Tough to make any definitive conclusions now but I am worried about Smoak, Almonte, and RF. Miller should probably end up hitting fine and Seager too but 1B can't be a relative offensive black-hole and neither can RF (another position that should be a big OPS spot).
Almonte is not likely to be very good. He just doesn't have the offensive tools to be successful outside of speed. It will be interesting to see if McLendon moves Ackley up to leadoff at some poont to get someone with some on base skills at the top of the lineup.
Almonte's defensive numbers look very good so far this year, but it's way way way too early to learn anything form those. Eyeball test he looks talented but still unpolished in center to me. But he uses his speed very well. His defense could be a real asset.
He might be a guy worth keeping around, but he's more of a #8 or 9 hitter than #1. On that note, it's probably time to move Zunino out of the 9 hole. He's still an OBP black hole but dude can mash.
Here's how I'd set the current lineup:
Versus righties:
LF Ackley SS Miller 2B Cano 1B Smoak DH Hart 3B Seager C Zunino RF Saunders/Morrison CF Almonte
Versus lefties:
LF Ackley SS Miller 2B Cano DH Hart 3B Seager 1B Smoak C Zunino RF Romero I guess (honestly I don't think he's ready - I'd send him down but given the current roster if he's here he should play) CF Almonte
That lineup is still very vulnerable against lefties. They really need a right handed or switch hitter who can slide into the two hole. It's too bad Nick Franklin doesn't fit the roster defensively, he'd be the perfect bat there.
agree to a point, ackley is finally having success in the 7/8 hole, why mess with it? maybe you can eventually move him up but I wouldn't do it yet. That guy is so mentally fragile
Tough to make any definitive conclusions now but I am worried about Smoak, Almonte, and RF. Miller should probably end up hitting fine and Seager too but 1B can't be a relative offensive black-hole and neither can RF (another position that should be a big OPS spot).
Almonte is not likely to be very good. He just doesn't have the offensive tools to be successful outside of speed. It will be interesting to see if McLendon moves Ackley up to leadoff at some poont to get someone with some on base skills at the top of the lineup.
Almonte's defensive numbers look very good so far this year, but it's way way way too early to learn anything form those. Eyeball test he looks talented but still unpolished in center to me. But he uses his speed very well. His defense could be a real asset.
He might be a guy worth keeping around, but he's more of a #8 or 9 hitter than #1. On that note, it's probably time to move Zunino out of the 9 hole. He's still an OBP black hole but dude can mash.
Here's how I'd set the current lineup:
Versus righties:
LF Ackley SS Miller 2B Cano 1B Smoak DH Hart 3B Seager C Zunino RF Saunders/Morrison CF Almonte
Versus lefties:
LF Ackley SS Miller 2B Cano DH Hart 3B Seager 1B Smoak C Zunino RF Romero I guess (honestly I don't think he's ready - I'd send him down but given the current roster if he's here he should play) CF Almonte
That lineup is still very vulnerable against lefties. They really need a right handed or switch hitter who can slide into the two hole. It's too bad Nick Franklin doesn't fit the roster defensively, he'd be the perfect bat there.
agree to a point, ackley is finally having success in the 7/8 hole, why mess with it? maybe you can eventually move him up but I wouldn't do it yet. That guy is so mentally fragile
You might have a point. I just hate having an automatic out at the top of the lineup.
Tough to make any definitive conclusions now but I am worried about Smoak, Almonte, and RF. Miller should probably end up hitting fine and Seager too but 1B can't be a relative offensive black-hole and neither can RF (another position that should be a big OPS spot).
Almonte is not likely to be very good. He just doesn't have the offensive tools to be successful outside of speed. It will be interesting to see if McLendon moves Ackley up to leadoff at some poont to get someone with some on base skills at the top of the lineup.
Almonte's defensive numbers look very good so far this year, but it's way way way too early to learn anything form those. Eyeball test he looks talented but still unpolished in center to me. But he uses his speed very well. His defense could be a real asset.
He might be a guy worth keeping around, but he's more of a #8 or 9 hitter than #1. On that note, it's probably time to move Zunino out of the 9 hole. He's still an OBP black hole but dude can mash.
Here's how I'd set the current lineup:
Versus righties:
LF Ackley SS Miller 2B Cano 1B Smoak DH Hart 3B Seager C Zunino RF Saunders/Morrison CF Almonte
Versus lefties:
LF Ackley SS Miller 2B Cano DH Hart 3B Seager 1B Smoak C Zunino RF Romero I guess (honestly I don't think he's ready - I'd send him down but given the current roster if he's here he should play) CF Almonte
That lineup is still very vulnerable against lefties. They really need a right handed or switch hitter who can slide into the two hole. It's too bad Nick Franklin doesn't fit the roster defensively, he'd be the perfect bat there.
agree to a point, ackley is finally having success in the 7/8 hole, why mess with it? maybe you can eventually move him up but I wouldn't do it yet. That guy is so mentally fragile
You might have a point. I just hate having an automatic out at the top of the lineup.
