Kuzul

The Seattle Mariners entered the 2015 Major League Baseball season with championship aspirations, but their inconsistent play has them toward the bottom of the American League standings.

Before the season, ESPN’s Buster Olney (h/t SB Nation) predicted that the Mariners would face the Pittsburgh Pirates in this year’s World Series. However, things haven’t gone as planned for Seattle so far in 2015.

The team ended April with an unimpressive 10-12 record. The Mariners began the month of May with a 1-5 record, including a sweep at the hands of the American League West-leading Houston Astros.

The team returned home for a nine-game home stand and seems to be back on the rise. The Mariners have a 6-4 record in their last 10 games, including a sweep of the Oakland Athletics.

After an up-and-down start to the season, here are a few storylines that have taken shape for Seattle so far in 2015.

Pitching has been a glaring weakness instead of strength

The biggest thing that made the Mariners a legit World Series contender this offseason was their elite pitching staff. However, the team’s starting rotation and bullpen have been less than satisfactory so far this season.

Felix Hernandez has proven why he’s one of the best pitchers in the game today, with an impressive 6-1 record and a 2.30 ERA. Hernandez also recently passed Jamie Moyer for the franchise record with 2,115.1 innings pitched. Even the great ones fall, though, as Hernandez struggled with his command early and often in a 4-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

The team’s highly touted young pitchers have demonstrated both inexperience and erratic play so far this season. Taijuan Walker, 22, has looked inconsistent this season since allowing just two runs in 27 innings pitched during spring training. James Paxton, 26, has allowed 4.15 runs per nine innings pitched this season after entering 2015 with high hopes.

Last season, the Mariners bullpen was widely considered one of the best in the major leagues, led by All-Star closer Fernando Rodney. This season, the bullpen has squandered many leads late in games, and Rodney hasn’t capitalized on his opportunities. Rodney has recorded an abysmal 5.65 ERA so far this season, including a 5.87 ERA against right-handed batters.

The pitching staff has also suffered key injuries so far this season. Hisashi Iwakuma, one of the best No. 2 pitchers in the league, suffered a right lateral strain on May 12 and is on the team’s disabled list until possibly late June. Relief pitcher Tyler Olson suffered a right knee contusion on May 3 and isn’t due to return until later this month.

On the positive side, the pitching staff struggled early last season before the team’s red-hot performance after the All-Star break. If Seattle hopes to earn its first postseason bid since 2001, its pitching staff will have to turn it around.

Nelson Cruz and J.A Happ worth every penny

The Mariners made arguably the biggest move this offseason in acquiring Cruz as a free agent from the Baltimore Orioles. Cruz has continued his impressive play with a .340 batting average, 15 home runs and 30 RBI so far this season.

Cruz has also demonstrated great clutch hitting this season, with two walk-off hits so far. The Mariners needed an impact bat this offseason, and Cruz has contributed in a variety of situations.

The 34-year-old Cruz also fills a hole the Mariners have attempted many times to fill since former designated hitter Edgar Martinez retired after the 2004 season. Though it is almost inevitable that Cruz’s impressive statistics will drop, there is no doubt he is an early American League MVP candidate.

Starting pitcher J.A Happ has looked like this season’s version of former Mariner pitcher and 2014 American League Comeback Player of the Year Chris Young. Through his first seven starts, Happ has a 3-1 record and has limited big-play opportunities with a .416 ground-ball percentage.

The Mariners acquired Happ through an offseason trade with the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Michael Saunders. Considering the fact that Saunders has only played nine games for the Blue Jays this season, it looks like the Mariners got a bargain in Happ.

Happ has been one of the few bright spots on the team’s pitching staff so far this season. Currently slotted in as the team’s No. 5 starter, Happ may move up the rotational ranks if he continues his hot start.

Though Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik’s moves this offseason have so far been viewed as the right ones, don’t be surprised if the team isn’t done making moves before the MLB trade deadline in July.

Robinson Cano looks lost

When the Mariners signed Cano to a 10-year, $240 million deal in December 2013, the team hoped he would bring his consistent power to a lineup in need of a big bat. Though Cano’s batting average dating back to the beginning of last season has been impressive, his power is clearly not the same as it once was.

