Seattle (0-0) @ Oakland (0-0)

TTown · Post #1 » by **TTown** » Thu Apr 1, 2010 10:31 pm

That's right, it's the season-opening series thread. I haven't been this pumped to start a season since '08... which is a little scary, but let's roll with it.

Wak has released the initial pitching order (Felix/Snell/RRS/Fister/Vargas), so based on that, here's my guesswork on who we'll see from Oakland (2009 stats).

Felix Hernandez (19-5, 2.49) vs. Ben Sheets (DNP)
Ian Snell (5-2, 4.20) vs. Justin Duchscherer (DNP)
Ryan Rowland-Smith (5-4, 3.74) vs. Dallas Braden (8-9, 3.89)
Doug Fister (3-4, 4.13) vs. Brett Anderson (11-11, 4.06)

Hard to say what we'll get from Oakland in the first couple games, as neither Sheets nor Duchscherer have pitched in well over a year.

Bay_Areas_Finest · Post #2 » by **Bay_Areas_Finest** » Fri Apr 2, 2010 1:09 pm

Our rotation sure doesn't look as nice without Cliff Lee.

I'm pretty excited though. I've been waiting for baseball for a while now.

Can't wait to see Felix out there and some of our new offseason acquisitions, mainly Figgins and Bradley.

Post #3 » by **Sweezo** » Tue Apr 6, 2010 4:49 am

What a first game for Kotchman! 4 RBI so far!

farzi · Post #4 » by **farzi** » Tue Apr 6, 2010 7:01 am

Great game! The homeplate ump was terrible on balls and stikes both ways, added more walks than there should have been. Chone is gonna be huge for us, and if Bedard and Lee healthy soon (seems like I say stuff like that a lot as a blazer fan), this team could be a real threat

Bay_Areas_Finest · Post #5 » by **Bay_Areas_Finest** » Tue Apr 6, 2010 1:33 pm

Figgins and Kotchman were huge. Damn. Twice Figgins got second and then advanced on an error. Good times.

I'm loving what I see so far.

TTown · Post #6 » by **TTown** » Tue Apr 6, 2010 5:45 pm

We looked like a college team in the early innings with our baserunning, and that's not a criticism. Glad we're putting the game in motion.

Rob Johnson might not hit another HR until August. Hell of a shot in the 2nd, though.

As said, what a great debut for Kotch. If that would have been a home game he would already have his own cheering section.

Once they get settled, I like the League/Aardsma 8th/9th inning duo. That Morrow trade might just work out in our favor. If Wilson wouldn't have booted that surefire double play, the 8th wouldn't have been nearly as nail biting.

I figured we'd win the opener, but the rest of the series is up in the air. I like Snell, but I certainly wasn't expecting to go into the season with him as our #2. Get healthy, Lee!

I just want to be in striking distance by the 4th of July. Once our staff gets healthy and we can trot out Felix/Lee/Bedard back-to-back-to-back, we're going to go on one hell of a run.

Post #7 » by **Sweezo** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 12:08 am

TTown wrote:We looked like a college team in the early innings with our baserunning, and that's not a criticism. Glad we're putting the game in motion.

Although Bradley and Ichiro were caught stealing...both calls were bang bang plays where the runner appeared to be safe. Between those calls and the blatant trap of the Kotchman hit in CF, watching Kozmanoff throw the game away was karma more than anything else.

TTown wrote:Rob Johnson might not hit another HR until August. Hell of a shot in the 2nd, though.

He sucks...but he was also a rookie last year, right? Maybe he'll work his way towards being an average offensive catcher.

TTown wrote:Once they get settled, I like the League/Aardsma 8th/9th inning duo. That Morrow trade might just work out in our favor. If Wilson wouldn't have booted that surefire double play, the 8th wouldn't have been nearly as nail biting.

Not to mention Lowe/Kelley as well. Texiera also looked pretty darn good this spring. About the only reliever we have that sucks is White...so of course, he's the one Wak turned to with the game on the line. Hopefully that changes...