I agree, outside of ackley I don't see a true leadoff hitter on this team. Maybe if they find a spot for franklin he could hit leadoff although he strikes out way too much
Tough to make any definitive conclusions now but I am worried about Smoak, Almonte, and RF. Miller should probably end up hitting fine and Seager too but 1B can't be a relative offensive black-hole and neither can RF (another position that should be a big OPS spot).
Almonte is not likely to be very good. He just doesn't have the offensive tools to be successful outside of speed. It will be interesting to see if McLendon moves Ackley up to leadoff at some poont to get someone with some on base skills at the top of the lineup.
Almonte's defensive numbers look very good so far this year, but it's way way way too early to learn anything form those. Eyeball test he looks talented but still unpolished in center to me. But he uses his speed very well. His defense could be a real asset.
He might be a guy worth keeping around, but he's more of a #8 or 9 hitter than #1. On that note, it's probably time to move Zunino out of the 9 hole. He's still an OBP black hole but dude can mash.
Here's how I'd set the current lineup:
Versus righties:
LF Ackley SS Miller 2B Cano 1B Smoak DH Hart 3B Seager C Zunino RF Saunders/Morrison CF Almonte
Versus lefties:
LF Ackley SS Miller 2B Cano DH Hart 3B Seager 1B Smoak C Zunino RF Romero I guess (honestly I don't think he's ready - I'd send him down but given the current roster if he's here he should play) CF Almonte
That lineup is still very vulnerable against lefties. They really need a right handed or switch hitter who can slide into the two hole. It's too bad Nick Franklin doesn't fit the roster defensively, he'd be the perfect bat there.
agree to a point, ackley is finally having success in the 7/8 hole, why mess with it? maybe you can eventually move him up but I wouldn't do it yet. That guy is so mentally fragile
You might have a point. I just hate having an automatic out at the top of the lineup.
I agree, outside of ackley I don't see a true leadoff hitter on this team. Maybe if they find a spot for franklin he could hit leadoff although he strikes out way too much
I think Franklin (and Ackley, to a lesser extent) is more of a prototypical two hole hitter. His pop might be a bit wasted at the top. Of course, the same is true of Miller.
Ackley's the closest thing to a natural leadoff guy on the roster, but the mental concerns are well taken.
Almonte sucks. He is a good outfielder because he is fast and he has power for a leadoff but he is going to be a career .225 hitter. Which is laughable for someone who is leading off. Sadly the Mariners don't have any better options.
All I have to say about this Mariners talk is this.
Die bitch. Did soccer just end for you? Looking for that other sport to carry you and your miserable life till soccer and softball start again? Find some other way to burn 5 hours of your life on a nightly basis. Good heavy, go to the woods, ride a bike, a horse, start woodworking, oil painting.
I hope Al Quieda blows up every park in the country (before the season starts of course), maybe then I don't have to hear about baseball and the mariners. I plug my eats and still can't stop the madness.
Some of you guys are Mariner fan versions of doogs. I can't wait for May or June where they go 8-20 to end the season.
You are the one who picked "All Star Break".
I was being kind. With the second wild card, if you are hovering around .500 you are technically still in it. Until they are 20 games out, some will still be talking about them. The question was when will it end. If it were up to me, it would have never started.
Just wait until the Japanese fuck who had a career year last year comes back! Just wait until Walker comes back, has a 5.00 ERA, and blows out his elbow. Whether they are out by the end of May, June, July, or August is irrelevant. They suck and are even more of a waste of time then UW football during the Ty years.
Smoak is currently hitting .244/.320/.467 with 6 extra base hits in 12 games. I'd like to see him get his average up to .260-.270 and his on-base % up to .340-.350 or so. The power production so far isn't bad though - that would translate to 70+ for the season if he keeps that up - not a bad number at all.
One positive at having Ackley and Zunino currently towards the bottom of the order is that you aren't killing rallies like you have in the past as those guys are capable of producing. I do agree that Ackley is the closest thing to a lead-off hitter in the lineup. But you don't have to make the decision to make that move right now. If he keeps hitting in the .300 range into mid-May and Almonte continues to be a huge issue at the top of the order, then you can go ask Ackley if he's comfortable moving back into the leadoff spot. You'd hope that after a strong finish to last year and a strong start to this year he'd realize that he's a MLB hitter now and that where he is hitting in the lineup isn't a huge issue.
We don't know enough yet about Almonte as a hitter - although he doesn't look like more than a .250 or .260 hitter this year at best. He does take a walk though - so that helps him out a bit. Good defense in center given the quality of the pitching staff is important.