Cano has totaled just 15 home runs and a .403 slugging percentage through 194 career games with the Mariners. Cano has struggled this season with just one home run and a .253 batting average through 37 games.

He also has a career-worst .169 strikeout percentage, his highest since the 2011 season. Cano has also struggled with runners in scoring position, with just 11 RBI to begin the year. During a May 15 interview with 710 ESPN Seattle, via Brent Stecker, Cano spoke about his slow start this season.

“I want to do better than what I’m doing right now,” Cano said during the Danny, Dave and Moore show. “I want to go out there and help the team win every single game.”

What should give Mariners fans confidence is the fact that other perennial All-Stars have struggled around the league this season. Pittsburgh Pirates’ star outfielder Andrew McCutchen is hitting just .233 this season after three consecutive seasons with a batting average of .314 or better.

While Cano hasn’t had the best start to his season, there is almost no question he will turn things around. Cano has been a notorious slow starter over his 11-year career, and it looks like this year will be no different.

Follow Curtis on Twitter: @CalhounCurtis

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In the aftermath of significant, life-threatening head injuries suffered by pitchers, MLB has informed its 30 clubs that padded caps have been approved to provide some head protection against line drives flying back at the mound.

According to ESPN’s Outside the Lines, a product, with help from the Players Association, has been launched with the purpose of protecting pitchers. 

Now, a new task emerges for the sport: Convincing pitchers to wear the product on a daily basis.

The announcement, although exciting and important, is just the first step. 

Dan Halem, MLB executive vice president for labor relations, was ecstatic about the potential for safety and future growth of the technology.

“We’re excited to have a product that meets our safety criteria,” Halem told Outside the Lines, adding that baseball will continue its efforts to come up with more options. “MLB is committed to working with manufacturers to develop products that offer maximum protection to our players, and we’re not stopping at all.”

Per the OTL piece, five pitchers—Oakland’s Brandon McCarthy, Houston’s Mickey Storey, Detroit’s Doug Fister, Toronto’s J.A. Happ and Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb—were hit in the head with batted balls between Sept. 5, 2012 and June 15, 2013.  

In the span of less than one year, five pitchers, including Fister on the World Series stage, had their lives hang in the balance when a baseball came careening at them, affording even top-tier athletes little time to move out of the way.

While the rash of pitcher injuries grew in a quick span, the issue for Major League Baseball has been around for years. From San Diego’s Chris Young to Houston’s Billy Wagner to Boston’s Bryce Florie, the sight of a bloodied, dazed pitcher walking off the mound is all too familiar to baseball fans.

Unfortunately, the names listed above and video evidence of unsightly and grotesque injuries won’t change the mindset of some pitchers.

Amazingly, despite falling victim to one of the most famous incidents in the history of batted-ball injuries, Brandon McCarthy didn’t react positively to the new technology. As he told Jayson Stark of ESPN, the new cap is “too big” and doesn’t “pass the eye test.” 

In sports, comfort trumps safety. For an athlete to perform best, mental and physical comfort is a necessity. In the NFL, it’s routine to see skill players (wide receivers, running backs, defensive backs) eschew standard padding for more comfort and the perceived ability to move more fluidly.

The new caps, per OTL, will have seven ounces of weight more than the prior, non-padded cap. That may seem like a small amount for peace of mind, but could be looked at as another obstacle or distraction in a craft that desperately attempts to simplify things. 

While some pitchers will adopt and adapt early in the name of safety, not everyone will be willing to go the extra mile for peace of mind.

Alex Cobb, one of the recent line-drive victims, spoke about his incident as a “pink elephant” (video below, per MLB.com) and references the need to put worry and fear out of sight and out of mind. If that mindset is prevalent among pitchers with a past injury, they may not want to be reminded of it every time they put on their cap. 

Comfort issues can be overcome, but knowing that protective head gear is in the cap could lead pitchers to thinking about the possibility of being struck. If that thought process begins, it’s unlikely many pitchers would jump at the chance to wear the new technology.