TTown wrote:I figured we'd win the opener, but the rest of the series is up in the air. I like Snell, but I certainly wasn't expecting to go into the season with him as our #2. Get healthy, Lee!

I like Snell too, but I don't have a ton of patience with him. He needs to show something tonight. I'm not asking for him to what Felix did, but he needs to give his fielders a chance to keep us in the game. No walks and no mistake pitches.

farzi · Post #8 » by **farzi** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 7:57 am

Next time Tex pitches is too soon.

My favorite part of the night was just before his first batter, the announcer says something along the lines of "all this guy does is pitch strikes!"

Ball one low and outside

Bay_Areas_Finest · Post #9 » by **Bay_Areas_Finest** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 1:44 pm

1 2/3 IP, 5 hits. Lovely.

Didn't see the game because I was out drinking, but holy hell, how many hits did our 4-9 hitters have? ONE? That's just pathetic. Plus the only run we score is from a balk and a wild pitch?

Not good stuff. I'm glad that Snell pitched well though.

TTown · Post #10 » by **TTown** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 5:21 pm

Very frustrating game to watch. Snell gave us 6 outstanding innings, but the offense looked like they were having an in-house competition to see which inning could get over quickest at the plate. Sadly, they all lost.

Will Jack Wilson get a hit tonight?

Bay_Areas_Finest · Post #11 » by **Bay_Areas_Finest** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:06 pm

Another loss.

That's it. Blow it up. Trade everyone. Jack Z is horrible.

:oops:

Post #12 » by **Sweezo** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 6:36 pm

Two losses, but neither of them discourage me. The offense is still finding its way, but the pitching and defense look alright.

That said, our DH situation sucks. Griffey looks like he is done, and apparently the team sees fit to put Bradley at DH/Byrnes in LF instead of using Sweeney which means he is completely useless. DH is the one position where offense is the only consideration...

With Colome coming up, our bench now sucks. Byrnes is the spare OF/punch runner on a team where more than one of that kind of player is needed.

farzi wrote:Next time Tex pitches is too soon.

My favorite part of the night was just before his first batter, the announcer says something along the lines of "all this guy does is pitch strikes!"

Ball one low and outside

The results weren't great but I didn't think he looked that bad. That breaking pitch he has is pretty darn good; the walkoff hit was also a pretty good pitch outside the strike zone on an 0-2 count...Ellis just got a bat on it and flared it for the win.

Bay_Areas_Finest · Post #13 » by **Bay_Areas_Finest** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 8:44 pm

This team just needs a power bat in the worst way. I'm a big Milton Bradley fan and I think he'll be good with us, but we dont have a consistent big-hitter in our lineup at all. Atleast Branyan was there last season. Not counting Ichiro/Figgins as our speedy slap hitters, the rest of our lineup is filled with (at best) just SOLID and GOOD bats. Nothing dangerous. Ugh.

Hopefully Z works some magic before the deadline.

TTown · Post #14 » by **TTown** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 9:33 pm

Down 4-0 in the 7th. 2 on, no out for the M's, at least.

When Lee gets back and Bedard proves he's healthy, are we all in agreement Z will no doubt trade for a bat? I mean, that's not really splitting the atom. Felix/Lee/Bedard/Snell/RRS... Fister/Vargas/Olsen? Lots of excess in the starting pitching department.

Which leads me to what I said previously in this thread, that being I just hope we're within striking distance one we get healthy. Get the arms back, trade for a bat (or two)... we'll make a run.

Post #15 » by **Sweezo** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 11:29 pm

It depends. Where do you put a good hitter at? And at what cost? Do we have much payroll flexibility?

TTown · Post #16 » by **TTown** » Fri Apr 9, 2010 12:28 am

Depending what Koch does between now and then, I think we'd have positions open at 1B, 3B, and LF. If we're contending I would hope that management allows the purse to open a bit more, but I can't say with absolutely certainty it would happen.