Todays intrasquad Mariners game featured: no fans in the seats on a beautiful Seattle July afternoon, a late start, audio issues aplenty, Sam Haggerty in center field, innings that ended whenever the coaching squad felt they ought to, Justin Dunn doing his best Dr. Jekyll/Mr. At one point pre-broadcast Dave Sims could be heard stating YEEHAW in the very same tone Mike Blowers says “oh boy” when the Mariners are actually melting down and setting themselves on fire in the middle of an inning.
Our buddy Brittney Bush put it most succinctly:
I have actually very made complex sensations about the 2020 MLB season however I have very easy feelings about the sound of a bat striking a baseball.– Brittney Bush Bollay (@BrittneyBush) July 10, 2020
In his second inning of work, Sheffield similarly dispatched Tom Murphy (whom Dipoto described as “NFL-strong” which suggests Dipoto does not understand about Tom Murphys rich familial experience with upstate New Yorks Highland Games scene), but ran into the buzzsaw of the Unsinkable Tim Lopes when Lopes snuck a ground-ball single up the middle and then promptly stole second. Donnie Walton also makes some infield contact off Sheffield, redirecting a ball at Andy McKays stomach that may or may not have factored into JP Crawford bobbling the ball, however Sheffield strikes out Braden Bishop on an especially nasty pitch to end the inning (or at least, shift the inning into drills).
Justin Dunn did not have as smooth a return to the spotlight, as he continued to workshop the necessary collection to continue beginning games. The Steelheads starter (despite a complicated graphic from the group) got early weak contact from Shed Long prior to facing J.P. Crawford, which highlighted the long-term obstacle ahead of Dunn: keeping left-handed players in check. Last year, in Arkansas, Dunn quit 64 hits in 57.0 innings versus lefties, consisting of seven crowning achievement, with a 64/29 K/BB and 4.26 ERA, compared to 54 hits in 74.2 IP against righties, just six huge flies, and a 94/10 K/BB with a 3.01 ERA. His enemy is his toolkit, which is an exceptional slider and an excellent fastball, neither of which overpower or trick opposite-handers. Thus, as Dipoto stressed on the broadcast, improving his changeup is a must, and a minimum of today he revealed more of the range he needs to go. After working to 1-1 on Crawford, Dunn provided his change-up a couple gos.
Maybe it will be Justus Sheffield, who looked sharp in his very first intrasquad appearance. Sheff dispatched Dee Gordon rapidly, getting ahead 0-2 prior to finding a fastball at the bottom of the zone that Dee harmlessly flipped out to Kyle Lewis in center. Lewis wasnt overly challenged with balls over his had in center today, however had a particularly laser toss and looked simple and comfortable out there– definitely so in contrast to other outfielders weve seen the Mariners go out over the past number of years (years). Evan White made contact however lined straight into the shift, one of lots of we saw on the day, and Kyle Seager popped out to fellow third baseman Patrick Wisdom to end the inning, although truthfully Seager needs to have been called out on strikes a couple pitches before, however umpire/farm director Andy McKay decreased to call the strikeout.
Jerry Dipoto joined the broadcast for the first couple innings and seemed to be priming the fanbase for a difficult season by noting that the Mariners will be playing 2020, if the season occurs, in a division comprised completely of contending teams (Jerry appears to have actually conveniently forgotten the San Francisco Giants in his accounting of the Western Division, who have never ever officially announced their status as a restoring team, however is very much in the same prospect-upswing as Seattle after three straight losing seasons consisting of a bottom-two MLB finish in 2017; in truth, five of last years Western Division groups were bottom half finishers in the league). Dipoto does spend some time keeping in mind how good the Athletics are, which is real, and the Mariners have likewise lost one of their finest As- killers in Felix Hernandez, who owned the As– a career 26-15 versus Oakland, his best without a doubt against any challenger. We require a new As- killer, and stat.