When asked by OTL if he would wear the cap, J.A. Happ, despite his recent injury, wasn’t sure due to the feel and comfort.

“I’d have to see what the differences in feel would be. Does it feel close enough to a regular cap? You don’t want to be out there thinking about it and have it take away from your focus on what you’re doing.”

Furthermore, if the cap looks different or fits atop a pitchers head strangely, jokes will ensue. In 2009, on the path back from a concussion, New York Mets third baseman David Wright wore a new helmet designed to keep him safe in the event of another erratic pitch striking him in the head. 

When he took the field looking like a bobble-head, the commentary and comedic banter commenced among the media and fans.

Although the new, padded cap will be bigger in weight, it won’t be a gigantic version of the old caps, thus a David Wright situation is unlikely to occur. Still, some players won’t be receptive for reasons of comfort or the inability to block out why a padded cap is necessary.  

In time, the sport could consider making the new equipment mandatory, but until then it’s impossible to predict how many pitchers will actually wear the new gear. Hopefully, protected or not, baseball doesn’t go through another year of scary moments on the mound.

Yet, as morbid as it may sound, one of the only ways for the message to get across is more instances of injury to pitchers during game action.

This announcement is a major step for the long-term safety of pitchers, but it’s only one step. The key will be in convincing pitchers of how important the new technology may be in saving careers and lives.  

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk all things baseball. 

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Between poor pitching and a severe injury, 2013 has not been friendly to Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher J.A. Happ.

Happ was drilled with a comebacker off the bat of Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Desmond Jennings on May 7. Happ was rushed to the hospital and was later diagnosed with a minor fracture to the left side of his skull, according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com.

Happ also managed to twist his knee while falling to the ground, but it will not require surgery, reports Chisholm.

Happ was placed on the 15-day disabled list by Toronto a day later and on Friday was moved to the 60-day DL, according to Andrew Simon of MLB.com. July 7 is now the earliest that Happ can return, but as Shi Davidi of SportsNet reports, he’s still waiting on his knee to fully recover:

Before the injury, Happ hadn’t been pitching very well. He made seven starts for the Blue Jays, going 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA in 33 innings of work. He had some serious command issues, though, averaging 5.18 walks per nine innings, the most of any Toronto starter with at least five starts.

The Blue Jays have started the season on a poor note, entering Friday in the cellar of the AL East, 8.5 games behind the division-leading New York Yankees. While most of the team has yet to click yet, the starting rotation has clearly been Toronto’s biggest weakness.

Over the winter, though, it appeared the Blue Jays would have a very strong staff. They acquired R.A. Dickey from the New York Mets and Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle from the Miami Marlins. None of those three have an ERA under 4.50.

The Blue Jays in general have the fourth-worst starting rotation in baseball in terms of WAR, according to FanGraphs. They’re walking more batters every nine innings than all but two teams in the league. Things just haven’t gone according to plan for the team north of the border.

Once Happ comes off the disabled list, presumably after the All-Star break, in my non-professional opinion, it’s make-or-break for the Blue Jays. He can either spark this team and potentially lead them to a postseason berth or he can continue to pitch like he did before getting hurt and Toronto can battle for a top draft choice.

Toronto certainly has the talent to make a strong second-half push, but everyone is going to have to hit and pitch their best, including Happ.

Since 2009, though, Happ hasn’t been very good. He went 6-4 with a 3.40 ERA and a 4.84 BB/9 in 2010 between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros. He went 6-15 in 2011 with Houston and 10-11 with the Astros and Blue Jays last season. This season has easily been his worst nightmare, though.

In Happ’s first full season in the big leagues, he looked great. He went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 35 appearances (23 starts). He had solid command of nearly all of his pitches and looked to have a high ceiling. As I mentioned, he’s been a bit of a letdown ever since.

Happ is more than capable of pitching like an ace—or at least a front-of-the-rotation stater. It may be a bit bold to say, but the remainder of the Blue Jays’ season rests in the left hand of Happ.

