Game 118: El Presidente vs. The King
Posted by ubelmann on Monday, August 13th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
In one corner, weighing 208 pounds, with an xFIP of 3.67, pitching for the Minnesota Twins, we have Johan "El Presidente" Santana.
In the other corner, weighing 230 pounds, with an xFIP of 3.19, pitching for the Seattle Mariners, we have "King" Felix Hernandez.
This could be a really great pitching matchup between two guy with effective but contrasting styles...or one of the pitchers could have a really bad night. No one knows that just yet.
Hitting lefty pitching is the Mariners' offensive forte. They have a .299/.354/.446 line against LHP so far this season, which gives them an OPS 11% better than league average against LHP. The Twins have a .265/.331/.391 line against RHP so far the season, which gives them an OPS 6% lower than league average against RHP, and basically sucks. There's a big difference between the lineup that Santana has to handle and the lineup that Felix has to handle.
A lot of the Twins' offensive suckitude this season has come in the second half of the season, where the Twins have "hit" .253/.308/.377 as a team. For comparison, Luis Rivas, in his career, has hit .262/.307/.383. Perhaps that best describes what it's been like to watch this team's offense since the All-Star break--it's like watching Luis Rivas hit over and over and over again. Sure, maybe he'll have a good night in KC, but mainly he's a waste of time.
As far as lineups and managers go, we'll see which manager can out-stupid the other. At least the Twins won't be facing a left-handed pitcher, so Gardy can't hit Tyner lead-off against a LHP, inciting me to run onto the field and strangle him as he hands over the lineup card to the umpires. (Though somehow I'll have to restrain myself as Gardy does just that on Wednesday.)
UPDATE: This might be McClaren's stupidest lineup ever! Felix Hernandez is an extreme groundball pitcher, one of the most extreme ground ball pitchers in the league, and he always has been. So what does McClaren do? He puts Jose Vidro at second base. Granted, Vidro's .330/.372/.379 this year looks decent, but he is slow as molasses and has already hit into 15 double plays this year. (Which of course makes him a great choice to hit second in the lineup.) More importantly, Vidro is absolutely terrible in the field.
His next brilliant idea is to put Willie "Boom-Boom" Bloomquist in for Adrian Beltre at 3B. Willie is not only an offensive downgrade from Beltre (who has a decent .286/.333/.429 line against Santana), he's a clear defensive downgrade from Beltre, who could well be the best defensive third baseman in the league.
Adam Jones gets the start in LF, which is probably McClaren's only good decision in this entire lineup. Sexson continues his sort-of-but-not-really platoon with Broussard (which is fine as Broussard isn't all that hot against lefties or very hot with the glove.)
My favorite part is that McClaren found a way to get Raul Ibanez in the lineup at DH. Ibanez is hitting .258/.280/.342 against LHP this year. For comparison, Jacque Jones has hit .228/.277/.348 in his career against LHP. Jose Lopez is having an awful year and is hitting just .237/.282/.333 against lefties, but that's practically as good as Ibanez. There was no need for McClaren to sacrifice Lopez's defense at 2B when he could have just put Vidro at DH instead of Ibanez.
Gardenhire has finally found a manager who can botch the lineup worse than he can. Wow. (Of course, Gardy counters by putting Tyner at DH and RonDL in LF, because he believes in pixie dust and all that. But really, at this point, Gardy has barely any choices to make.)
Tonight's game could feature ubelmann being called home from the stands in the middle innings. Assuming he does not spontaneously combust.
Should we warn Homeland Security? I think ubes might count as a human WMD.
Gotcha covered there, ubelmench
NOW what is McCleren doing?!
I am predicting a Twins win tonight
I'm predicting that ubelmann will inspire the troops to victory!
I predict a 0-0 tie into the 10th inning.
Of all the calls I have made, this might be the most likely to occur.
a slight change in the lineup tonight
Mauer
Hunter
MVP
cool
That sounds like:
4-3
5-3
6-3
to Moss.
Venez++. Bring it on!
I must say that the last time I saw F-Her pitching against the Twins, I was in a hospital room while Lucy was being (unsuccessfully) induced. Today, BabySBG rolled over for the first time.
tonight's lineup makes lots of people roll over.
(congrats on the milestone, btw)
Twins lineup isn't bad, if you step out of the room while they're announcing the #8 and #9 batters.
Hey NBB, did you get hit by this storm that's tearing up central MN?
Ok I looked at the Nation map again, and you are way to far North and West. Nevermind.
NBB lives out in CT now.
verrrry far west.
Yeah, that's about 20,000 miles west of here. It looks like everyone else in the Nation is out of the storm's path as well. Que suerte!
sister-in-law and family are on their way to the Big Island for a week, to be greeted by a Category 4 hurricane. I played my tiniest fiddle for their benefit as they left.
7. White
8. Tyner
9. Punto
Sounds like runs to me! Rondell is averaging an RBI/game when he starts in LF!
Or is that, "the runs" instead?
Criminy - we have more logs before tonight's game than we did during all of yesterday's game, practically.
