Series Preview: Seattle Mariners @ Cleveland Indians

by Matthew on Aug 13, 2010 11:30 AM PDT in Seattle Mariners Previews

Seattle: 44-71
Cleveland: 48-67

	MARINERS	Δ Ms	INDIANS	EDGE
HITTING (wOBA)	-137.5 (30th)	-6.9	-37.7 (25th)	Cleveland
FIELDING (UZR)	14.2 (10th)	0.0	-37.3 (30th)	Seattle
ROTATION (tRA)	8.3 (17th)	4.1	-41.0 (24th)	Seattle
BULLPEN (tRA)	-26.2 (29th)	1.9	-26.8 (27th)	Cleveland
OVERALL(RAA)	-141.2 (27th)	-0.9	-142.8 (28th)	SEATTLE

Holy ghosts and aliens! We're better than a team! This is like unprecedented territory.

There's been idle chatter about which of these two cities is more sports cursed after the leaving of LeBron James for Miami with the dagger being announced on a prime time special. An unprecedented event except for that time that Ken Griffey Jr, arguably as big a star in Seattle as James was in Cleveland, went on TV and announced that he wanted to be traded and only to Cincinnati thereby destroying any leverage the team had in negotiations.

Anyways, the popular catchphrase used when discussing the luck or fate of these two cities is to say something along the lines of "God hates <city>". I don't know about God, but I do know that Ichiro Suzuki hates Cleveland. That's close enough.

Fri Aug 13, 16:05: David Pauley vs. Fausto Carmona

Sat Aug 14, 16:05: Jason Vargas* vs. Mitch Talbot

Sun Aug 15, 10:05: Felix Hernandez vs. Justin Masterson

Boy I hope you like seeing our hitters hit ground balls. These three Indian pitchers are nearly all result clones of each other. Masterson somehow manages to get whiffs with his fastball, but overall none of them are all that proficient at getting strikeout or avoiding walks. Masterson has the highest strikeout to walk rate of the three, and of anyone in the Indians' rotation, at 1.7. Of the four pitchers on the Mariners with at least 100 innings pitched Jason Vargas has the smallest K/BB rate. It's 2.3. This would be a great series for Chone Figgins to draw something like seven walks.

David Pauley

Jason Vargas

Felix Hernandez

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	45%	90	20	55	30
Change	16%	82	75	35	25
Curve	15%	77	75	20	65
Sinker	13%	89	20	75	70
Slider	10%	83	70	80	70
Overall	--	--	55	45	50

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	41%	87	50	35	30
Sinker	25%	86	30	65	40
Change	24%	80	75	70	35
Slider	6%	83	20	30	40
Overall	--	--	55	60	30

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	69%	94	75	60	75
Curve	13%	83	60	50	75
Change	10%	88	75	75	80
Slider	8%	87	75	65	75
Overall	--	--	75	65	75

Fausto Carmona

Mitch Talbot

Justin Masterson

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	75%	93	55	30	80
Change	13%	86	70	75	80
Slider	12%	86	30	25	75
Overall	--	--	40	35	80

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Sinker	56%	91	30	50	55
Change	19%	80	70	35	65
Fastball	15%	91	20	45	75
Slider	10%	85	25	55	75
Overall	--	--	30	35	75

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	70%	91	70	40	80
Slider	23%	83	65	45	65
Change	8%	85	30	30	70
Overall	--	--	65	40	80

0 recs | 11 comments

Comments

So you're saying Jose Lopez might get some chances to pick up some walks this series?

seattlebruin - August 13, 2010 reply

33 to go!

urchman - August 13, 2010 reply

Good Gravy.

ThundaPC - August 13, 2010 reply

The Indians are just all around terrible.

At least we have good starting pitchers and defense.

Kirk - August 13, 2010 reply

SWEEP!

sanford_and_son - August 13, 2010 reply

As funny as Ichiro's quote is, I'm curious to know what exactly it is about going to Cleveland that he doesn't like.

The city proper of Cleveland is actually quite nice. Progressive Field is also a great place to watch a game, at least in my view.

flashbeak - August 13, 2010 reply

Hmmm...how long were you there?

I was there for school for several years, and while I’d agree that the reputation is worse than the reality, I wouldn’t say it’s truly a ~~nice~~ city. There are basically two nice parts of Cleveland—downtown and University Circle. Between those, you’ve got some nice restaurants, the stadiums, the concert hall (Severance Hall+the Cleveland Orchestra are amazing), the remarkably good art museum, and a couple nice parks. The rest of the city, I’d take a pass. The economy is in the toilet, and has been for the better part of the decade (at least). The crime is very high, and the weather is awful. Where I went to school, the local businesses at the job fairs had to work REALLY hard to convince the good prospects to stay in town for a job.

Rachmaninoff - August 13, 2010 reply

I've only visited twice: once to visit a friend, and once to see the ballpark while my Dad was on business. So you would know much better than I do.

I’ve heard that the crime is a problem in some areas, the economy is a mess, and that the population has been reduced in half since 1950. However, during both of my visits, I spent nearly the entire trip downtown. The downtown seemed really tranquile, really clean, and every restaurant I ate at was just otherworldly. Plus, with the stadiums, the art museum (which I agree was outstanding), and the Rock + Roll Hall of Fame, etc., there seems to be a fair amount of offerings for tourists. I can’t really complain about the weather because I live in the northeast. I also go to school in the ever-so dilapidating Hartford, so pretty much everywhere looks like a shining beacon of progress in comparison.

flashbeak - August 13, 2010 reply