His teammates will want to put as many runs on the board as possible for him once he returns, and if he can have a couple of quality starts, Toronto could turn its season around. But it could go even more south just as quickly. 

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Billed as a battle of two struggling American League East teams, Tuesday night’s game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays took a scary turn after pitcher J.A. Happ was struck in the head by a line drive. 

The hit came off the bat of Rays outfielder Desmond Jennings’ bat, as the concerned fans at Tropicana Field looked on. Medical personnel quickly rushed to the field to help out Happ and the contest was halted for several minutes following the injury.

(Warning: The video below is not for the squeamish.) 

Major League Baseball’s Twitter feed was among the first to tweet about the horrifying scene, as Happ had to be escorted off the field on a stretcher:

While the extent of his injuries are unknown at this time, Blue Jays play-by-play announcer Mike Wilner noted that Happ’s left arm and hand were bleeding (ostensibly from covering his head):

Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Bay Tribune notes that Happ‘s head was immobilized, but his arms were moving when taken off the field:

Happ’s injury happened midway through the second inning, as Jennings’ hit caromed toward right field and resulted in a triple. Two runs scored on the play, giving Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead.

The left-hander Happ left the game having thrown 1.1 innings and giving up four earned runs on five hits. He was replaced by Brad Lincoln. 

The 30-year-old Happ is in his first full season with Toronto after his trade from the Houston Astros last season, and signed a two-year contract with the team this offseason.

Heading into Tuesday night’s start, Happ was working out perfectly as a back-of-the-line rotation member. He had a 2-2 record with a 3.98 ERA and 1.42 WHIP, all statistics that placed him among the team leaders. 

Toronto is a disappointing 12-21 for the season and was 9.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox for first place in the AL East coming into Tuesday’s contest.

Follow @tylerconway22

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This upcoming season for Astros pitchers will be an interesting one for fantasy owners. With Brett Myers’ 2010 success, a strong second half from Wandy Rodriguez, and J.A. Happ’s potential, Houston has a chance to showcase three top-100 starters this year.

In his first season with Houston, Brett Myers had one of the best years of his career. He successfully took over the role as ace of the rotation, especially with Oswalt’s move to Philly.

Myers (2010: 14-8, 223.2 IP, 3.14 ERA, 180 K) was able to stay healthy and even went 8-0 with a 2.01 ERA at home. Last season may be considered a fluke to some, but I am a Myers believer.

Entering 2011 he should be ranked in the mid to high twenties. His ERA may go up a little, but the strikeouts, wins, and fantastic home field benefit will be there as long as he can remain healthy.

I’d like to find out how many fantasy owners dropped Wandy Rodriguez half way through the 2010 season. As a Rodriguez owner myself, there were a few times of yelling at my computer while glaring up and cursing Wandy to the heavens above… but I digress.

Wandy was able to turn his season around. After the All Star break, he went 5-1 with a 2.11 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 93.2 innings pitched. The second half of last season was the Rodriguez we are all used to seeing. Rodriguez’s post-All Star stats to continue into 2011, and he can be your team’s solid third starter. Expect him to get around 14 wins while posting a mid-3.00 ERA.

Houston’s third starter, J.A. Happ, made 16 starts in 2010 and seemed to fit nicely in his new role with the Astros. His 2010 totals (Philadelphia and Houston) include a 5-4 record with a 3.40 ERA.

Looking forward to 2011, Happ needs to pitch further into games to be a solid fantasy play. Only going seven innings or more in two of his 16 starts proved to be detrimental to his fantasy value. Happ does has the Minute Maid home field advantage, going 4-1 with 38 strikeouts in 44.1 innings with a 3.22 ERA, so fantasy owners can use this to their benefit.

Expect Happ to be a fourth or fifth starter in most mixed leagues, and possibly see 13 wins, a 7.0 K/9 ratio, and an ERA between 3.20 and 3.50.

Continue Reading >>>

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The Houston Astros decided about halfway through last season that it was time to enter that period that no fan wants to hear, and that is rebuilding. The Astros decided to trade away the only remaining players from that 2005 team that made the World Series.

