12 games to go GT 9/14

[rockycola]

The team was doomed from the get-go when JP somehow got thrown out at the plate in the first inning. There was no doubt that Arozarena's hit was going to drop in so JP got a great jump. He was already well around third as the relay throw bounced in to Neto, and yet he still was hosed. Dude is the slowest skinny black guy on the entire planet.

And then in the bottom of the first, on a double hit down the left field line, Trout scored easily from first base.

I wonder how many times Mariner hitters have been thrown out at the plate this year and how that compares to other teams. I would guess there have been 4 or 5 of these this year.

Seeing how Mariners rarely make it to 3rd base, I doubt there have been very many thrown out at the plate.

It was orgasmic the first time I ever made it to 3rd base , like, maybe 1969 (get it?) or 1970. Geez, I miss those good old days!!

[Donn Beach]

No, his walk percentage is fine. He's giving up a few too many hits is the issue.

It's the combination, he's running a 7.48% walk rate so far? That's not bad in terms of league average but he was at a 3.9% rate in the minors. With the way he pitches he can't be giving free passes

The difference in walk rates is attributable to MLB hitters having better strike zone judgement and not chasing as much. What he was doing at AA was never going to translate directly to MLB. If you think about it, over the course of a game, two or three whiffs at pitches out of the zone that he gets at AA but doesn't get in the majors is where those extra walks and hits come from, forcing him to pitch more aggressively in the zone. Similar to pitch framing, where a good framing catcher can "steal" 1 or 2 extra strikes in a game, it changes the entire dynamic between the pitcher and the hitter.

Yeah, he's not getting away with pitches in the majors that he did in the minors. That to me is an issue, something that he needs to adjust to. I'm not surprised, you're not going to dominate ML hitters with a 92 mph fastball. He's going to need to learn to pitch to ML hitters