Lookout Landing

Maybe even two.

From Shannon Drayer:

As for the skipper, his spirits were lifted as he watched Cliff Lee throw his first bullpen since injuring his abdominal muscle. He threw 25 pitches and reported that he felt great. He started the pen slowly, deliberately. After throwing two pitches he stepped off the rubber and stretched a little bit. He then got back up and continued to throw both fastballs and breaking balls. The plan is to throw pens on Sunday and Wednesday then throw a 45 pitch simulated game on Friday. Wak said that he will need to throw two sim games before being sent out on a rehab assignment. Realistically and safely they are looking at a first week of May return.

Ah thank you.

So what the hell happened to a quick ruling on the suspension?

Bud Selig runs Major League Baseball.

I don't know if it was mentioned in the game treads, but Sims brought up an old line

I haven’t heard in many years, “4/5 of the world is covered in water, the rest is covered by Guti”. Originally, someone elses name was there, but I doubt he was as incredible as our CF. I hope that pull was just misplaced excitement.

Neon Deion

cwel87 - April 19, 2010 reply

I thought the original was Garry Maddux.

craig3410 - April 19, 2010 reply

Weird timing on this comment.

I just started reading a book by Bill Adler called baseball wit. It is filled with classic quotes by people in and around the game.

One of the quotes is from Ralph Kiner: 2/3 of the earth is covered by water. The other 1/3 is covered by Gary Maddux."

It is a fun book. Lots of great quotes.

Rich Langford - April 19, 2010 reply

Yeah, Gary Maddox was the original. But Neon Deion is the only person to have

played in both a World Series and a Super Bowl, so I’m guessing they said that about him too. Guti’s good, not WS/SB, but he’s going to rack up a lot of Gold Gloves in CF just like Maddox. But he’s ours and we are now beginning to figure out defensive metrics. Guti can cover some ground.

You didn't hear?

Guti’s the new Seahawks CB.

Hopefulmsfan - April 20, 2010 reply

Who needs Eric Berry when you can have Franklin Gutierrez!

Fearless Frog - April 20, 2010 reply

Love the offense picking up.

Guti is locked-in on everything. Lopez needs to be dropped down a few spots while Kotchman moves into the 4th spot against right-handed pitching. Ichiro also appears to have found his groove after his usual slow start. Overall, at least we know we can destroy bad pitching.

Wilder. - April 19, 2010 reply

Wak refuses to step on Griffey's feet so he'll continue to ruin rallies batting fifth.

Then we got the whole “relieve pressure from Bradley” thing going on which is forcing Lopez to hit fourth.

Doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Ichiro-Figgins-Guti-Bradley-Kotchman should probably be the first five. With Lopez and the DH spot following. But is you believe in the human element of the game and guys not feeling comfortable batting in spots or you believe in not stepping on the toes of legends, then I guess Wak’s lineup makes sense

Rudy4three - April 19, 2010 reply

No you are right. Wak's line-up needs to be fine-tuned. Step on the toes of legends.

Drayer is talking about Red on the post game.

Kermit. - April 19, 2010 reply

I think the big question is

Will Franklin Gutierrez hit .400 this season?

Seeing that it's been done before, it's certainly possible.

Two Rs and Two Ls - April 19, 2010 reply

I'm not going to say that I like his chances to do it full-season

but if you’re looking for signs of hope, he walked twice today. You really have to get the walks and limit your ABs if you’re going to do it.

I wasn't quite serious. Barry Bonds couldn't hit .400 even when his OBP was .609.

You mean "Barry Bonds couldn't hit .400 even when he was on steroids"

nonononononononono

No, we're talking about limiting ABs by taking walks.

I know I got the point, was only kidding around.

In all seriousness though, I don't think .400 is humanly possible this day and age

Yeah I know, I think it was Bill James who said that if Bonds couldn't hit .400 no one can.

Two Rs and Two Ls - April 19, 2010 reply

I did a post about this subject last year when people were asking the same question about Joe Mauer.

