The 2016 Seattle Mariners (Official season edition)

[Sports Hernia]

I'm pretty sure that when it's all said and done we'll view Shawn O'Malley as Willie Bloomquist 2.0, but the hot streak of his as of late is certainly helping the Mariners win some ballgames.

Everything I said about Walker before the season came true, and it sucks. The evidence continues to mount that he's a good thrower, but not a good pitcher.

I love how having Diaz as our closer completely changes the feel of this baseball team. Suddenly the Mariners feel like winners again. Down 3-0 and 6-2 the past two days, never seemed to panic and always believed.

Walker in my opinion does pretty well when healthy but he has not been for about 3 months.I think he probaly is done for the year unless he goes to the pen.I noticed there was a trade with the Pirates(not sure who's going)I don't even know the guys we got.As for the game it's nice to see Cody hold the Angels for a couple while the offense came back and Diaz gets the save.I see it was KG number retired night,I hope there was a full house for that and seeing this team fight back in another game so the season still lives on.

He might still put it together, but even when healthy he's a hard pitcher to trust.

He is still young, and is still learning the mental part of pitching at the MLB Level.
As frustrating as it is you have to be patient with an arm that is that good.

 

[kearly]

He is still young, and is still learning the mental part of pitching at the MLB Level.
As frustrating as it is you have to be patient with an arm that is that good.

Might as well be patient, because I don't think the Mariners would get enough in a trade to sell on him at this point.

I just think Walker is the next Gil Meche. He gets strikeouts, but that doesn't cover for the fact that his stuff gets hit hard. His fastball is a power pitch, but it's also straight as an arrow. If the batter times his swing right, they hit it out pretty easily. We have a sample size of two seasons for Walker and in both of them he's had issues with batters hitting him hard.

I worry slightly that Diaz will have similar problems with his fastball when hitters get to see it a few times. However, Diaz's secondary pitches are so good that he will probably remain a dominant pitcher even if guys start hitting his fastball.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

He is still young, and is still learning the mental part of pitching at the MLB Level.
As frustrating as it is you have to be patient with an arm that is that good.

Might as well be patient, because I don't think the Mariners would get enough in a trade to sell on him at this point.

I just think Walker is the next Gil Meche. He gets strikeouts, but that doesn't cover for the fact that his stuff gets hit hard. His fastball is a power pitch, but it's also straight as an arrow. If the batter times his swing right, they hit it out pretty easily. We have a sample size of two seasons for Walker and in both of them he's had issues with batters hitting him hard.

I worry slightly that Diaz will have similar problems with his fastball when hitters get to see it a few times. However, Diaz's secondary pitches are so good that he will probably remain a dominant pitcher even if guys start hitting his fastball.

This.

He's Gil Meche 2.0. I mean, how much time do we have to give Taijuan? I know baseball is a much more "wait and see" approach than say football or basketball, but this is basically his 4th year in the big leagues, and his second "complete year." And both those years he will likely have an ERA north of 4. While we are waiting on Walker to pan out, there are so many better young arms in the league right now that are producing in their first few years. The kid pitching for Detroit tomorrow is phenomenal and he is a rookie. At some point I think we just have to say "he is what he is." Which is probably a middle of the order pitcher (#3 or #4).

But like Kearly said, no point in trading him now. If we were going to trade him, it should have been at the deadline last year or two years ago. If I remember correctly, we nearly traded him for David Price two years ago at the deadline. Instead we got Austin Jackson.

 

[sutz]

Paxton throwing another gem through 5.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

Paxton > Walker

 

[kearly]

Paxton just hit 98.8 MPH on his 106th pitch of the day.

If he ever develops a 3rd pitch he is going to be really good. As it is, he's still capable of looking amazing in spurts.

I'm fine with keeping Taijuan Walker around as a #3 or #4 starter for as long as he's cheap. I just don't ever think he's going to be an ace, barring some kind of transformation.

With Paxton, I still remain unsure if he is a starter long term until he develops that third pitch. But his first two pitches are so good, I completely understand the appeal of running him out there in the rotation and hoping for the best.

 

[bevellisthedevil]

Paxton going for the complete game and takes a line drive off his pitching elbow. Such is life for long suffering M's fans.

 

[kearly]

This is spectacular incompetence by Servais in the 9th inning...

Hopefully the M's get away with it.

 

[bevellisthedevil]

This is spectacular incompetence by Servais in the 9th inning...

Hopefully the M's get away with it.

