Series Thread: M's vs Astros May 22-25

[Mariners_44]

I wasn't referencing your post. If I were, I would have quoted it.

 

[cezero]

Alright time for Iwakuma to finish off this series for us. This is the lineup I want to see for today

1. CF James Jones
2. DH Nick Franklin
3. 2B Robinson Cano
4. 1B Justin Smoak
5. 3B Kyle Seager
6. C Mike Zunino
7. RF Michael Saunders
8. LF Dustin Ackley
9. SS Brad Miller

Kuma vs Keuchel should be good.

Keuchel threw almost 130 pitches in his last win over the potent Angels lineup. All M's fans can do is hope the extra day of rest they gave him by trotting out a nobody pitcher yesterday (who dominated the feeble M's) isn't enough.

In his last 3 starts, all of which were wins, Keuchel has dominated the Tigers and the Angels, thrown a complete game shutout against the Rangers, and thrown over 100 pitches in each of those starts. He pitched through 25.1 innings out of the 27.

We all know what Iwakuma can do, so it should be a fun game to watch for everybody except the batters in both lineups.

 

[cezero]

M's Lineup (Kuma pitching)
1. James Jones (L) CF
2. Stefen Romero (R) DH
3. Robinson Cano (L) 2B
4. Justin Smoak (S) 1B
5. Kyle Seager (L) 3B
6. Mike Zunino (R) C
7. Michael Saunders (L) RF
8. Cole Gillespie (R) LF
9. Brad Miller (L) SS

Astros Lineup (Keuchel Pitching)
1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
2. George Springer (R) RF
3. Dexter Fowler (S) CF
4. Jason Castro (L) DH
5. Matt Dominguez (R) 3B
6. Marc Krauss (L) 1B
7. Alex Presley (L) LF
8. Carlos Corporan (S) C
9. Marwin Gonzalez (S) SS

 

[EVille3]

M's Lineup (Kuma pitching)
1. James Jones (L) CF
2. Stefen Romero (R) DH
3. Robinson Cano (L) 2B
4. Justin Smoak (S) 1B
5. Kyle Seager (L) 3B
6. Mike Zunino (R) C
7. Michael Saunders (L) RF
8. Cole Gillespie (R) LF
9. Brad Miller (L) SS

Astros Lineup (Keuchel Pitching)
1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
2. George Springer (R) RF
3. Dexter Fowler (S) CF
4. Jason Castro (L) DH
5. Matt Dominguez (R) 3B
6. Marc Krauss (L) 1B
7. Alex Presley (L) LF
8. Carlos Corporan (S) C
9. Marwin Gonzalez (S) SS

Why would Lloyd take Saunders out of the 2 hole? He has been hitting great there.

 

[johnfree63]

Alright time for Iwakuma to finish off this series for us. This is the lineup I want to see for today

1. CF James Jones
2. DH Nick Franklin
3. 2B Robinson Cano
4. 1B Justin Smoak
5. 3B Kyle Seager
6. C Mike Zunino
7. RF Michael Saunders
8. LF Dustin Ackley
9. SS Brad Miller

You want to see a player with player with a lower OPS then Ackley bat cleanup?

 

[johnfree63]

M's Lineup (Kuma pitching)
1. James Jones (L) CF
2. Stefen Romero (R) DH
3. Robinson Cano (L) 2B
4. Justin Smoak (S) 1B
5. Kyle Seager (L) 3B
6. Mike Zunino (R) C
7. Michael Saunders (L) RF
8. Cole Gillespie (R) LF
9. Brad Miller (L) SS

Astros Lineup (Keuchel Pitching)
1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
2. George Springer (R) RF
3. Dexter Fowler (S) CF
4. Jason Castro (L) DH
5. Matt Dominguez (R) 3B
6. Marc Krauss (L) 1B
7. Alex Presley (L) LF
8. Carlos Corporan (S) C
9. Marwin Gonzalez (S) SS

Still no Franklin and they have Smoak's .701 OPS batting cleanup. I don't normally get bent out of shape with the lineups but it's a wonder how the M's have stayed around .500 with these kinds of lineups.

 

[SeattleCoug]

M's Lineup (Kuma pitching)
1. James Jones (L) CF
2. Stefen Romero (R) DH
3. Robinson Cano (L) 2B
4. Justin Smoak (S) 1B
5. Kyle Seager (L) 3B
6. Mike Zunino (R) C
7. Michael Saunders (L) RF
8. Cole Gillespie (R) LF
9. Brad Miller (L) SS

Astros Lineup (Keuchel Pitching)
1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
2. George Springer (R) RF
3. Dexter Fowler (S) CF
4. Jason Castro (L) DH
5. Matt Dominguez (R) 3B
6. Marc Krauss (L) 1B
7. Alex Presley (L) LF
8. Carlos Corporan (S) C
9. Marwin Gonzalez (S) SS

Appartently its a rule that if a lefty is pitching Romero must bat 2nd. I dont get the Franklin thing either. Had 1 bad game and is forced to sit three times in row

 

[Logicallylethal]

You want to see a player with player with a lower OPS then Ackley bat cleanup?

