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Peter Gammons On Cherington Red Sox
, Red Sox
Ben Cherington’s week was spent flying to Seattle and back to Boston, on the road to New York, his mind wandering back to the thought “I cannot explain this” to the constant wakeup calls from other general managers. As he drove to New York Thursday night for the opener of a Yankee Stadium series that opened what are likely to be two determining weeks in the Red Sox season, he admitted “I have to do something.” And while his organizational comrades believe some of the answers can, or have to come from within, Cherington finds himself stuck on a mobile with the punchless blues again.
“It is a very thin market for outfielders or offensive help,” he said. Maybe Chris Denorfia or Will Venable in San Diego, especially realizing that Shane Victorino and Will Middlebrooks aren’t springing back off the disabled list. Maybe Gerardo Parra with the Diamondbacks. Not Michael Cuddyer, however, because when he dislocated his shoulder diving for his Rockies team, he assured that he would be in a sling until the trading deadline and not playing until at least a couple of weeks after that.
So, after being shut out by Vidal Nuno Friday night as a walkup to Masahiro Tanaka, the Red Sox had scored three runs or less in 11 of 13 games. They were 2-6 on the final road trip of June, a month that saw them play 20 straight days through Wednesday, will play 23 games on the road for the month and, frankly, look as if they are on a march back from the Russian Front. They are tied for last in the American League in runs, 12th in home runs, 13th in OPS. Their best player the last month is Brock Holt, who while a very tough, good, versatile player is not walking into the home clubhouse in Minneapolis in two weeks.
There is a reality that this team is not as bad as it’s played, just as last year’s Miracle on Yawkey Way wasn’t as good as it played, when every little thing went all right. They are somewhere in-between, and Cherington, Mike Hazen and John Farrell look at the broad picture, figure David Ortiz will come out of the malaise of cheating so hard to get to fastballs and beat shifts that he becomes vulnerable to breaking balls; two Mays he suffered the same slump, went back to hitting fastballs out over the plate and got hot. They figure Dustin Pedroia’s hand strength will improve, and, hey, even when they were in Oakland last weekend, Billy Beane watched Pedroia and declared, “he is a great player that I love to watch.” They figure Mike Napoli will get hot and Stephen Drew will hit righthanded pitchers.
But after the Yankee series, they have three vital home series with the Cubs, Orioles and White Sox before a final weekend in Houston against the 2017 Fantasy League world champion Astros. “By then,” says one Red Sox official, “we should know what we’re going to do—add or shake up.”
Fair. When Clay Buchholz Wednesday night looked like the Buchholz of early 2013—his fastball was up to 93-95, he pounded the strike zone, he got nine swing and misses on changes and cutters and worked at a pace the Globe’s Peter Abraham noted was a reason to believe, there was a huge lift. Brandon Workman and Rubby De La Rosa seem to have shown they are major league starters, and Anthony Ranaudo, Matt Barnes, Allen Webster and even 23-year old lefthander Brian Johnson (10-2, 2.33 in A-AA, 84-24 K-BB ratio, 2 HR in 15 starts) are close. “Last September we talked about where we hoped the pitching will be,” says Cherington. “Things have pretty much worked as he hoped.”
But while there have been solid, rational arguments made about blowing up this team and surrendering this season, Cherington, Hazen and the Baseball Ops folks live in a reality. They have a tremendous season ticket base, a base that pays Fifth Avenue prices for what has to be more than the Sweet Caroline Experience. They have very important partners in NESN. Yes, they have one of the best farm systems in the business, but one of the reasons for that is that John Henry always took calls from the Commissioner’s Office when they were willing to pay above slot for Ranaudo and Mookie Betts, Garin Cecchini and Blake Swihart, and simply refused to back off the Red Sox commitment to signing young players. “Some of those calls were pretty noisy,” says one Sox official, “and John Henry and Larry Lucchino never backed off.” And, because of that, there is a reluctance to turn away from this year’s team and one of the five highest payrolls, one funded by ownership.