It was a beautiful day in Minnesota yesterday. Tough to stay inside on a day like that, especially with the Twins in the tank.
I'm fixin' to make up for a week off. Cover your eyes, Citizens!
Wow, did ubelmann call that or what!
Ubes is plugged into USS Mariner, one of the great sites out there. They have a tremendous amount of traffic, which has resulted in some pissing matches in their game logs. Basically, the owners of the site have been saying that they do NOT want to hear how good Vidro or Ibanez are -- to the point that they've decided to audition new commenters with some unbelievable results.
No avatars? Man, that site is no fun!
They are a little more serious about everything than we are, but they are also tremendous writers.
Can you moderate New Guy's future "predictions"? Just asking...
No respect. No respect, I tells ya.
Good call, ubes!
"and the Twins threat is over...."
sigh.
aw Geez, Morneau goes fishing.
Gordo is campaigning for Bedard for Cy Young. Of course, so are Bedard's numbers.
What the hell was Vidro doing on that? Punto went to his right, dropped the ball and threw him out at second by ten feet.
Vidro is just that slow.
great...
that was hit...tall-ly.
Sexton's tall-y whacker.
*hee hee*
cr@p
So, the three whipping boys at USSM, Ibanez, Vidro, and Sexson all with first inning hits.
Dickenbert inform us that Ibanez has great career numbers against Santana. Take that, ubes!
Dazz: "he got a fastball right down the middle of the plate"
I have a theory: fastballs down the middle of the plate get whacked. What do you all think of my brilliant insight?
I think that theory has a good chance of working out for you.
So both teams have had practically identical first innings, except Richie Sexson and his .206 avg did what Morneau couldn't. The Twins just can't get anything going right.
Could RonDL White be any worse of a LF'er?
He played that Sexson ball just about as terribly as he possibly could.
I only saw a bit of the replay due to a screaming baby, but I thought it looked at least a little catch-able for someone like Tyner if he got a decent jump. Am I making that up due to an intense dislike of Rondelle in the field?
Well, then when he couldn't catch it, he ran right up to the fence and let it get by him.
In person, that ball seemed to hang for a really long time. In just about any other park, that would've been a HR. The ball just won't carry in that direction, which makes Sexson's game winner that much more impressive.
Which is to say that I think a rangy LF'er could've caught that ball.
Greg Luzinski's speed, Jose Canseco's glove, Shannon Stewart's arm, Jason Tyner's bat. Did he get Abby Normal's brain, too?
Punto's average and Tyner's power.
Did anyone else lose the FSN feed?
We have a little problem with FSN... blackout!
I thought it was just me.
I was hoping you guys would be able to do play by play for me.
Tyner singled to center with 2 out. F-her drops the ball on a move to first (balk), advancing Tyner to 2nd. Bunto walks.
It just came back for me.
Brooks Bloomquist throws out Juliette Swango.
making a call - Nicky caught lookin'.
a balk, then a walk! it a rally
Minny, sorta
"Balk, Walk, Jayhawk!"
isn't that how the KU baseball team chant goes?
Close enough.
Punto strikes fear into the K.
Well, elephants are afraid of mice.
Hah.
Must you shatter all of our myths? Next thing you know, we'll hear that Babe Ruth wasn't a saint.
everyone knows he was a candy bar.
Kasilla kan't katch up to F-her's high-test. Inning over.
Now, that's how you play defense on the mound. Very nice play by Santana. He's so quick.
I saw a comment on a blog today by a guy saying he would rather have Captain Cheeseburger than Johan because Johan "isn't the most athletic guy in the world."
wow. just wow.
well, if you're not gonna have Rafer Johnson or Bob Mathias on the mound, why bother with an athlete at all? Makes sense to me.
How do I get one of those neat avatars?
You have to write a 2,000 word essay, including nicely-formatted statistical tables, explaining how TR can save the franchise from irrelevance.
Well, you can check out my work at Battleyourtailoff.com.
That should be enough.
Incidentally, SF101 is interested in attending the convention. I added a link to BYTO in the hometown bloggers.
Wow, the Rondelle White Experience. Sweet.
We're looking forward to his debut album: He's Out of Sight
or click on the "site admin" link on the main page and then the "profile" tab
http://stickandballguy.com/blog/wp-admin/
Ok, this isn't a call. I realize that my calls may have worn out their welcome. But let me just say that i would very much like to see the Twins hit some home runs today. Have at it, sluggers!
I'm sorry. We did not understand your request. Please press "1" if you wish to continue; "2" if you want a shoulder to cry on; "3" to make a more specific request; or "9", followed by the pound sign, to contact a support staff member.
222222222222222222
that remeinds me of that one Simpsons episode where Homer gets fat so he has to work at home
operator: The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now
lol
Your calls will NEVER wear out their welcome!
much.
R_R, did you get my email earlier today?
As a matter of fact, I did. Danke, Düde!
Bitte, baby
Morneau Home Run?
Probably not.
That avatar is classic!
like the Twins' offense, the batter is see-through.
Do you know what it's displaying?
The whiff heard 'round the Nation.