Well it's not ideal, but who else would bat cleanup? Smoak bats cleanup by default, because he can switch hit. If we threw in Saunders in the 2 hole and Seager in the 4 hole, we'd have 4 consecutive lefties.

I don't understand why Franklin isn't getting any playing time. He's a switch hitter!!! And it's not like Romero is on fire either, he hasn't had a hit all series.

 

[cezero]

Franklin is an undisciplined hack at the plate.

5 strikeouts in 10 at bats since coming back.

The difference between starting him and starting another terrible hitter on the team is negligible.

 

[NWinAZ]

Again, how does he hit .371 in Tacoma? I see him as a hack as well and would deal him for the best OF or SP offer given. I would take the chance he doesn't develop for anyone else but if he did I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 

[johnfree63]

Franklin is an undisciplined hack at the plate.

5 strikeouts in 10 at bats since coming back.

The difference between starting him and starting another terrible hitter on the team is negligible.

He might just be a AAAA player but we won't know unless they play him. He walked at a 17% clip in Tacoma this year so I would assume he has a good idea of the strike zone.

 

[cezero]

He might just be a AAAA player but we won't know unless they play him. He walked at a 17% clip in Tacoma this year so I would assume he has a good idea of the strike zone.

The people who keep bringing up AAA numbers in here really don't understand anything. They're facing pitchers who throw a lot more fastballs in the strike zone in hitter's counts. Why? Because most of the time they can get away with it. Franklin can hit fast balls in the strike zone really well, and can sit on those pitches at AAA because he'll get them a ton. That's what to take away from his AAA numbers.

Any attempts at trying to create other correlations with big league plays is moronic.

I'm fine with playing him every day through the end of the season. It makes about a 1% difference with this glorified AAA hitting team with better than average pitching.

 

[cezero]

Again, how does he hit .371 in Tacoma?

they get a lot more fastballs in the middle of the plate in hitter's counts, and can sit on them.

big league pitchers just don't do that very often. they throw curves, sliders, and changes in those counts. it takes time to adjust for AAA hitters, but it's a big red flag when they strike out on those pitches routinely like franklin does.

 

[cezero]

Just looking at the whiff rates for both Miller and Franlin, I think Miller has a bit more potential to develop.

Franklin

Miller

 

[johnfree63]

The people who keep bringing up AAA numbers in here really don't understand anything. They're facing pitchers who throw a lot more fastballs in the strike zone in hitter's counts. Why? Because most of the time they can get away with it. Franklin can hit fast balls in the strike zone really well, and can sit on those pitches at AAA because he'll get them a ton. That's what to take away from his AAA numbers.

Any attempts at trying to create other correlations with big league plays is moronic.

I'm fine with playing him every day through the end of the season. It makes about a 1% difference with this glorified AAA hitting team with better than average pitching.

He's also walking 10% of the time in his MLB career which is higher then league average. He knows the strike zone. He needs to adjust to MLB pitching and he's not going to be able to do that on the bench.

 

[Destroydacre]

The Mariners have someone mashing in AAA and call him up and sit his ass on the bench? Imagine that...

 

[NWinAZ]

they get a lot more fastballs in the middle of the plate in hitter's counts, and can sit on them.

big league pitchers just don't do that very often. they throw curves, sliders, and changes in those counts. it takes time to adjust for AAA hitters, but it's a big red flag when they strike out on those pitches routinely like franklin does.

I agree that is part of it, but it doesn't explain all of it. I mean if this was all true, then why didn't a guy like Peguaro, a great fastball hitter, hit .300+ with 30+ homers every minor league year? He struck out 150+ times 3 times and they all couldn't be on fastballs down the middle.

I mean if he was hitting .310 or so I could see the difference, but .371 shows he is better than what we are seeing and it all can't be due to MLB pitching.

 

[johnfree63]

Just looking at the whiff rates for both Miller and Franlin, I think Miller has a bit more potential to develop.

Franklin

Miller

Franklin has almost 1000 more professional PAs then Miller. He's going have more opportunities to K. Miller has constantly struck out more and walked less.

 

[kcden]

On the M's/Astros series topic, how the fuck is Dexter Fowler regularly hitting in the three-hole for an MLB team?

 

[NWinAZ]

I know you all hate hearing this on here, but Cano has no range. And why does he play in the dirt instead of on the grass giving him a better angle? Sorry, but $240M should play defense like Pedroia (balls out).