Series Thread: Astros vs Mariners April 15th - 17th:

[Podunkparte]

Kelenic getting comfortable. Just missed a HR and did his job scoring a runner from 3rd with good contact.

 

[Podunkparte]

Tom Murphy has also had a good start to the season. Hitting about .500 and putting up good at bats. Would be nice if got back to his 20HR pace this year

 

[Podunkparte]

Adam Frazier was a nice addition

 

[WizardHawk]

Hell of a home opener

 

[Podunkparte]

I give Dave Sims a lot of shit, but that was great. Altuve absolutely wearing it from the crowd, goes 0-2 and Sims basically says "Should he strike out, I may not say anything and let the roar speak for itself."

Nasty slider whiffs the cheating midget and Dave is a man of his word. Great moment.

 

[cezero]

I think I like this team. wish we had a better infield.

 

[PolarVortex]

I fucking hate the shift. Glad they are taking it out next year, wish it was this season.

Future impacts from a reined in shift? Fewer homeruns, fewer strikeouts, higher batting averages. Dead pull hitters will no longer try to beat the shift by hitting over it. Well, some still will, but they may see their career cut short. The era of the one-dimensional power hitter is coming to an end, thank God.

Could ultimately lead to fewer injured pitching arms too. Pitchers will no longer feel the need to throw 100 mph 4-seamers to the 7th, 8th, and 9th hitters in the lineup.

 

[PolarVortex]

I give Dave Sims a lot of shit, but that was great. Altuve absolutely wearing it from the crowd, goes 0-2 and Sims basically says "Should he strike out, I may not say anything and let the roar speak for itself."

Nasty slider whiffs the cheating midget and Dave is a man of his word. Great moment.

Yeah, but in today's PC world, Sims' mocking Altuve's accent might get him in hot water. Blowers couldn't have done that and gotten away with it, but Sims might.

 

[Podunkparte]

I think I like this team. wish we had a better infield.

Yeah, I'll be interested to see how Frazier handles the tougher plays at 2nd, and I'm sure Suarez will cost a few runs defensively, but if he puts 35 balls in the seats with runners on, he can make up for it.

 

[PolarVortex]

I think I like this team. wish we had a better infield.

They are easier to like when they score 11 runs. Coming into this game, I think France and Crawford were the only regulars hitting over .200. And they weren't exactly facing stellar pitching nor were they playing in pitcher's ballparks in Minnesota and Chicago.

Kelenic is too intense. Kid needs to relax. Julio is just over-eager. He'll settle in. I'm not sure Kelenic ever will.

Good to see Saurez go deep to the opposite field in 45-degree weather. That's a good sign. He may not have another 49-homer season in him but he'll be better than he was last year.

 

[NWinAZ]

Very good win in all aspects. Now let's see how tomorrow goes. History is not on Mariners side the game after they score a ton of runs.

 

[NWinAZ]

Kelenic is too intense. Kid needs to relax. Julio is just over-eager. He'll settle in. I'm not sure Kelenic ever will.

 

[NWinAZ]

 

[Podunkparte]

Very good win in all aspects. Now let's see how tomorrow goes. History is not on Mariners side the game after they score a ton of runs.

We'll see, but Verlander is a future Hall of Famer too, so I won't be going nuclear if he gets the best of us.

We did a pretty good job of making their pen work tonight, so the gameplan should be to keep it close and hopefully leverage that into some late runs.

 

[MarinersBestFan]

Agree 100% on GONEzales - he is a turd. Never pitches with any intensity, cannot locate consistently ( watch how far the catcher moves his mitt to receive all his pitches ) and he constantly serves up cookies that get jacked for HR's by missing up in the zone.

Note to self* Blast on Gonzalez before every start

Because he pitched like a very solid #2 rotation man last nite. Yea he had a nice little run cushion to work with ... but he hit his spots and worked his way thru a pretty solid 'Stros line up a few times and looked pretty damn good. I will tip my cap where it's warranted. And gladly eat crow if the end result is a M's win.

Julio is going to see less and less 1st pitch fastball strikes until he learns to quit coming out of his shoes swinging at the 1st offering every at bat.
Its a nice looking hack, but they are pitching him down and away off speed on every 1st pitch and he is whiffing right thru it.
He is going to hit a lot of HRs with that big powerful swing of his. But it's a work in progress to not fall behind so quickly in every ab.

 

[WizardHawk]

And they weren't exactly facing stellar pitching nor were they playing in pitcher's ballparks in Minnesota and Chicago.

To be fair, they were playing in terrible weather in most of those. Pouring down rain that should have been postponed, crazy wind, very cold, etc. Maybe things would have been different if their opening road trip was through Texas or So Cal.

Even last night, how many balls did you see hit hard that even Simms thought was going yard tailed off well short in the cooler temps? We were kind of lucky that Houston is kind of not great in the outfield, at least in that game. They missed so many well short of the wall and not exactly fully in the gaps.

 

[WizardHawk]

It wasn't actually that fast, but still he gave it his all, like he always does on all things.

 

[WizardHawk]

Hmm, hope it was only him. How was the rest of the team not exposed considering how close they all are in the dugouts and whatnot.

 

[WizardHawk]

Haniger apparently didn't feel well after the game last night and took a home test that came out positive, then was tested at the facility this morning with a confirming positive.

Impact for tonight? Basically it puts Toro in the lineup instead of him with the shifts around. Suarez at DH, kelenic in RF, Toro at 3rd.

 

[NWinAZ]

Haniger apparently didn't feel well after the game last night and took a home test that came out positive, then was tested at the facility this morning with a confirming positive.

Impact for tonight? Basically it puts Toro in the lineup instead of him with the shifts around. Suarez at DH, kelenic in RF, Toro at 3rd.