They decided to finish out the season with a lot of rookies and young players, but if the way the Astros finished last year is any indication of things to come, this team is ready to grow up quick and make some noise in 2011.

Within three days, the Astros traded Roy Oswalt to the Phillies for J.A. Happ and two other players. One of those other players was OF Anthony Gose who they quickly turned around and traded to Toronto for first basemen Brett Wallace.

Two days later, Lance Berkman was traded for two minor league players.  Then players like Chris Johnson, Tommy Manzella, Angel Sanchez and Jason Castro were called up to the big time. Before Astros fans knew what happened, they had almost an entirely different team.

At the start of August last year the Astros had a record of 45-59 and many people thought it would only get worse with the fact they basically had a minor league team wearing a major league uniform.

However, this team showed some talent and grit down the stretch and actually finished the season 32-27 from that point, including a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. The way the season ended gives Astros fans hope for this coming season.

Now at this point they will not be competing for a World Series, but a third place finish in the NL Central with a record above .500 is not out of the question and this a brighter outlook than what many fans thought back at the end of July. It looks like the Astros have found a player that will secure the hot corner for years to come in Chris Johnson, who hit .308 last season with 11 HRs and 52 RBIs in 94 games.

They also have two players with great potential in Brett Wallace and Jason Castro who benefited from the playing time in the majors last season. Add in Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee with Michael Bourn leading off and wreaking havoc on the bath paths and the Astros have the potential for a solid batting lineup

The Astros have also been able to build a solid pitching rotation by adding a couple of young pitchers. They were able to trade for J.A. Happ and called up Bud Norris last year who will be paired in a rotation with veterans Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers.

Bud Norris finished strong last season going 6-3 since August, Wandy was consistent throughout finishing 11-12 with a 3.60 ERA and 178 strikeouts. The real surprise last year was Brett Myers who finished the year 14-8 with a 3.14 ERA and 180 strikeouts. Myers pitched well enough that the Astros rewarded him with a two-year extension.

Now this team has a lot of questions surrounding them.

Will the young players be able to continue to improve and develop while playing at a high level? Will Brett Myers be able to step up and be the ace of this rotation? Will Clint Barmes and Bill Hall be able to be able to hold down that middle of the infield? Can Carlos Lee still play in the outfield?

It is hard to say at this point, however, I think manager Brad Mills has a team that will play hard and compete. I also believe that the future looks much brighter than it did back at the end of July and the dreaded “rebuilding period” may be shorter than first thought for Astros fans.

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Baseball, like all sports, is in the age of specialization.

In football, teams have a guy on the roster who is just a long-snapper and a guy who just handle kickoffs. In basketball, teams have guys on their roster who are defensive specialists or three-point specialists.

In baseball, as we all know, teams have left-handed pitchers on the roster just to pitch to one left-handed batter in the game. Well, the Houston Astros took specialization to another level on Wednesday afternoon.

In a 10-inning, 8-6 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, manager Brad Mills used nine different pitchers. Really? Nine pitchers to record 30 outs?

Mills essentially turned Wednesday’s game into an All-Star Game.

Here is the inning breakdown of the nine starters used:

JA Happ: 4.1

Henry Villar: 0.2

Felipe Paulino: 1.0

Tim Byrdak: 0.1

Mark Melancon: 0.2

Fernando Abad: 1.0

Brandon Lyon: 1.0

Matt Lindstrom: 0.0

Gustavo Chacin: 1.0

Now granted, Lindstrom was used because Lyon naturally blew the save in the ninth and Chacin was used because Lindstrom was dreadful in the 10th. But even if you take Lindstrom and Chacin out of the equation, there is no way a team should use seven pitchers in one nine-inning game when the opposing team hasn’t scored 10 runs or more.

You want to know why games three-and-a-half or four hours these days? Just look at innings five, six, and seven for the Astros. They used four pitchers to get nine outs.

I don’t mind mixing and matching late in the game, but there is no reason why middle relievers can’t pitch two or three innings these days. There’s really no excuse for it.

