Royals @ M's 4/22-4/24

[MarinersBestFan]

In all fairness, Toro has been .242 in his time with the M's. Not great, but servicable.

The bigger questions are regarding Kelenic and JRod. Did they bring them up too fast? Would they benefit from more time in 3A? Or will this experience be a valuable asset in a few years?
JRod just looks smooth out there. He is a serious athlete. Barring injury, the bottom of his potential is pretty damn high.
But Kelenic is more concerning. I'm beginning to wonder of he can get to .240 at this point. I hope they haven't ruined him and wonder how he would react to another stint in 3A.

Julio = still getting his feet wet. I agree on his low ceiling of greatness. I see him taking way too many 1st strike fastballs ( not swinging ) Then falls behind 0-1 and next pitch is an off the plate / down & away slider he whiffs at = instant 0-2 count. That's a bad pattern and really makes it tough to put together a decent ab. This trend started the KC series. Prior to that he saw near zero 1st pitch fastballs over the plate. He will make adjustments I am certain as his raw talent is VERY apparent.

Kelenic = concern. He just looks like he is NOT having fun playing the game. Always appears sweaty face when is at bat, with this nervous look like he is about to shit out a peach seed. He just doesn't make good consistent contact spraying the ball around like a 'good' hitter should. He has great speed on the base paths and his defense is up to mlb par. But he should have big league pitching figured out by now and be putting better swings on the ball, which I am NOT seeing as I expected. A trip back down to Tacoma would Jedi Mind f*ck him even more. They gotta' keep pushing him out there to see what they have. His ceiling just may be a .260 hitter with some occasional pop for around 16-22 HRs in a season. He was touted as far more than that however. At least we got rid of Cano' and his $ liability when we acquired him.

 

[Anointed One]

It's about winning series in this league, we've won 3 in a row now... 7-2 over the last 9 games... Mid Relief is a bit of a concern but hopefully they can right that ship... Starting Pitching has been money along w/ how fast the Mariners are jumping out in front of the opposing SP's over the first 2 innings of the game... Teams offense has been lighting it up despite the struggles of the guys at the bottom of the order, JR, JK and CR...

 

[NWinAZ]

Angel Hernandez IS terrible, but to his credit he called that pitch a strike all day to both teams. He did call a strike earlier that was about 3 inches high, and that was probably his most egregious call.

Hernandez and Buckner should be in the Hall of Shame. How inept those two are yet still make great money being horrible.

 

[NWinAZ]

Angel Hernandez IS terrible, but to his credit he called that pitch a strike all day to both teams. He did call a strike earlier that was about 3 inches high, and that was probably his most egregious call.

This is laughable.