Trying to protect an important arm in Diaz by having a more important arm in Paxton try to throw a complete game. I think the catcher in Servais overrides common sense for the future sometimes.

 

[Sports Hernia]

This is spectacular incompetence by Servais in the 9th inning...

Hopefully the M's get away with it.

Trying to protect an important arm in Diaz by having a more important arm in Paxton try to throw a complete game. I think the catcher in Servais overrides common sense for the future sometimes.

I'd like to jump on the bash Servais bandwagon here, but Diaz is dog tired.
His fastball yesterday was topping out at 95-96mph. Down 5-6 mph from where he usually is.
Let him rest a game and come back throwing 100+ next time out. Bad luck for Paxton, looks like he is finally turning the corner then takes one off the elbow.

 

[bevellisthedevil]

This is spectacular incompetence by Servais in the 9th inning...

Hopefully the M's get away with it.

Trying to protect an important arm in Diaz by having a more important arm in Paxton try to throw a complete game. I think the catcher in Servais overrides common sense for the future sometimes.

I'd like to jump on the bash Servais bandwagon here, but Diaz is dog tired.
His fastball yesterday was topping out at 95-96mph. Down 5-6 mph from where he usually is.
Let him rest a game and come back throwing 100+ next time out. Bad luck for Paxton, looks like he is finally turning the corner then takes one off the elbow.

Should have worded that better, I didn't want Servais to use either of them in the ninth.

 

[kearly]

I'd like to jump on the bash Servais bandwagon here, but Diaz is dog tired.
His fastball yesterday was topping out at 95-96mph. Down 5-6 mph from where he usually is.
Let him rest a game and come back throwing 100+ next time out. Bad luck for Paxton, looks like he is finally turning the corner then takes one off the elbow.

That's a fair point, though it's also fair to point out that Diaz median velocity this season is right around 96 according to PitchFX. He's been throwing EXTRA hard the past week or so but we should not expect him to be throwing 100 MPH every time he goes out there. Closers have to be able to go out there every night there's a closing opportunity and not two out of every three.

Mostly, I didn't like seeing Paxton going over 110 pitches throwing 99 mph per pitch. And Wilhelmsen may be the hot hand right now, but he's too mentally fragile to trust in the 9th inning. The last thing I want is for Wilhelmsen to blow a game in the 9th and have his newfound confidence shattered. The M's need to keep him in the middle innings where the leverage index is lower. The Paxton scare was just icing on the cake.

Oh well, it all worked out. I guess it's a good thing to have these kinds of problems for Servais.

 

[IndyHawk]

I'd like to jump on the bash Servais bandwagon here, but Diaz is dog tired.
His fastball yesterday was topping out at 95-96mph. Down 5-6 mph from where he usually is.
Let him rest a game and come back throwing 100+ next time out. Bad luck for Paxton, looks like he is finally turning the corner then takes one off the elbow.

That's a fair point, though it's also fair to point out that Diaz median velocity this season is right around 96 according to PitchFX. He's been throwing EXTRA hard the past week or so but we should not expect him to be throwing 100 MPH every time he goes out there. Closers have to be able to go out there every night there's a closing opportunity and not two out of every three.

Mostly, I didn't like seeing Paxton going over 110 pitches throwing 99 mph per pitch. And Wilhelmsen may be the hot hand right now, but he's too mentally fragile to trust in the 9th inning. The last thing I want is for Wilhelmsen to blow a game in the 9th and have his newfound confidence shattered. The M's need to keep him in the middle innings where the leverage index is lower. The Paxton scare was just icing on the cake.

Oh well, it all worked out. I guess it's a good thing to have these kinds of problems for Servais.

Is Paxton ok?I think he is the ace now and I've liked him since he came up a couple years ago.You say he has only 2 pitches but to me thats ok if you can locate them anywhere you want which I think Pax does.Think Koufax,Ryan and even Clemens had more than 2 in their early days?I do agree once he gets 3 he will probaly be among the best in game

 

[Sports Hernia]

I'd like to jump on the bash Servais bandwagon here, but Diaz is dog tired.
His fastball yesterday was topping out at 95-96mph. Down 5-6 mph from where he usually is.
Let him rest a game and come back throwing 100+ next time out. Bad luck for Paxton, looks like he is finally turning the corner then takes one off the elbow.

