangers on opening night? Yeah, I thought of that too.

nuke the whales · Post #16 » by **nuke the whales** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:28 am

I'm obviously not trying to say Smoak is hitting better than Morse. I'm just saying don't get overly caught up in oooh dingers!

BayAreaMadSkill · Post #17 » by **BayAreaMadSkill** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:43 am

nuke the whales wrote:I'm obviously not trying to say Smoak is hitting better than Morse. I'm just saying don't get overly caught up in oooh dingers!

Dude, we are the MARINERS. For the past handful of seasons, if a guy hit 15-20 homers, he was our HR leader. It's pathetic.

Morse brings real power to the club, but he's also a career 290 or so hitter. He's not going to be all about homers. The guy is damn good at the plate.

Smoak is simply hot garbage.