Series Preview: Seattle Mariners @ San Diego Padres

by Matthew on Jun 11, 2010 4:04 PM PDT in Seattle Mariners Previews

Seattle: 23-37
San Diego: 35-25

	MARINERS	Δ Ms	PADRES	EDGE
HITTING (wOBA)	-57.9 (28th)	-9.4	-14.6 (24th)	San Diego
FIELDING (UZR)	7.4 (11th)	0.0	26.2 (2nd))	San Deigo
ROTATION (tRA)	-3.7 (18th)	-4.5	1.5 (18th)	San Diego
BULLPEN (tRA)	-7.5 (22nd)	2.4	23.9 (3rd)	San Diego
OVERALL(RAA)	-61.7	-11.5	37.0	SAN DIEGO

That was a thorough whopping. Frankly, the Felix game was my Waterloo when it came to caring about 2010. I held on when we gave Ian Snell an early lead because winning that game would have negated the Felix loss, but alas no.

Honestly, I've been trying to come up with something more substantial to write here for the past three hours and I've got nothing. This team needs a break. Well, it needs to win, but I'm not confident the team can win right now. I fear they are stuck in one of those vicious self-cycles where the losing begets clubhouse problems which in turn increases the odds for more losing. It needs something to stop that. Wins always work, but sometimes a break can as help as well. It would at least help the mental side of things. Unfortunately, the breaks are less likely to manifestly appear out of nowhere than some wins.

I am reminded of the final TV episode of Firefly. A guest character speaks the very final line of dialogue in the series as he is left behind to float aimlessly in space. Eventual death assured, he states with resignation "Well, here I am." Well, here we are Mariner fans.

Fri Jun 11, 19:05: Jason Vargas* vs. Kevin Correia

Sat Jun 12, 17:35: Cliff Lee* vs. Wade LeBlanc*

Sun Jun 13, 13:05: Felix Hernandez vs. Clayton Richard*

None of the Padres' three starters is all that intimidating but really nobody they have in the rotation is intimidating in the way Cliff Lee is and Felix Hernandez usually is. The Padres have an entire bullpen though that's scary for opposing teams.

At this point, I would start marking down scheduled Cliff Lee starts on the calendar because you will never know when he's going to be sent packing. Given the effective rumor killing nature of our front office, do not expect there to be a long drawn out media circus. I fully anticipate the news just breaking across Twitter some afternoon. In fact, I haven't checked Twitter for the last couple hours. Let me make sure Cliff Lee is still a Mariner. Yep, looks clear.

There's also other people involved in this series, but I can't summon any care right now. This week sucks.

Jason Vargas

Cliff Lee

Felix Hernandez

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	48%	87	50	35	30
Sinker	21%	86	30	50	30
Change	21%	80	80	75	35
Slider	7%	82	20	40	45
Overall	--	--	50	45	25

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	58%	90	70	80	45
Change	14%	83	55	75	55
Sinker	14%	90	50	80	40
Curve	8%	76	55	50	80
Slider	6%	85	30	80	45
Overall	--	--	55	80	45

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	68%	94	75	60	75
Slider	12%	88	75	65	75
Curve	12%	83	60	45	70
Change	9%	87	70	70	80
Overall	--	--	75	65	80

Kevin Correia

Wade LeBlanc

Clayton Richard

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	44%	90	60	45	50
Slider	35%	85	35	70	55
Curve	7%	76	35	35	60
Change	7%	84	45	20	75
Sinker	7%	90	55	45	60
Overall	--	--	55	50	55

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	53%	86	40	30	30
Change	28%	75	65	50	45
Slider	10%	81	40	70	25
Curve	6%	73	20	30	25
Overall	--	--	50	35	30

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	46%	91	40	55	65
Sinker	25%	89	60	55	60
Change	14%	83	55	45	75
Slider	11%	83	40	25	40
Overall	--	--	45	40	70

1 recs | 37 comments

Comments

Enjoy Cliff while we can.

Damn shame we couldn’t put together a team that made it tempting for him to stay.

Thingray - June 11, 2010 reply

Maybe he actually likes losing?

I mean, he’s always smiling.. maybe losing brings him joy!

A man can dream I suppose

d0nkey - June 11, 2010 reply

Firefly is great

Let’s talk about Firefly some more because frankly, it gives me much more joy than talking about the Mariners.

Unfortunately, for me watching Cliff Lee right now is like petting an aging, cancer-riddled pet. You derive joy from it, but also endure a horrible sadness in the pit of your stomach because you know the clock is ticking.

HititHere - June 11, 2010 reply

I thought you were going to say Cliff Lee is like Firefly

Makes sense

Karma Police - June 11, 2010 reply

"What do you MEAN we only get 1 season??!"

“Awwwwwww!”

HititHere - June 11, 2010 reply

Half a Season

Which may be more accurate in any case..

Drew_D - June 11, 2010 reply

Lee, the man they call Lee

He was traded from the good
And sent to the bad
Stood up to big bats
Which his team didn’t have
Our love for him now
It’s easy to see
The hero of SoDo
The man they call Lee

Our Lee saw the Mariners’ backs breakin’
He saw the diehards’ lament
And he saw division rivals takin’
Every pennant with no chance to contend
So he said “you can’t do that to this city”
He said “you can’t crush them under your heel”
So Lee strapped on his hat
And in 5 seconds flat
He’d face three up, three down – no big deal

He was traded from the good
And sent to the bad
Stood up to big bats
Which his team didn’t have
Our love for him now
It’s easy to see
The hero of SoDo
The man they call Lee

Now here is what separates Cy Youngs
From common folk like Hyphen and Snell
The man they call Lee
When his run support did flee
Never wavered, just kept throwin’ well
He struck out the Rangers
He struck out the Rays
The man they called Lee
He stole away our pain
Then we sent him away to brighter days

Traded from the bad
Sent back to the good
Where he’ll finally win games
Like we wish we could
Our love for him now
Still easy to see
The hero of SoDo
The man they call Lee

seattlecougar - June 11, 2010 reply

I think I have something in my eye.

skjes - June 11, 2010 via mobile reply

Our three best starters against a lineup not quite as pathetic as ours? I think we can win all three. Our offense has to be due now. Especially with Vargas batting.

joey90 - June 11, 2010 reply

Petco is a very nice park.

Kenneth Arthur - June 11, 2010 reply

Figgins back in the #2 hole

http://twitpic.com/1vxqon

Benne - June 11, 2010 reply

Gross.

Seriously, though. Glad to see him back up there. He’s been performing better lately, and I’d love to see what he and Ichiro can do when they’re both performing at their best.

JLProck - June 11, 2010 reply

I kind of liked him in the 9-hole in front of Ichiro, but with pitchers batting, he needed to be moved somewhere. I just hope he stops GIDP everytime Ichiro gets on.

joey90 - June 11, 2010 reply

Players hopping up and down this lineup like fleas is wearing a bit thin though.

What was the point of putting Chone in the line up 9th for one game. Unless I’m missing something obvious here, it would appear to be not enough time to learn anything and precisely enough time to piss him off.

Kermit. - June 11, 2010 reply