The team is one OF short right now. Romero isn't ready and should be getting more seasoning at Triple A. I'd really like to see the Mariners try to figure out a way to get Nick Franklin into the OF as his bat is too good to be sitting down in Triple A right now.
I'm glad my hopefully "Now" prediction is coming to life. I always knew the M's 2014 season would be irrelevant I just didn't know it would be this soon.........
Actually who am I kidding? I did know it would be this soon. Close the fucking gates.
There's hope yet. With the death of Yamauchi it's really only a matter of time until the team is sold. Until then with lincoln this team is screwed. Jack Z should've been fired for the debacle last year and because of him the team accomplished absolutely nothing this offseason. Cano, a closer (you know what I think about paying closers) and a DH. Whoopifuckingdo
Reed Strong@reedstrong7·7 hrs @crimsonwazzu Learn the transfer rule then pop off. Also, what the fuck was he thinking anyway?
as for you sven no one is going to "learn the transfer rule." It's the most FS rule in all of sports and I thought the same exact way when the Mariners were benefitting from it. #JoeTorreFS
When they didn't hire La Russa I knew nothing was changing, Kevin Mather, another yes man for howard
For anyone who analyzed the Mariners team, here is some advice. Take a look at the lineup in tonight's game. Double check it to make sure you read it right. Now repeatedly bash your head into a wall until you never mention the Mariners again.
The Mariners have been fine this year. In the 5 losses, they lost an extra inning game in Oakland, have been dominated by Sonny Gray 2x (one of the best young pitchers in the game), dominated by Scott Kazmir (who in the last year plus has rediscovered what made him one of the best young pitchers in the game, and dominated by Garrett Richards who is a really good young pitcher that has the stuff but hasn't put it all together yet (hello Buff Bagwell).
My guess is that they'll get out of April 3-5 games above .500 ...
Oakland is probably good enough to still win 90+ and win the division. But with the way the rest of the division is looking, the Mariners could very easily stumble into 85-90 wins this year if the rotation gets back healthy. The pen is still a giant question mark though. The offense is young, will have ups and downs, but in general, is a massive improvement over what has been here for most of the last 5-10 years.
Comments
Ackley's the closest thing to a natural leadoff guy on the roster, but the mental concerns are well taken.
Die bitch. Did soccer just end for you? Looking for that other sport to carry you and your miserable life till soccer and softball start again? Find some other way to burn 5 hours of your life on a nightly basis. Good heavy, go to the woods, ride a bike, a horse, start woodworking, oil painting.
I hope Al Quieda blows up every park in the country (before the season starts of course), maybe then I don't have to hear about baseball and the mariners. I plug my eats and still can't stop the madness.
Just wait until the Japanese fuck who had a career year last year comes back! Just wait until Walker comes back, has a 5.00 ERA, and blows out his elbow. Whether they are out by the end of May, June, July, or August is irrelevant. They suck and are even more of a waste of time then UW football during the Ty years.
One positive at having Ackley and Zunino currently towards the bottom of the order is that you aren't killing rallies like you have in the past as those guys are capable of producing. I do agree that Ackley is the closest thing to a lead-off hitter in the lineup. But you don't have to make the decision to make that move right now. If he keeps hitting in the .300 range into mid-May and Almonte continues to be a huge issue at the top of the order, then you can go ask Ackley if he's comfortable moving back into the leadoff spot. You'd hope that after a strong finish to last year and a strong start to this year he'd realize that he's a MLB hitter now and that where he is hitting in the lineup isn't a huge issue.
We don't know enough yet about Almonte as a hitter - although he doesn't look like more than a .250 or .260 hitter this year at best. He does take a walk though - so that helps him out a bit. Good defense in center given the quality of the pitching staff is important.
The team is one OF short right now. Romero isn't ready and should be getting more seasoning at Triple A. I'd really like to see the Mariners try to figure out a way to get Nick Franklin into the OF as his bat is too good to be sitting down in Triple A right now.
Actually who am I kidding? I did know it would be this soon. Close the fucking gates.
Being eliminated before Easter is always special.
Until then with lincoln this team is screwed. Jack Z should've been fired for the debacle last year and because of him the team accomplished absolutely nothing this offseason. Cano, a closer (you know what I think about paying closers) and a DH. Whoopifuckingdo
Reed Strong@reedstrong7·7 hrs
@crimsonwazzu Learn the transfer rule then pop off. Also, what the fuck was he thinking anyway?
as for you sven no one is going to "learn the transfer rule." It's the most FS rule in all of sports and I thought the same exact way when the Mariners were benefitting from it. #JoeTorreFS
When they didn't hire La Russa I knew nothing was changing, Kevin Mather, another yes man for howard
* in this case it actually applies.