Bonds had a couple decent chances, Williams’ 1941 was absolutely insane, but I noticed that Edgar Martinez’ 1995 wasn’t that far off either.

If we could get Ichiro's 200 hit prowess and somehow combine it with a 150 walk season

Hot diggity damn. And dear god I did not know it was possible to walk 200 times in a season I never realized how good Bonds was on pitch recognition. I knew he was good but 200 walks is freaking ridiculous.

A lot of those walks had to do with the fact that when pitchers didn't walk him, he hit a home run.

lmeyer40 - April 19, 2010 reply

It wasn't about pitch recognition. It was about "holy fuck monster coming. MONSTER. MONSTERRRR!!!" followed by intentional walk

Right. He got a lot of unintentional, intentional walks.

That’s not going to happen to too many batters.

I don't think many pitchers had the balls (ha) to pitch to him

It’s the next best thing to suicide. Pitching to a roid monster

Well on fangraphs,

It says he has 232 BB and 120 IBB are those two numbers separate or that’s how many IBB out of the 232 BB he received because if those two are separate, hot diggity damn.

They're separate

Note the 373 AB and 617 PA

Mariner John - April 20, 2010 reply

I want him to start hitting homeruns

All these singles worry me, but his approach at the plate appears to be dramatically improved.

OlSalty - April 19, 2010 reply

Yeah but he's hitting the shit out of the ball

Not too many cheap singles in there

But yes, home runs would be welcome

It'll be fun to see him hit .400

With no HRs and 140 RBIs.

Oh yes I totally agree

He’s hit a few singles that really should have been doubles, but that fucking Oakland outfield is really good.

OlSalty - April 19, 2010 reply

I like how he's batting .923 on line drives

I sure hope he keeps it up!!

Sustainable!

Some of those well-hit balls will turn into homeruns.

lailaihei - April 19, 2010 reply

You're right

maybe he’ll finish the year hitting 1.000 on line drives

Two Rs and Two Ls - April 19, 2010 reply

If he maintains his ~.500 BABIP he certainly will!

EnglishMariner - April 20, 2010 reply

People are funny.

cwel87 - April 20, 2010 reply

I was at the game...

and holy crap, if the ball is hit anywhere within the area code of Chone Figgins, he’s going to make a ridiculously nice play.

Between Figgins, Kotchman and Wilson

Our infield defense is seriously upgraded over last year, even taking into account the loss of Beltre.

mebpenguin - April 19, 2010 reply

Lopez is doing a lot better than I imagined at 3B.

JBell523 - April 19, 2010 reply

Lopez at 3b > Lopez at 2b. Figgins is looking Gold Glovish. Wilson is Wilson. Kotchman makes everything extra fine by scooping the misses

Best infield in baseball?

JonBBT has a post asking this exact question over at Pro Ball NW.

Link.

I'd guess Tampa Bay's up there due to Longoria and Bartlett

But I’m not sure how Reid Brignac is

Or Sean Rodriguez

Pena is the real deal at first.

thehemogoblin - April 19, 2010 reply

My eyes tell me the same.

I wasn’t a big fan of the position switch at first, but I’m pretty much over it after watching Lopez for a couple of weeks.

I still don’t think his arm is good enough to justify all the talk of it being a “strength” at third, but then again, I’ve been watching Adrian Beltre for five years.

Lopez's arm is definitely above average. The problem is aim, but that's what Kotch is there for.

It makes me have a flashback every once in a while

to when Betancourt would somehow sail one over Sexson’s head. That said, I think Lopez is taking to 3B pretty great.

Edgar for Pres - April 20, 2010 reply

Lopez's arm is definitely stronger than Figgins'.

It may not be a “strength” in the way that Beltre’s armcannon was, but it’s all about maximizing your assets and minimizing your deficiencies.

He's so awkward when he moves more than two steps, he runs straight legged or something.

Kermit. - April 19, 2010 reply

He doesn't have to move more than two steps as often compared to 2B

Hot corner = faster balls, so reaction speed is more a factor as opposed to movement speed. Keeps him awake AND he doesn’t have to run. Win Win.