Immediately following the inning, in among the more remarkably captivating hot mics ever recorded, numerous audiences reach the broadcast cubicle to notify them that the audio volume is vacillating extremely, hovering most consistently on nigh-unintelligible. The partners of both Dave Sims and Kyle Lewis appear to connect directly to inform the team that the volume is far too low. The problem is remedied by the following inning, mercifully.
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Faced with 2-1, he tossed a somewhat more competitive version of the pitch, however it failed to capture Crawfords eye.
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In theory, Dunn has all the qualities to be a great starter. What will keep Dunn competitive is what he did on 3-1, faced with a hitters count, tossing a great sufficient fastball anyways to wrestle the count back to a fair fight.
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3-2, Crawford set off the scoring all the very same, switching on an elevated heating system for a solo shot. The difficulties didnt stop there, nevertheless, as the Pilots had the star of the day on their side. Kyle Lewis brought some extra boxes of Wheaties into the hotel today, it appears, with a little bit of extra pep in his step from that, in addition to getting the start in center field today. Dunn fell under a 3-1 hole again, before Lewis did his flight to the ballpark dirty:
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Dunn labored through 2 more plate appearances, getting Daniel Vogelbach to fly out before walking Austin Nola and bringing us to a situational inning end. In the 2nd inning, with the lower half of the lineup and possibly a bit less adrenaline, his command was sharper. A lot of encouragingly, he threw a couple changeups that cleared the “capable pitch” limit against Jake Fraley, leading to a strikeout there, in addition to of Patrick Wisdom to conclude his day. The tale for Dunn, eventually, was a battle of falling behind early or getting ahead, and hopefully more 2nd inning Dunn will appear than the.
Nestor Cortes, the male of lots of arm slots, was next out of the bullpen, and wasted no time at all in utilizing that deceptiveness to deceive poor little lamb Evan White, dropping it low, low, low for this strike three that even Worlds Gentlest Umpire Andy McKay had to call:
Coming in from the bullpen: Assistant GM Justin Hollander, who sounds a lot like Jerry Dipoto, who covers the rest of the video game along with Dave Sims on the live stream. Hollander utilizes his time to highlight the Negro Leagues Museum, which is struggling along with most everything else in the shutdown. You can support the museum with a direct donation here, or purchase some merch in the team store– anything assists!
Nick Margevicius is the next one out of the pen and he looks sharp, quickly retiring the first 2 batters he faces. Nevertheless, [ very Monty Python voice] no one expects the Kyle Lewis Inquisition:
Aside from amazing Dominican phenom Noelvi Marte, KLew has been the breakout star of the early exercises and he did nothing to resolve that narrative today.
Unfortunately the– Pilots? Steelheads? Whoever scored initially– would not be able to muster up more than their 2 Kyle Lewis/one JP Crawford dingers, so the rest of the game proceeded in a tie with the pitching as the highlight. Brandon Brennan and his stylish toe point and killer changeup appeared in the bottom of the fourth, enabling Justin Hollander to preen again about stealing Brennan away in the Rule 5 draft from the Rockies, due to the fact that Brandan Brennan believed he would rather go pitch in Coors Field than in Seattle, and while the Mariners do not have a history of success but what were you thinking BB? The beer is excellent however its not that good, we have simply as many mountains, AND we have waterways. Anyhow, Nola, Marmolejos, and Fraley might not fix the case of Brandon Brennan and the Dastardly Changeup, and Hollander states the Mariners, while not early adopters of analytics led other groups, so we will take both of these measured wins into the next inning.
That swampy feeling that hit you around the top of the fifth was lefty Taylor Guilbeau stepping up on the hill. Guilbeaus schtick is being a reverse-splits lefty, with a changeup as his best pitch beyond a mid-90s fastball. At times in his development, nevertheless, his slider took precedent, and an especially great one triggers Kyle Seager to provide the ball proper social distance on his swing for strike 3. A walk to Tom Murphy led to one of the days more delightful moments, as Guilbeaus lackadaisical leg kick enables Murph to swipe second base at the rate of a trepidatious water buffalo.