Look, everyone wants to see the phenomenon known as Mookie Betts. He is a gold glove level second baseman who has played all three outfield positions in Portland and Pawtucket to try to fit into Pedroia’s team, has a .437 on base and .520 slugging percentage with 51 walks, 33 extra base hits and 29 strikeouts, one of those triple slash stats that can define hitting exception. You may soon see Christian Vazquez (called by one veteran scout, “the best defensive catcher I’ve ever seen”).
But while decisions are made on Jake Peavy and A.J. Pierzynski and some of the other struggling veterans—struggling in production, not effort—the reluctance is to throw out a team that is fresh from Hadlock Field. If there is still a chance to stay in a race in a division that has a combined run differential of -43 and is eight games under .500 outside of the division, Cherington doesn’t want to throw everything on Betts and Vazquez and young players, not in this market. They have seen how it has affected Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Xander Bogaerts. It is one thing to throw Gregory Polanco out on the banks of the three rivers, it is another to ask Betts to reboot a team that needs to be rebooted by Pedroia, Ortiz and Napoli. Bogaerts and Betts would be the youngest position players in the league, and asking them to lead a veteran team that is suffering some of the post-championship lethargy that Terry Francona managed through in 2005 could be harmful to their development. If you don’t remember ’05, one veteran, one of the great clubhouse guys in memory, was so upset that some of his teammates weren’t being picked for the All-star Game that he said, “Tito may be forgetting where he got that ring.” The player didn’t really mean it, but the message was clear—we did what no one did since World War I, and we are entitled to remain together. In contrast, in winning the 1992 and 1993 World Series, Pat Gillick said, “you need to change at least 20 percent of the roster every season, no matter where you finish.”
If, when they board the charter for Houston’s TitleTown, the Red Sox are 8-10 games out and have a waiting line in front of them for the Wild Card Lottery, it will be different. They can play Betts and Vazquez and maybe a little Deven Marrero as if the last two months are spring training, as the great Tom Brady limbers up. They will have a short window to decide about the future of Jon Lester and deal with market reality and speculation. Maybe they see what the market bears for Felix Doubront and Stephen Drew.
By the time they reach Houston, they may have nothing to lose, which may give them a real opportunity to see what they have in Betts, Bradley, Bogaerts, Vazquez, Bryce Brentz, De La Rosa, Workman, Barnes, Ranaudo, Webster, Stephen Wright, Johnson, Marrero, et al. By then, the duck boats may be a distant memory, and Cherington can start thinking about contracts that can be taken on and contracts that can be taken off.
It is an extraordinarily complex line the Red Sox are now treading. They are not what they seemed in 2013, they probably are not what they’ve been in 2014, but if the next two weeks do not bring this season back to our consciousness, how they integrate the farm system funded by Henry and developed by Theo Epstein, Cherington, Hazen, Ben Crockett, Amiel Sawdaye, Ed Romero and the Baseball Ops warriors with a new band of veteran acquisitions will be an arduous storyline that will be played out for the eight months from The Trading Deadline to the day pitchers and catchers report to The Fort.
Peter Gammons: Decision time approaching Cherington, Red Sox
June 28, 2014 by 7 Comments
Ben Cherington’s week was spent flying to Seattle and back to Boston, on the road to New York, his mind wandering back to the thought “I cannot explain this” to the constant wakeup calls from other general managers. As he drove to New York Thursday night for the opener of a Yankee Stadium series that opened what are likely to be two determining weeks in the Red Sox season, he admitted “I have to do something.” And while his organizational comrades believe some of the answers can, or have to come from within, Cherington finds himself stuck on a mobile with the punchless blues again.
“It is a very thin market for outfielders or offensive help,” he said. Maybe Chris Denorfia or Will Venable in San Diego, especially realizing that Shane Victorino and Will Middlebrooks aren’t springing back off the disabled list. Maybe Gerardo Parra with the Diamondbacks. Not Michael Cuddyer, however, because when he dislocated his shoulder diving for his Rockies team, he assured that he would be in a sling until the trading deadline and not playing until at least a couple of weeks after that.