It might be a while before Mills ever manages an All-Star Game for the National League, but he certainly managed one for the Astros on Wednesday.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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Although the Houston Astros have spent a majority of the 2010 season in the cellar of the National League Central, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the team’s future.

Today, we’re going to look at 15 solid reasons to get pumped up about next year’s Astros squad.

Let’s begin by taking a look at five honorable mention candidates before quickly narrowing down to the top 10 players on Houston’s young and talented depth chart with the highest probability of becoming future MLB stars.

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In MLB, a sophomore slump, also refer to as sophomore jinx, is identified when a player is not able to live up to the standards set by their rookie season. 

Reasons to blame for the “slump” may be injury or lack of adjustments.

Pitchers seem to be more likely to regress because of fatigue. The innings pitched in their rookie season may have dramatically surpassed the prior season; think of the “Verducci Effect”.

A young hitter will have to succeed by making adjustments. As the league sees the player, more videos and scouting reports will be available. Success will be determined on how fast the hitter adjusts to the new pitches being thrown and the location.

But is this term overused by many or is this cliche warranted?

Are players susceptible to this “jinx?

To answer these questions, I reviewed the second year seasons of the top 90 rookies to enter the Major Leagues since 1995.

The number of players identified to have struggle in their season was 20 (or 22%). Approximately 50 players had similar seasons as their rookie campaign with the remaining 20 surpassing their first year totals.

Surprisingly the split was almost even between hitters and pitchers.

The 11 pitchers identified were:

1. Livan Hernandez (1998)

2. Jason Dickson (1998)

3. Kerry Wood (1999)

4. Rolando Arroyo (1999)

5. Jeff Zimmerman (2000)

6. Rick Ankiel (2001)

7. Rodrigo Lopez (2003)

8. Shingo Takatsu (2005)

9. Josh Johnson (2007)

10. JA Happ (2010)

11. Rick Porcello (2010)

What Was Identified:

Wood, Ankiel, Johnson, and Happ were injured in their second season. Probably due to being overused.

Josh Johnson is the only pitcher to fully bounce back to become an All-Star.

The nine hitters to make the list were:

1. Quilvio Veras (1996)

2. Todd Hollandsworth (1997)

3. Jose Cruz Jr (1998)

4. Travis Lee (1999)

5. Warren Morris (2000)

6. Bobby Crosby (2005)

7. Troy Tulowitzki (2008)

8. Geovany Soto (2009)

9. Chris Coghlan (2010)

What Was Identified:

Hollandsworth, Crosby, Soto, and Coghlan join Kerry Wood as the ROY winners to make this list.

As basically all bounced back to have productive years, Morris is identified as a “One Hit Wonder”. He is the one player who didn’t. Will Coghlan, Happ and Porcello join Morris.

Tulowitzki has bounced from his 2008 season to become the best shortstop in baseball.

The results of this review proves that an average of one top rookie suffers the “jinx”. So it proves that the label “sophomore slumps” may be a cliche, but cliches exist for a reason. 

The question that everyone should be asking, especially fantasy baseball owners, who will suffer the “slump” next year out this year’s rookie crop?

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It has been less than a week since J.A. Happ was dealt to the Houston Astros with Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar for Roy Oswalt. Unlike minor league prospects Gose and Villar, however, Happ was once a key piece of the Phillies’ starting roster, particularly in 2009, when he finished second in Rookie of the Year balloting to Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan.

Happ’s odd career as a Phillie saw him go from organizational spare part in 2008, to rookie sensation in 2009, and then back to spare part in 2010.

His forearm injury and subsequent extended DL stint led Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. to feel that Happ was expendable in a deal for a top veteran pitcher such as Oswalt.

However, in his short career as a Philadelphia Phillie, Happ became a fan favorite for his composure on the mound, and for his unexpected run of dominance in the summer of 2009. While Phillies fans have been generally ecstatic about acquiring of pitcher of Roy Oswalt’s caliber, many fans also have expressed sadness that Happ had to be included for the deal to be completed.

Let’s take a look back at some of the games that made Happ such a popular player, in both the clubhouse and the stands.

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