Thanks.

Kermit. - April 19, 2010 reply

I don't know if another Mariners player has flummoxed me more than Jose Lopez.

I feel like people who love him are delusional, as are people who hate him. I can’t even decide if I want to trade him or hold him hostage as an underrated value.

He’s just an average, boring guy. But he’s very creative in how he chooses to bore me.

Word up

Jose Lopez is going to win MVP this year

or get DFA'ed

Or traded.

Or play like a roughly league average player.

joof - April 19, 2010 reply

I'd say this is far and away the most likely scenario

No, I'm pretty sure it's the MVP one.

joof - April 20, 2010 reply

I am full on board with this.

I just really want him to either win an MVP or fuck off. I know it’s not fair, because he’s a perfectly valuable player who gets ripped on all the time, but god dammit I want to have an opinion. And I can’t muster one when he keeps getting base hits and playing OK defense and making up for his shitty OBP with a solid SLG.

He has, thus far in the season, remedied that solid SLG.

abender20 - April 20, 2010 reply

Teej is much more eloquent than I can manage, but I'm on board with wanting an opinion.

Or voicing one, whichever. Personally the only surprise thus far has been his defense at 3B. The thing about his awkward movement… I don’t trust my visual process with him at all. His movements are so visually unappealing I’m convinced it clouds my judgment of his abilities. This is one of those situations where it’s best (for me) to go with my initial instinct that he’s a serviceable defensive 3B and check back after the dust settles.

Kermit. - April 20, 2010 reply

+/- thought he blew a bunch of plays early in the season,

but now they have him at +6(!?) dRS overall

seattlebruin - April 20, 2010 reply

Ugh

seattlebruin - April 20, 2010 reply

Awesome victory, BUT.....

Wilson and Griffey being aggressive on the base paths = what the fuck?!?

Lopez and Johnson sucked per usual at the plate, but man, FISTER. Yup, he can definitely stay.

Baltimore is garbage and if we don’t sweep this shit, I’ll be very sad.

sanford_and_son - April 19, 2010 reply

So I was in section 108 in RF. That ball Kotchman hit for the HR was SMOKED. He is on a roll right now!

kentroyals5 - April 19, 2010 reply

.

JAH - April 19, 2010 reply

Never thought I'd see a Battletech reference here

JLC - April 20, 2010 reply

So, what's the headline in the Times tomorrow?

How great would it be if Fister were a homerun hitter. "Fister goes deep"

I chuckled. Now I feel so dirty.

And it's even funnier if you think about it in a sexual way.

Like if someone were to put an entire fist into a woman’s vagina.

Oh God, this is going to become a new meme, isn't it?

jokes about “fisting” because Fister’s name sounds like that.

I can't believe it took so long.

I think you may have missed something.

Phil Hatzenbuehler - April 20, 2010 reply

Woosh.

You should challenge them to Fistercuffs.

Slica - April 20, 2010 reply

Luckily, I'm sure we won't run it into the ground

Gihyou - April 20, 2010 reply

That's not even physically possible

Poochie - April 20, 2010 reply

Once he inevitably finishes out a full 9 innings...

Fearless Frog - April 19, 2010 reply

Fister Goes the Distance.

For the first time in his young career Fister finishes what he started. Fister on his performance “[…] well you know the first few innings I just wanted to find a groove and I hit it until the later innings. I was tired and I just tried focusing on getting out of the jam but I stuck in there and when I was finished I was satisfied with my outing” Johnson on Fister’s performance “There was tons of movement tonight and I had trouble keeping up. I mean he just comes in on ya with his delivery.”

That is fucking amazing.

For like 3 seconds, I didn’t completely hate Johnson.

Johnson about any pitcher: His pitches had a lot of movement, I had a hard time keeping up.

Aaaaaand we're back.

Fuck you Rob.

Yes!

Fearless Frog - April 19, 2010 reply

Royal Navy is at sea as new ash cloud advances