Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Guti Injured

The word is torn pectoral.  What an odd injury!  It's not like Guti never throws the ball.  Was he not throwing at all in the offseason?  Did they rush them in throwing drills?  Just weird.

But where do we go from here?  If he is going to be out of commission for 4 weeks, then he is back (hopefully) by the end of April. 
The options
1. Casper Wells - we got a glimpse of a nice player who has power that would be nice to have.  I wouldn't think anything would linger from his injury last summer. 
2. Michael Saunders - Here is my pick.  He has been highly rated prospect for the last couple of years and is known as a good defender and has a good overall game.  He just needs to show he can handle major league pitching.  Hopefully the work he did with Josh Bard's brother over the offseason will pay off. 
3. Trayvon Robinson - Not really an option at this time.  I don't really see him in CF and he has a big strikeout problem right now.  I think he needs to go back to AAA and prove he can repeat what he was doing in the Dodger system.
4. Trade for someone.  I know over at USSMariner, Dave is still plugging trying to get Wil Venable.  I'm not against it, but what are we giving up to get him. 

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Let the Games Begin

and no, I don't care they are intra-squad.  Still a box score, still batters facing pitchers in live situations.  It's not so much about the stats but about how people are driving the ball or getting on base or having efficient innings.

Figgins - 1-2 with 3 BBs and 3 runs scored.  Isn't this exactly what we were looking for.  Get on base and score some runs.
Ackley - 2-5 with a HR, 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs
Ichiro - 1-4 1 RBI.  But I loved the sequence in the 2nd game.  Figgins got on, Ackley singles on a hit and run to get Figgins to 3rd.  Ichiro singles to score Figgins.
Smoak - 3-5 2 RBIs
Guti - 3-3 with a HR off Felix!
Moore - 3-4 with a 3B
Saunders - 2-3 with a 2B, 3 BBs, 2 runs scored and a SB - Wouldn't it be nice if Montero shows he can catch everyday and does.  Move Carp to DH and put Saunders in LF.
Catricala - 2-4 with a 2B and a HR.

I guess it is just exciting to see hits, HRs and extra base hits from this team.  It doesn't even matter the atmosphere.  I do hold back judgement on pitchers this early though.  They should really be focusing on fastballs and location right now.  Lets see them in their 3rd spring start.

The funny part is someone on Baker's blog on Friday commented about Hultzen walking Figgins to lead off the game.  The comment by Pedro Caulderon said "I'd like to see more footage of Hultzen because he looked very unimpressive in facing Figgins."  I'm still waiting to see a comment from Pedro on what Guti did to Felix.  Everything with a grain of salt. 

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Lineup Shift

By now, everyone has heard about Ichiro batting 3rd and Figgins getting the chance to lead off.  I'm not against this.  I do like Kyle Seager, but that is not to say that he couldn't use a little more time in AAA.  But Seager in AAA has a whole different logjam issue.

I'm playing the role of the optimist this spring.  I'm sick of just thinking the Mariners are going to stink.  Trust in Jack!  We have no idea how bad Figgins was hurting last year, so we can only hope that when he says he is healthy, that he actually is and that he can come back and create some havoc on the base paths. 

Lets just say he hits 275/350/390.  I'm ok with that.  Get on base and steal some bases.  Let Ackley do his thing and let's see if Ichiro can come through hitting in the 3 hole. 

I'm also optimistic about the rest of the lineup and I think we can be the Rays of a couple years ago or the Dbacks from last year. 
Figgins - Can he come back from injury and poor play and show he actually deserves what he being paid.
Ackley - A Full Season!
Ichiro - Comeback player of the year and RBI machine
Smoak - Another come back from injury.  The difference, he is young and no one knows his real potential
Montero - Someone that can hit!
Carp - Battle the Sophomore slump
Gutierrez - Another come back from injury.  But a totally different type of injury and yes, I'm buying into the hype.
Olivo/Jaso - A nice platoon and Olivo is relied on to be the whole offense.
Ryan - A little concern here with the injury, but he is hitting 9th.  Just play good defense and hit .260.

First Intra-squad game tomorrow!  Hultzen, Walker, Paxton and Ramirez - WOW

Monday, February 13, 2012

Phillies Depth Chart

This started as a post to pick apart Todd Zolecki's projected Phillies lineup, posted on MLB.com.  I do find it ridiculous that he has Jim Thome starting at first and Laynce Nix starting in LF.  With Howard out, Mayberry will be in that lineup much more than either of those two guys.  So this got me thinking about a depth chart that Dave Cameron post on USS Mariner for the Mariners after the acquisition of Montero.  See here.  So here is what I came up with for the Phillies.


Phillies PLAYER C 1B 2B 3B SS LF CF RF PH P TOTAL
C RUIZ 450                   450
1B HOWARD   450                 450
2B UTLEY     550               550
3B POLANCO       500             500
SS ROLLINS         550           550
LF MAYBERRY   50       400 50   50   550
CF VICTORINO             600       600
RF PENCE               600     600
BENCH                        
C SCHNEIDER 200                   200
IF MARTINEZ     100   100           200
IF WIGGINTON   100   150         50   300
OF NIX           250   50 50   350
PH THOME   50             50   100
IF/OF OTHER 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50   450
P PITCHERS                   350 350
TOTAL   700 700 700 700 700 700 700 700 250 350 6200
 
 This is projecting almost a full season worth of PAs for Mayberry even though he doesn't play very well versus RHP.  I don't think that Thome will play as much at first and they saying with Howard out.  I think most of it is picked up by Wigginton and Mayberry.  This isn't to say I don't want Thome playing there.  As long as he can stay healthy and he can still swing the bat, put him at first and Mayberry in LF.  Thome has a much better approach that Wigginton or Nix.

I still wonder where D. Brown fits in all of this.  He really needs to get his confidence back and his swing.  I don't want him platooning or sitting most of the time.  Wherever he is, he needs to be playing and get at least 600 PA this year.  Time to put up or shut up.  What if he has an outstanding spring?  What if you send him down and he is just tearing up AAA?  If he struggles in spring, the answer is easy, go to AAA and figure out your stuff.  Maybe I will have to do a different post just on this topic. 

I've gotten off track.  The point of my post was to point out which players I thought would be getting a majority of the playing time and to negate the lineup posted by Zolecki.  I do recognize that Zolecki's is probably geared towards facing a RHP which you will see much more than a lefty, but I still disagree.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

REPORT NOW!

Pitchers and Catchers report today for the Mariners.  This is always an exciting day because in my mind it's the start of spring, even if it is snowing in the Northeast.  What really follows the reporting day is a bunch of shallow reports and articles about how the pitchers are throwing 25 pitches off the mound or how they are working on covering first.  I'm sure the focus until players report is how Montero looks catching. 

Hopefully, we hear more about players reporting early.  I really want to hear more about how Ackley, Smoak, Gutierrez, Montero, Saunders, Seagers and Ichiro!