So, after being shut out by Vidal Nuno Friday night as a walkup to Masahiro Tanaka, the Red Sox had scored three runs or less in 11 of 13 games. They were 2-6 on the final road trip of June, a month that saw them play 20 straight days through Wednesday, will play 23 games on the road for the month and, frankly, look as if they are on a march back from the Russian Front. They are tied for last in the American League in runs, 12th in home runs, 13th in OPS. Their best player the last month is Brock Holt, who while a very tough, good, versatile player is not walking into the home clubhouse in Minneapolis in two weeks.
There is a reality that this team is not as bad as it’s played, just as last year’s Miracle on Yawkey Way wasn’t as good as it played, when every little thing went all right. They are somewhere in-between, and Cherington, Mike Hazen and John Farrell look at the broad picture, figure David Ortiz will come out of the malaise of cheating so hard to get to fastballs and beat shifts that he becomes vulnerable to breaking balls; two Mays he suffered the same slump, went back to hitting fastballs out over the plate and got hot. They figure Dustin Pedroia’s hand strength will improve, and, hey, even when they were in Oakland last weekend, Billy Beane watched Pedroia and declared, “he is a great player that I love to watch.” They figure Mike Napoli will get hot and Stephen Drew will hit righthanded pitchers.
But after the Yankee series, they have three vital home series with the Cubs, Orioles and White Sox before a final weekend in Houston against the 2017 Fantasy League world champion Astros. “By then,” says one Red Sox official, “we should know what we’re going to do—add or shake up.”
Fair. When Clay Buchholz Wednesday night looked like the Buchholz of early 2013—his fastball was up to 93-95, he pounded the strike zone, he got nine swing and misses on changes and cutters and worked at a pace the Globe’s Peter Abraham noted was a reason to believe, there was a huge lift. Brandon Workman and Rubby De La Rosa seem to have shown they are major league starters, and Anthony Ranaudo, Matt Barnes, Allen Webster and even 23-year old lefthander Brian Johnson (10-2, 2.33 in A-AA, 84-24 K-BB ratio, 2 HR in 15 starts) are close. “Last September we talked about where we hoped the pitching will be,” says Cherington. “Things have pretty much worked as he hoped.”
But while there have been solid, rational arguments made about blowing up this team and surrendering this season, Cherington, Hazen and the Baseball Ops folks live in a reality. They have a tremendous season ticket base, a base that pays Fifth Avenue prices for what has to be more than the Sweet Caroline Experience. They have very important partners in NESN. Yes, they have one of the best farm systems in the business, but one of the reasons for that is that John Henry always took calls from the Commissioner’s Office when they were willing to pay above slot for Ranaudo and Mookie Betts, Garin Cecchini and Blake Swihart, and simply refused to back off the Red Sox commitment to signing young players. “Some of those calls were pretty noisy,” says one Sox official, “and John Henry and Larry Lucchino never backed off.” And, because of that, there is a reluctance to turn away from this year’s team and one of the five highest payrolls, one funded by ownership.
Look, everyone wants to see the phenomenon known as Mookie Betts. He is a gold glove level second baseman who has played all three outfield positions in Portland and Pawtucket to try to fit into Pedroia’s team, has a .437 on base and .520 slugging percentage with 51 walks, 33 extra base hits and 29 strikeouts, one of those triple slash stats that can define hitting exception. You may soon see Christian Vazquez (called by one veteran scout, “the best defensive catcher I’ve ever seen”).