Tim Lopes sat fastball very first pitch, driving a leadoff double to open the inning, and from there Ramírezs command flickered in and out of frame like the spider webs across the center field video camera. No hitter after Lopes squared Ramírez up well, but a couple of contact-oriented players like Dee Gordon and Evan White poked balls through the hole to tie the video game at 3-3.
Its the very first day for social distancing practice too, ShedMariners on YouTube
The other fun thing about Taylor Williams is he grew up a giant Mariners fan in Vancouver, WA and went to Camas High School. TWilly walks Kyle Lewis, due to the fact that Kyle Lewis consumes bases like Pac-Man eats pellets, however gets another easy groundout from Vogey before things shift over into drills.
If you were not paying extremely close attention– which would be completely within your authority– you may have missed it when the pitcher switched from Guilbeau to Taylor Williams, who rudely likewise has the very same given name, the very same high socks, and the exact same hair, although considerably less wet-looking and considerably more right-handed.
Therell be no live streaming or radio broadcast of tomorrows Mariners intrasquad video game. Still waiting word if theyll transmit intrasquad video games on radio or Television in the future.
Tim Lopes chops a ball to J.P. Crawford on the next pitch, who makes a fast chuck that led Daniel Vogelbach up the line however appeared to still permit him to apply the tag. From his mound-area angle, umpire Andy McKay sees things in a different way, and rather its 2 on, one out. As Hollander describes the club wont hesitate to start both Murphy and Nola at the same time on a provided day, Guilbeau strolls Sam Haggerty after a passed ball from taxi catcher Brian OKeefe, and the inning ends unceremoniously by supervisor fiat with a pickoff drill.
Oh. Well, never mind then, I think. See you Monday, Mariners.
Todays intrasquad Mariners video game included: no fans in the seats on a gorgeous Seattle July afternoon, a late start, audio issues aplenty, Sam Haggerty in center field, innings that ended whenever the coaching squad felt they ought to, Justin Dunn doing his best Dr. Jekyll/Mr. At one point pre-broadcast Dave Sims might be heard saying YEEHAW in the very same tone Mike Blowers states “oh boy” when the Mariners are literally melting down and setting themselves on fire in the middle of an inning. Jerry Dipoto signed up with the broadcast for the first couple innings and seemed to be priming the fanbase for a hard season by noting that the Mariners will be playing 2020, if the season happens, in a division made up completely of contending groups (Jerry appears to have actually easily forgotten about the San Francisco Giants in his accounting of the Western Division, who have never ever formally announced their status as a rebuilding group, however is very much in the very same prospect-upswing as Seattle after three straight losing seasons consisting of a bottom-two MLB finish in 2017; in fact, five of last years Western Division groups were bottom half finishers in the league). Donnie Walton also makes some infield contact off Sheffield, redirecting a ball at Andy McKays midsection that might or might not have factored into JP Crawford bobbling the ball, however Sheffield strikes out Braden Bishop on an especially nasty pitch to end the inning (or at least, transition the inning into drills).
The video game goes six innings instead of the forecasted 7, due to the fact that even the Mariners have a case of quaran-time.
Thats the wrap, 3-3 on the board, an appropriately anti-climactic conclusion to a strange internal match, however the real-adjacency provided genuine delight and intrigue all the very same. Saturday and Sunday will have intrasquad matchups also, consisting of a thoroughly attracting set of starters in RHP Logan Gilbert and LHP Brandon Williamson. Itll be the very first take a look at two appealing young righties for lots of fans, and the first possibility to see Williamson for anyone who didnt catch him in Everett last summer season, so surely the Mariners will aspire to get fans thrilled about some of the potential customers theyve staked their restore arou-.
Taylor Guilbeau vs. Taylor Williams resembles that thing with comedy twins where you need to simply remember their one key difference or hijinks occur (Guilbeau is the lefty) pic.twitter.com/fWXpyhsMV2— Lookout Landing (@LookoutLanding) July 11, 2020
The video game goes 6 innings rather of the anticipated 7, due to the fact that even the Mariners have a case of quaran-time. Carl Edwards Jr., who we have not seen much of in live BP on the stream yet, has the top of the sixth. