Bats hot? Shit man, they couldn't hit AAA pitching with runners in scoring position. Smoak has got to go. Another whiff in run scoring situation before Morales bailed them out with the go ahead hit. What are they in the last week with RISP? Maybe .100 with 80000 Ks? Just truly brutal with the bats. Felix was awesome last night though, that's for sure.

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

Did you read my post completely? I said if we could just start hitting with RISP we'd do well... otherwise, we've had around a .300 team batting average the past few games. Almost every player has hit. I think the only one that hasn't is Smoak.

Some people just like to bitch for the sake of bitching. Seems you have brought one of them out of the woodwork.

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

regardless... it is really freaking frustrating... i counted 0-10 with the bases load, 0-7 with the bases juiced and less than 2 outs... 1 rbi (and i think it was a fielders choice).
great that they are getting on.. now finish the job. What comes first.. we start getting them in, or we stop getting them on?

Iwakuma is a friggin STUD !

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He is at that... so 3 of 4 from the Angels... and we pitched well for the most part.

Now that we've seen Vargas.. good trade?

Don't get too excited, this Angels team is in dire trouble, think it's season over already, the Pen is absolutely shocking and the hitting is leaving a lot to be desired. Very worried.

Won't get excited about another teams failings (unless that team is the Yankees) but so far it seems as though the Ms dodged a bullet on Hamilton. We couldn't have dumped out that kind of cash for mediocre returns and ever recovered

Definitely mate, no plate discipline at all, just swinging at everything, must be on for some sort of K record. He doesn't look interested at all. Then again we were saying the same things about Pujols after his first month so willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

Scioscia on the other hand has to go. This team has been going nowhere for 3 years and the buck stops with him. Thank you for 2002 Mike but it's time to move on.

Wouldn't one of the factors in a team to be considered as having "hot" bats actually be hitting with RISP?


See above. To me a team with "hot" bats actually hits with RISP and scores more than 2 or 3 runs per game. As for bitching, it isn't to be happy cuz I am bitching. I've been watching the Mariners since thier inception in 1977 and IMO I have the right to be unhappy with the devlopement of the young players Jack Z. has brought in, ESPECIALLY Smoak. Settling for mediocrity as a fanbase will perpetuate it even longer.

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

Well, if you had read my post completely, you'd see that RISP wasn't factored into me calling them "hot" bats. Regardless, I think simply a high batting average does constitute the usage of the term.

Another good win!

I've ALMOST forgiven them for not giving me a beard hat the other day.

win 1 of the next 2 and you're at 13-17, not where you want to be but better than it was looking as if to be

Really excited to see what Maurer does today!

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http://personal-spectrum.com/

Last night's attendance: 9818. Apparently people are voting on the state of this franchise with their wallets. Still hopeful of a .500 season this year. For that to happen the hole in the middle of the lineup that is Justin Smoak must be filled IMO.

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

CF Guti
RF Saunders
LF Chavez/Bay/Ibanez
1B Morales
2B Ackley
SS Andino/Ryan
3B Seager
C Montero/Shoppach
DH Morse

I think that is a pretty good lineup there.

Well, we must all must remember that it wasn't long ago that the M's had the best record in all of Major League Baseball.

Welp the M's get my depressing Blue Jays this weekend - including Felix vs a guy who was just called up yesterday - so enjoy the series win.

I am hoping that this is not your preferred batting order...

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

You do realize that he has been hitting fairly consistently lately and has raised his batting average to .245, right? He is not the gaping hole that he once was.

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

Oh, definitely not lol. I shouldn't have called it a lineup, I guess.

Smoak and Ackley have been gradually creeping back up. It's good to see. Let's hope it's not just a fluke and they can keep it up. Smoak has been drawing walks, too, which is nice, though he still K's too often.

Saunders has really come on and started to hit like he was projected to.

I think the biggest problem that I have with Smoak now that he is hitting and walking is that he is not hitting with RISP. One step at a time though.

Another win today and only two games under .500

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

yeah curry, im almost rooting for him like i would my son in little league. He's honestly 0-4 with the bases loaded alone in the past 2 weeks. he seems to be having more faith in his approach, but i would for it to translate to a big hit in a clutch situation.

maurer tomorrow.

Tell your son to loosen up and stop thinking so much. He's probably just phyching himself out when he gets to the plate with the bases loaded.

I was gonna ask, who are we talking about, Smoak or your son? lol.

There's a pretty strong argument to be made that 'clutch' hitting is as much a product of random fluctuation and small sample size as anything. There's certainly some athletes who do better under pressure than others, but if someone is generally hitting well across the board, but doesn't happen to come through 'in the clutch,' I don't think that necessarily means anything. There's generally only a couple high leverage at-bats per game, if that, small sample size, yadda yadda.

doesnt help that i'm screaming "hit a grand slam or no dinner!'

He is hitting the ball hard enough right now where some of those will find space with runners on.

I believe it is Saunders tomorrow not Mauer.