But while decisions are made on Jake Peavy and A.J. Pierzynski and some of the other struggling veterans—struggling in production, not effort—the reluctance is to throw out a team that is fresh from Hadlock Field. If there is still a chance to stay in a race in a division that has a combined run differential of -43 and is eight games under .500 outside of the division, Cherington doesn’t want to throw everything on Betts and Vazquez and young players, not in this market. They have seen how it has affected Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Xander Bogaerts. It is one thing to throw Gregory Polanco out on the banks of the three rivers, it is another to ask Betts to reboot a team that needs to be rebooted by Pedroia, Ortiz and Napoli. Bogaerts and Betts would be the youngest position players in the league, and asking them to lead a veteran team that is suffering some of the post-championship lethargy that Terry Francona managed through in 2005 could be harmful to their development. If you don’t remember ’05, one veteran, one of the great clubhouse guys in memory, was so upset that some of his teammates weren’t being picked for the All-star Game that he said, “Tito may be forgetting where he got that ring.” The player didn’t really mean it, but the message was clear—we did what no one did since World War I, and we are entitled to remain together. In contrast, in winning the 1992 and 1993 World Series, Pat Gillick said, “you need to change at least 20 percent of the roster every season, no matter where you finish.”
If, when they board the charter for Houston’s TitleTown, the Red Sox are 8-10 games out and have a waiting line in front of them for the Wild Card Lottery, it will be different. They can play Betts and Vazquez and maybe a little Deven Marrero as if the last two months are spring training, as the great Tom Brady limbers up. They will have a short window to decide about the future of Jon Lester and deal with market reality and speculation. Maybe they see what the market bears for Felix Doubront and Stephen Drew.
By the time they reach Houston, they may have nothing to lose, which may give them a real opportunity to see what they have in Betts, Bradley, Bogaerts, Vazquez, Bryce Brentz, De La Rosa, Workman, Barnes, Ranaudo, Webster, Stephen Wright, Johnson, Marrero, et al. By then, the duck boats may be a distant memory, and Cherington can start thinking about contracts that can be taken on and contracts that can be taken off.
It is an extraordinarily complex line the Red Sox are now treading. They are not what they seemed in 2013, they probably are not what they’ve been in 2014, but if the next two weeks do not bring this season back to our consciousness, how they integrate the farm system funded by Henry and developed by Theo Epstein, Cherington, Hazen, Ben Crockett, Amiel Sawdaye, Ed Romero and the Baseball Ops warriors with a new band of veteran acquisitions will be an arduous storyline that will be played out for the eight months from The Trading Deadline to the day pitchers and catchers report to The Fort.
Shannon Drayer Mariners clubhouse reporter ESPN 710 Seattle Mariners @ Midseason
The Mariners reached the midpoint of the season Saturday night and so far, so good. Are you surprised? Five games over .500 at the midpoint -- six as of Sunday -- and seemingly on an upswing is a good place to be heading into July. There has been a lot of good we have seen in the first half and it all begins with the pitching.
Who would have guessed that a year after allowing 754 runs the Mariners would have one of the top pitching staffs in baseball? Well, I did, kind of. One of the few predictions I made in the offseason was the pitching staff would turn things around and that we would see at least a 100-run swing in runs allowed. They are well on their way to that.
Last season the Mariners scored 624 runs and allowed 754, the fourth-most in baseball. Starters 3-5 were not good and the bullpen was horrible. Throw in a sub par defense and a whole lot of runs crossed the plate when the Mariners were in the field. Ugly numbers.
This season it is obviously a different story. With an upgraded rotation -- though not the rotation we expected it to be with Taijuan Walker and James Paxton missing most of the season -- as well as the investment made in a closer and a shored-up defense thanks to a commitment to early work, the Mariners have limited the runs scored against them to a fraction of what we saw in 2013.
The Mariners had surrendered 428 runs by the midpoint of last season. Through 81 games this season they have given up just 281 for a 147-run-swing in the first half. The starting pitching has given up 71 fewer runs, the bullpen 76. As a staff, Mariners pitchers are allowing opponents a line of just 234/.298/.363/.661. We are seeing some pretty special stuff from the Mariners' arms.
Many did not like the move of signing Fernando Rodney to a two-year deal, but he's anchored that bullpen. With a young team scrapping for wins, there is nothing more demoralizing than ninth-inning losses. Those are the losses that can turn into losing streaks -- remember Cleveland and Chicago? -- and we really haven't seen that this year. Along with the Rodney move, credit manager Lloyd McClendon with putting his confidence in Tom Wilhelmsen early on. When camp broke and he said Wilhelmsen was his eighth-inning righty, a lot of people were not happy with that. Well, Wilhelmsen has proven to be invaluable and capable of pitching in just about any role.
There have been so many good things in the bullpen but that also is tied to the starters' performances and the bullpen management by McClendon. More often than not you are looking at seven-inning starts with the bullpen falling in line after. All good.
So, about that offense. We have seen progress, but yes, help is still needed. This pitching deserves some offense. That will be the focus in the next month with the trade deadline on the horizon. We will be talking plenty of that.
For now, I want to leave you with something I did on ROOT Sports this weekend. I joined Brad Adam and Aaron Goldsmith on "The Batting Practice Show", which is awesome. If you haven't seen it, tune in when you can. It's just a bunch of broadcasters sitting around watching batting practice and chatting. This week's topic was the first half. Goldsmith and I were asked to give our MVP, biggest surprise and second-half star. Here goes.
MVP
There were a lot of candidates and many I would support, but when all is said and done my MVP for the first half was McClendon. You may not like a lineup he puts out or a move he makes from time to time, but in the big scheme of things he has provided more good for this team than I would have thought possible. Most impressive to me is how he has in the last month used the entire 25-man roster to maximize what he can get out of it. That has translated to wins, often with unlikely characters. That's managing.
I was interested to see if he would have the players throughout the year the way he had them in spring training, and the answer is yes. Getting to know them before spring training with visits and calls, being up front with his expectations, having his players' backs, knowing it is better to push when winning and protect when losing, never showing any panic or letting the team take a single loss too hard, showing faith in what he has in front of him rather than talking about what he doesn't have and working them -- really working them -- has kept the team one through 25 active, engaged, and now I think we are seeing driven. This team believes it can win.
Finally, as I said above, his management of the pitching has been huge. This is somewhat surprising, and no doubt pitching coach Rick Waits and bullpen coach Mike Rojas have a hand in this as well. But often when you have managers whose foundation is hitting -- and make no mistake, McClendon is a hitting guy -- they usually are not particularly strong or wise at times with the pitching. McClendon is hands on. From talks with his pitchers about what the hitters see to mound visits to tell a pitcher what to throw -- that happened with Danny Farquhar in Kansas City -- he seems as in-tune with his pitchers as he is with his hitters. I'm not sure I have seen that before.
McClendon has got this team working and winning, and because of that he is my MVP.
Surprise
A lot of people are going with Chris Young, and for me that's just not a surprise. I expected a healthy Young to be a guy who could more often than not keep the team in a ballgame every five days. He obviously has been more than that, but I thought we would get Young and we did. He's been the good, healthy, Chris Young of 2007. He's not my surprise player but I wouldn't be surprised if he wins Comeback Player of the Year when all is said and done.
I thought about going with James Jones -- who certainly has been a good surprise having come from barely on the radar and starting to get to that age where prospects start to get overlooked if they haven't broken through -- but I want to see more.
I thought about going with Robinson Cano because it was a huge surprise to see just how good he is at the plate in person day-in day and day-out after knowing him more by the numbers for years. Also, it was a great surprise to see him jump in with both feet into a leadership role. It was also a surprise to see him adjust and adapt to the pitching he was seeing in a different lineup. That was pretty incredible in my eyes, but Cano as a surprise was pretty ridiculous, so I went with Roenis Elias.
Elias may have been farther off the radar than Jones coming into camp. Heck, we all thought he was a reliever. He may have hit a bump in the road on Saturday but the bumps have been few and far between. That kind of consistency is rare for a rookie, let alone one who skipped Triple-A.
We didn't know what we were getting with Elias and what has impressed me the most is he is not dependent on his fantastic curveball. He survived a stretch of games where he didn't have his good curve with his fastball and rapidly improving changeup. I think he will continue to have bumps, but over the long haul of the season I think we will see continued development at this level. His eyes are open as evidenced by his watching Roger Clemens/Pedro Martinez matchups on his iPhone in the clubhouse and throwing in some Japanese pitching mechanics in the ninth inning of his complete game against the Tigers. He's an interesting player, one that was invaluable to this team in the first half.
Second-half star
In the "Picks to Click" segment of the pregame show we have a rule that you can only pick Felix Hernandez once a season. Well, I am picking him here for the entire second half.
For Felix, I guess every year should be compared to his Cy Young season in 2010. While we may not see another six-game stretch with just one earned run allowed or a 0.91 ERA over his final 10 games -- although I am less sure every start I see that is a once-in-a-lifetime stretch -- at this point of the season there is little question in my mind he is better than he was in 2010. All of 2010.
His changeup is as nasty if not nastier. His breaking pitches have easily been as good. What's different is he now has added velocity on his fastball. I think hitters are facing the best Felix they have seen and he is showing no sign of slowing down. In fact, he may just be revving up.
What's going on around him will most likely give him a boost. Felix has desperately wanted to make it to the postseason and if this team stays within striking distance that will help Felix kick it into that extra gear he has in the second half. He could put up some silly numbers. The Mariners might have to share their second-half star with all of baseball.
Who would have guessed that a year after allowing 754 runs the Mariners would have one of the top pitching staffs in baseball? Well, I did, kind of. One of the few predictions I made in the offseason was the pitching staff would turn things around and that we would see at least a 100-run swing in runs allowed. They are well on their way to that.
Last season the Mariners scored 624 runs and allowed 754, the fourth-most in baseball. Starters 3-5 were not good and the bullpen was horrible. Throw in a sub par defense and a whole lot of runs crossed the plate when the Mariners were in the field. Ugly numbers.
This season it is obviously a different story. With an upgraded rotation -- though not the rotation we expected it to be with Taijuan Walker and James Paxton missing most of the season -- as well as the investment made in a closer and a shored-up defense thanks to a commitment to early work, the Mariners have limited the runs scored against them to a fraction of what we saw in 2013.
The Mariners had surrendered 428 runs by the midpoint of last season. Through 81 games this season they have given up just 281 for a 147-run-swing in the first half. The starting pitching has given up 71 fewer runs, the bullpen 76. As a staff, Mariners pitchers are allowing opponents a line of just 234/.298/.363/.661. We are seeing some pretty special stuff from the Mariners' arms.
Many did not like the move of signing Fernando Rodney to a two-year deal, but he's anchored that bullpen. With a young team scrapping for wins, there is nothing more demoralizing than ninth-inning losses. Those are the losses that can turn into losing streaks -- remember Cleveland and Chicago? -- and we really haven't seen that this year. Along with the Rodney move, credit manager Lloyd McClendon with putting his confidence in Tom Wilhelmsen early on. When camp broke and he said Wilhelmsen was his eighth-inning righty, a lot of people were not happy with that. Well, Wilhelmsen has proven to be invaluable and capable of pitching in just about any role.
There have been so many good things in the bullpen but that also is tied to the starters' performances and the bullpen management by McClendon. More often than not you are looking at seven-inning starts with the bullpen falling in line after. All good.
So, about that offense. We have seen progress, but yes, help is still needed. This pitching deserves some offense. That will be the focus in the next month with the trade deadline on the horizon. We will be talking plenty of that.
For now, I want to leave you with something I did on ROOT Sports this weekend. I joined Brad Adam and Aaron Goldsmith on "The Batting Practice Show", which is awesome. If you haven't seen it, tune in when you can. It's just a bunch of broadcasters sitting around watching batting practice and chatting. This week's topic was the first half. Goldsmith and I were asked to give our MVP, biggest surprise and second-half star. Here goes.
MVP
There were a lot of candidates and many I would support, but when all is said and done my MVP for the first half was McClendon. You may not like a lineup he puts out or a move he makes from time to time, but in the big scheme of things he has provided more good for this team than I would have thought possible. Most impressive to me is how he has in the last month used the entire 25-man roster to maximize what he can get out of it. That has translated to wins, often with unlikely characters. That's managing.
I was interested to see if he would have the players throughout the year the way he had them in spring training, and the answer is yes. Getting to know them before spring training with visits and calls, being up front with his expectations, having his players' backs, knowing it is better to push when winning and protect when losing, never showing any panic or letting the team take a single loss too hard, showing faith in what he has in front of him rather than talking about what he doesn't have and working them -- really working them -- has kept the team one through 25 active, engaged, and now I think we are seeing driven. This team believes it can win.
Finally, as I said above, his management of the pitching has been huge. This is somewhat surprising, and no doubt pitching coach Rick Waits and bullpen coach Mike Rojas have a hand in this as well. But often when you have managers whose foundation is hitting -- and make no mistake, McClendon is a hitting guy -- they usually are not particularly strong or wise at times with the pitching. McClendon is hands on. From talks with his pitchers about what the hitters see to mound visits to tell a pitcher what to throw -- that happened with Danny Farquhar in Kansas City -- he seems as in-tune with his pitchers as he is with his hitters. I'm not sure I have seen that before.
McClendon has got this team working and winning, and because of that he is my MVP.
Surprise
A lot of people are going with Chris Young, and for me that's just not a surprise. I expected a healthy Young to be a guy who could more often than not keep the team in a ballgame every five days. He obviously has been more than that, but I thought we would get Young and we did. He's been the good, healthy, Chris Young of 2007. He's not my surprise player but I wouldn't be surprised if he wins Comeback Player of the Year when all is said and done.
I thought about going with James Jones -- who certainly has been a good surprise having come from barely on the radar and starting to get to that age where prospects start to get overlooked if they haven't broken through -- but I want to see more.
I thought about going with Robinson Cano because it was a huge surprise to see just how good he is at the plate in person day-in day and day-out after knowing him more by the numbers for years. Also, it was a great surprise to see him jump in with both feet into a leadership role. It was also a surprise to see him adjust and adapt to the pitching he was seeing in a different lineup. That was pretty incredible in my eyes, but Cano as a surprise was pretty ridiculous, so I went with Roenis Elias.
Elias may have been farther off the radar than Jones coming into camp. Heck, we all thought he was a reliever. He may have hit a bump in the road on Saturday but the bumps have been few and far between. That kind of consistency is rare for a rookie, let alone one who skipped Triple-A.
We didn't know what we were getting with Elias and what has impressed me the most is he is not dependent on his fantastic curveball. He survived a stretch of games where he didn't have his good curve with his fastball and rapidly improving changeup. I think he will continue to have bumps, but over the long haul of the season I think we will see continued development at this level. His eyes are open as evidenced by his watching Roger Clemens/Pedro Martinez matchups on his iPhone in the clubhouse and throwing in some Japanese pitching mechanics in the ninth inning of his complete game against the Tigers. He's an interesting player, one that was invaluable to this team in the first half.
Second-half star
In the "Picks to Click" segment of the pregame show we have a rule that you can only pick Felix Hernandez once a season. Well, I am picking him here for the entire second half.
For Felix, I guess every year should be compared to his Cy Young season in 2010. While we may not see another six-game stretch with just one earned run allowed or a 0.91 ERA over his final 10 games -- although I am less sure every start I see that is a once-in-a-lifetime stretch -- at this point of the season there is little question in my mind he is better than he was in 2010. All of 2010.
His changeup is as nasty if not nastier. His breaking pitches have easily been as good. What's different is he now has added velocity on his fastball. I think hitters are facing the best Felix they have seen and he is showing no sign of slowing down. In fact, he may just be revving up.
What's going on around him will most likely give him a boost. Felix has desperately wanted to make it to the postseason and if this team stays within striking distance that will help Felix kick it into that extra gear he has in the second half. He could put up some silly numbers. The Mariners might have to share their second-half star with all of baseball.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Best NBA draft for Pac-12 since 2008
Best NBA draft for Pac-12 since 2008: News, weather, traffic, events and photos from the City Desk at The Seattle Times.
Huskies get commitment from five-star long snapper
Huskies get commitment from five-star long snapper: News, weather, traffic, events and photos from the City Desk at The Seattle Times.
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