That's a fair point, though it's also fair to point out that Diaz median velocity this season is right around 96 according to PitchFX. He's been throwing EXTRA hard the past week or so but we should not expect him to be throwing 100 MPH every time he goes out there. Closers have to be able to go out there every night there's a closing opportunity and not two out of every three.

Mostly, I didn't like seeing Paxton going over 110 pitches throwing 99 mph per pitch. And Wilhelmsen may be the hot hand right now, but he's too mentally fragile to trust in the 9th inning. The last thing I want is for Wilhelmsen to blow a game in the 9th and have his newfound confidence shattered. The M's need to keep him in the middle innings where the leverage index is lower. The Paxton scare was just icing on the cake.

Oh well, it all worked out. I guess it's a good thing to have these kinds of problems for Servais.

Is Paxton ok?I think he is the ace now and I've liked him since he came up a couple years ago.You say he has only 2 pitches but to me thats ok if you can locate them anywhere you want which I think Pax does.Think Koufax,Ryan and even Clemens had more than 2 in their early days?I do agree once he gets 3 he will probaly be among the best in game

X-rays negative, contusion. Day to day.

 

[kearly]

Is Paxton ok?I think he is the ace now and I've liked him since he came up a couple years ago.You say he has only 2 pitches but to me thats ok if you can locate them anywhere you want which I think Pax does.Think Koufax,Ryan and even Clemens had more than 2 in their early days?I do agree once he gets 3 he will probaly be among the best in game

Paxton has always been streaky due to his lack of repertoire. Right now he's on the upswing of a streak but he's the same guy he's been the past few years. That said, I may be under-rating Paxton. He's far from an innings eater, but his career ERA+ is 117 which is a lot better than I would have guessed.

 

[IndyHawk]

I'd like to jump on the bash Servais bandwagon here, but Diaz is dog tired.
His fastball yesterday was topping out at 95-96mph. Down 5-6 mph from where he usually is.
Let him rest a game and come back throwing 100+ next time out. Bad luck for Paxton, looks like he is finally turning the corner then takes one off the elbow.

That's a fair point, though it's also fair to point out that Diaz median velocity this season is right around 96 according to PitchFX. He's been throwing EXTRA hard the past week or so but we should not expect him to be throwing 100 MPH every time he goes out there. Closers have to be able to go out there every night there's a closing opportunity and not two out of every three.

Mostly, I didn't like seeing Paxton going over 110 pitches throwing 99 mph per pitch. And Wilhelmsen may be the hot hand right now, but he's too mentally fragile to trust in the 9th inning. The last thing I want is for Wilhelmsen to blow a game in the 9th and have his newfound confidence shattered. The M's need to keep him in the middle innings where the leverage index is lower. The Paxton scare was just icing on the cake.

Oh well, it all worked out. I guess it's a good thing to have these kinds of problems for Servais.

Is Paxton ok?I think he is the ace now and I've liked him since he came up a couple years ago.You say he has only 2 pitches but to me thats ok if you can locate them anywhere you want which I think Pax does.Think Koufax,Ryan and even Clemens had more than 2 in their early days?I do agree once he gets 3 he will probaly be among the best in game

X-rays negative, contusion. Day to day.

Well thats probaly the best we could ask for..I just hope he only pitches next if he feels great nothing less.

 

[IndyHawk]

Is Paxton ok?I think he is the ace now and I've liked him since he came up a couple years ago.You say he has only 2 pitches but to me thats ok if you can locate them anywhere you want which I think Pax does.Think Koufax,Ryan and even Clemens had more than 2 in their early days?I do agree once he gets 3 he will probaly be among the best in game

Paxton has always been streaky due to his lack of repertoire. Right now he's on the upswing of a streak but he's the same guy he's been the past few years. That said, I may be under-rating Paxton. He's far from an innings eater, but his career ERA+ is 117 which is a lot better than I would have guessed.

I think the more he pitches the better he gets,he has been hurt the last couple years so we are finally seeing him thrive with good health.I expect Walker to do the same but the game comes to people at different stages so it may be a while

 

[sutz]

Hmmmm, another win. Wow. What's that 4, 5 in a row? Nice little streak going.

The bullpen is starting to turn into a strength, adding Caminero is nice.

Kuma had another great outing after some problems in the first.

Put up another game on the Strohs, still trailing Texas, but beating Detroit moves us up on the WC board.

Martin looks like he strained something in the 8th, not good.

 

[kearly]

Walker was just sent down to the minors. Wow.

 

[Crizilla]

Not surprising. He needs to be Diaz but the starter version