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

There is good ole Saunders getting shelled today. He has not even obtained one out in the second inning and has given up two runs and at least five hits by my count.

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

Saunders is getting worked over by the ump pretty good. When you are a location pitcher and the ump isn't giving you anything it makes it extremely difficult. With that said, Saunders has not exactly earned the calls either.

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

Id rather have beaven...

Maybe 5-8 more starts for saunders before walker or hultzen is up?

I would give him five max. His stat line is horrible. I know that they will likely wait until June or July for the call-up to save the free agency years though. A change has to be made though. Our 3, 4, 5 pitchers leave a lot to be desired. Mauer is not horrible, so they could ride with him. At least he does not fall into the "can't teach an old dog new tricks" category.

I would like to see either Hultzen or Paxton. We have to get a left in the starting rotation somewhere.

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

I would rather Hultzen gets the call. I've never been one to buy into the lefty vs. righty crap. Felix is a righty and he can retire any batter in MLB through his mastery of a half dozen pitches, and ability to throw a few others as well. The need for lefties in the lineup is overstated, at least for starting pitchers. What I like about Hultzen is his ability to throw decent heat, along with an array of strikeout pitches such as his changeup, 2 seamer, and slider. I would like to see he and Walker called up this season as after Felix and Iwakuma, our starting pitching rotation makes me pine for the likes of Jason Vargas.

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Feel free to contact me if you need legal assistance. I have a great lawyer that helped me with an ex who violated my privacy and kept harassing me on MySpace and Facebook. He's very good. And there is legal precedent. - linuxpro

He is hold back the legion of boom - skater18000

What?! You say the lefty thing is overrated and then use one of the best pitchers in the game to demonstrate why it is not necessary like somehow Hernandez, Verlander, and the like grow on trees.

Pining for Vargus? I will not miss that guy. He would eat up innings, but was largely helped by Safeco if I remember correctly. He has had two good starts in a row for LAA, but was getting hammered before running into the buzz saw offense of Seattle, and the struggling Orioles.

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

Felix isn't the only dominant RHP in the game. Success as a starter seems to have more to do with how many pitches you can throw well, knowing when to throw them, rather than which hand those pitches are coming from. Lefty vs. righty may become an issue when your relievers start hitting the mound, and they only have one or two pitches at their disposal. Take Carter Capps for example. He's probably our best middle reliever, but he only throws two pitches, so they have to take him out versus left handed bats.

For starting pitchers, it really shouldn't matter whether they are left or right handed. Eventually every starter works through the rotation, and most starters will sit in a game until at least the 5th inning, meaning the quality of their pitches matters more than which hand is hurling those pitches.

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Feel free to contact me if you need legal assistance. I have a great lawyer that helped me with an ex who violated my privacy and kept harassing me on MySpace and Facebook. He's very good. And there is legal precedent. - linuxpro

He is hold back the legion of boom - skater18000

I think the issue with your argument is that most starting pitchers are not anywhere near the talent level of Felix, Verlander, and any other supremely talented player. For those SPs who are in the middle, handedness vs batters does become a factor. I won't get into quoting numbers, but handedness isn't a myth, and it does apply to starters as well. If a pitcher is good enough, he can certainly transcend that (as in your example of Felix), but most pitchers are still going to have handedness splits in their stats.

That's not to say that you should run out an inferior pitcher based solely on his handedness, but if you have two equally appealing options, and one of them fills a need in your rotation (so that you can work your order around to get him in there vs lineups which feature a ton of lefties, for instance), why not lean towards that one?

Angels are so bad it's beginning to depress me, another loss today, I really think we are going under .500 this year

3 hits on Sunday
5 hits on Tuesday

Will the M's turn it around today or are we headed toward another offensive slump?

I think you meant "is there a chance we'll get on a hotstreak?" 5 and 3 hit games are basically our team's average, not a slump.

Yes I find my expectations so diminished that when I look at the stat sheet and see 5 hits I think "Hmm, not bad!".

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...and with one kiss of his bicep he proved, without a shadow of doubt, that he was every bit as much of a DBag as his coach, and most of his team's fanbase. Finally, he could call himself a Niner!

We were on a hot streak prior to the last two games. Hitting about 9-10 hits per game on average for more than a week.

3 is all we need when the King is pitching...

(no but seriously, we need to hit better)

Seems to slowly but surely getting a bit better though it sure would be nice if they'd give Felix some runs on the days he starts. Is a .500 season possible?

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

I am about as positive a fan as there is and I am just about done with Saunders. Bring back Jamie Moyer !

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http://personal-spectrum.com/

if we move on from Saunders and Harang... yes.

creeping up to .500

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http://personal-spectrum.com/

Yeah, I don't get what the insistence is on running Saunders out there anymore. Beavan was better, as long as you understood that all Beavan was ever going to be was an OK 5th pitcher. I know we don't have the arms to replace Saunders and Harang right away, but at least drop one of them.

How long did we sign Iwakuma for? Two years? Wish it had been longer. It blows my mind that Wedge refused to let this guy start OR relieve early last year.