Black Sunday Pick-Me-Up
by Jeff Sullivan on May 31, 2009 11:06 PM PDT
in Seattle Mariners Stats
- I don't know how or why this has seemingly been flying under the radar, but Ichiro is absolutely white hot right now. Not only has he had a hit in all but four games so far, but since May 15th he's batted .437 with six doubles and three homers. His season line to date is .354/.386/.484, and what he's lacked in walks he's made up for with a fair bit of pop. Yeah, his BABIP of .368 is high, but it's not much higher than his career mark of .356, so it's not like we should expect him to come crashing back down to Earth. This just has the look of a return to his peak level of production. Ichiro may be 35 years old, but there's no bit of statistical evidence - none at all - that he's about to slow down. He was stinging the ball today.
- Last night, Felix threw 113 pitches, and the Angels missed 17 of them. Why is that meaningful? I'd like you to take a look at the following chart.
| Year |
Strike% |
SwS% |
| 2005 |
64.9% |
10.0% |
| 2006 |
63.8% |
9.0% |
| 2007 |
65.2% |
9.7% |
| 2008 |
64.2% |
8.6% |
| 2009 |
65.0% |
12.4% |
The first column is good; Felix is throwing as many strikes as ever. But the second column is remarkable. I'm not entirely sure how he's done it - maybe he's finally figured out how to locate his fastball - but Felix has taken his ability to miss bats to another level. That 12.4% swinging strike rate ranks Felix fifth in baseball out of 131 starters. He's above Justin Verlander, he's above Cole Hamels, and he's above Zack Greinke. Felix has been missing bats like we always expected him to, and that improvement has allowed him to pitch like a bonafide #1.
I'm not quite ready to say it, since I've been burned by this one before, but it's possible that, after so many years of frustrating predictability and inconsistency, we're finally bearing witness to the birth of an ace. It's been a long, annoying road, Felix, but if everything in the past was just your convoluted route to the proper destination, then I guess it will have been worth it.
Ichiro has the 2nd most homers on the team
coolconman - May 31, 2009
Ichiro is the MAN.
He’s a lazy, selfish man, but he’s our man. I love that guy.
Sinking Away - June 1, 2009
Feliz really is our ace.
in the words of Mike Blowers, “No doubt about it”.
Sinking Away - June 1, 2009
Are you serious?
Ichiro is the ONLY player who actually hits the ball. If you want to contend this, find me another M’s player with a basic performance record like his. I don’t care whether it’s singles, doubles, triples or homers.. show me… After you do that show me:
A player who steals….. once in a while.
Then after that:
Some huge fielding plays, as defense… which saved our asses day after day after day.
Also, the one single Mariner who isn’t a 1/3 retard in the press, despite linguistic issues. I’ll take a good player with no English over a borderline autistic. He’s a player, hands down for 8 years. I wish most players would “pad” their stats by getting on base….
Any M’s fan who questions Ichiro is isn’t an “M’s” fan, period, without him, we’d be in bumfuck Idaho.
ESB - June 1, 2009
Wait what?
OlSalty - June 1, 2009
Huh?
Fin - June 1, 2009
I can't tell if this is a real person or if its just another JI/inside joke account.
Fin - June 1, 2009
I don't use alts
Poochie - June 1, 2009
Bwahaha
johnbai - June 1, 2009
He doesn't.
Matthew - June 1, 2009
I thought Poochie
was an alt. Just a reboot?
johnbai - June 2, 2009
It is neither. JI was locked out of his account by unforeseen circumstances.
Matthew - June 2, 2009
It is tough to tell, but I think we all agree with what you are saying here,
which makes your subject line very curious.
Matthew - June 1, 2009
It's ok to say buttfuck
Poochie - June 1, 2009
Rec'd for confusing the shit out of me
Milendriel - June 1, 2009
Ummmm....
This is not Baker’s blog.
jimmylauderdale - June 1, 2009
Dustin Ackley!
Graham MacAree - June 1, 2009
Let's trade Ichiro for Ackley!
tootthekazoo - June 1, 2009
.
bahahahahahaha
.Taylor - June 1, 2009
Felix is really god damn good.
I feel bad that he is overlooked by the east coast bias and the overall Mariners suck. I really want to see him go to an all-star game or be a serious contender for a Cy Young award.
Fin - June 1, 2009
Felix hasn't been missing out on All-Star games and Cy YOungs because the Mariners have been terrible or are located in Seattle.
Matthew - June 1, 2009
So you're saying it's because he's black
OlSalty - June 1, 2009
Well, there is a reason he pitches so stupidly...
Matthew - June 1, 2009
I like a man who calls it like he sees it
And there is really only one way you can see it.
jimmylauderdale - June 1, 2009
Black people are hard to see.
Vatinius - June 1, 2009
In the dark.
Fin - June 1, 2009
I know, he's been inconsistent the past couple of years.
But I remember that he is only 23, so he still has plenty of time to win those awards.
Fin - June 1, 2009
Ichiro was 1 hit shy of recording his first 50 hit month since August 2004.
Phil Hatzenbuehler - June 1, 2009
well he obviously sucks and isn't helping the team since he was too selfish to get to 50
pdb - June 1, 2009
Our record in months where Ichiro has 49 or more hits sucks
What a selfish asshole.
Graham MacAree - June 1, 2009
Our record while Ichiro is on the DL is great.
He’s just too selfish to sacrifice his health for the team.
Vatinius - June 1, 2009
Obviously, he needs to dive more
I guess he didn’t learn to play the game the right way back in China
Bearskin Rugburn - June 1, 2009
Taiwan doesn
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
't consider itself part of China
duh.
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
First game at Safeco
Hello all. I’m going to be in Seattle next weekend for the first time and I’d like to catch a game while I’m there, probably Saturday. Any recommendations of what sections of the park are good values, or sections to avoid? Can I buy tickets day of at the park, or should I get them online now? Lastly, is there any food that I shouldn’t miss? Thanks.
Clinojim - June 1, 2009
There's loads of stuff in the archives about Safeco and all it contains
but as far as tickets, if you can get them now do so. It won’t sell out, so you will be able to get tix at the box office, but they are more expensive (by $5 or so) day-of-game.
As far as I’m concerned, the only truly bad seats in Safeco are the upper deck above right field – sections 306 through 311. Otherwise, there’s really not a bad seat in the house – the 3B side will be in the shade for most of the game, if that’s important to you.
pdb - June 1, 2009
There was a fanpost ~3 weeks ago with these exact questions
and some good responses in the comments.
waldo rojas - June 1, 2009
Found it, thanks.
Clinojim - June 1, 2009
Ichiro had 49 hits in May.
Of course, he’s had 50 hits in a month more than any other player in modern history, and he alone holds the record for most 50-hit months in a single seson (2).
Llewdor - June 1, 2009
Felix question
was the gun slow on Sunday? The scoreboard had him at about 92-93 most of the game, touching 94-95. I’ve thought that gun was slow (if I remember right), and guessed he was actually around 94-95, touching 97. GameDay confirmation?
For the record, they had Mark Lowe between 97 and 99.
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
Yep
Pitchfx had his ave. FB at 94.55 with a high of 97. Pretty normal.
marc w - June 1, 2009
The gun was high on Lowe, however. Average - 96.93 with a high of 98.1
The board kept showing Lowe at 97 and 98, so the gun is just plain wonky.
abender20 - June 1, 2009
I don't understand
You say it showed Lowe at 97-98, and pitchfx has his average at 97 with a high of 98. Doesn’t that basically match what you saw?
marc w - June 1, 2009
Yeah. The gun was ~correct on Lowe but low on Felix.
I wasn’t clear on that, sorry.
abender20 - June 1, 2009
That's really weird, by the way
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
That's why I brought it up in the first place. How does that make any sense?
abender20 - June 1, 2009
I'd guess it has to do with their deliveries relative to where the gun was at Angel Stadium
but that doesn’t make sense since you’d assume the Pf/x setup and the stadium gun would be set in the two best locations in the park for that, so their discrepancies should match each other
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
As a rough linear approximation, pitches lose ~ 1mph per 8 feet travelled or so.
Could different deliveries really cause a difference of ~15 feet in where a pitch is picked up?
abender20 - June 1, 2009
Doubt it, but it's possible
when we took pitching lessons in high school, we were taught to stride much farther forward in order to decrease the distance from the hand to the plate.
However, Felix appears to stride further than Lowe (based on my very accurate eye and memory, with no supporting video evidence), which means his fastball should seem faster than it’s GameDay recorded velocity, not slower.
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
(seem faster to the Angel Stadium gun)
also, I recall that the difference was no more than 3-4 feet
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
3-4 feet is a pretty significant difference in stride length between two guys of the same height.
abender20 - June 1, 2009
3-4 would be more of an absolute maximum number rather than the difference between Felix and Lowe
I still think delivery is the most likely culprit (behind operator error), but I’m just not seeing any evidence here.
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
Velocity Reporting Discrepancy
Felix Hernandez glanced at the radar gun at the Big A and noticed his velocity was low. Yes, it was his 74th pitch of the game, but even so, Felix knew his fastball was better than 93. Felix Hernandez is Venezuelan.
Enter Mark Lowe. Mark Lowe read at or near his normal velocity for the duration of his appearance. Mark Lowe is Caucasian.
abender20 - June 1, 2009
God damnit. Stupid enter button aborted this one early. Oh well.
abender20 - June 1, 2009
It needed nothing more.
msb - June 1, 2009
Without looking at ESPN.com yet
if you made this up, this is one of the best things this site has ever produced. If you copied it from ESPN, Jemele Hill has somehow hit a new low.
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
She managed to write a column that didn't mention her favorite topic today
which is impressive.
pdb - June 1, 2009
It still sort of pokes at white people culture.
abender20 - June 1, 2009
Well white people culture is pretty dumb.
Aaron Campeau - June 1, 2009
White people be all "I like mayonnaise" and shit
abender20 - June 1, 2009
Fuck you mayonnaise is awesome.
Teej - June 1, 2009
And I say this as the Jeff-appointed blackest person on LL.
Teej - June 1, 2009
I don't think Jeff appointed you blackest, just black.
seattlebruin - June 2, 2009
And therefore blackest
Jeff Sullivan - June 2, 2009
I don't think defaults should count, but that's just me
seattlebruin - June 2, 2009
WTF?!
johnbai - June 2, 2009
I've met you and you couldn't possibly be whiter
Jeff Sullivan - June 2, 2009
Now you done made me angry.
johnbai - June 2, 2009
Using the phrase "no you done" doesn't really help your case.
Aaron Campeau - June 2, 2009
*now
Aaron Campeau - June 2, 2009
Way to type, sheisskopf
johnbai - June 2, 2009
And by Sunday, I clearly meant Saturday
whoops
seattlebruin - June 1, 2009
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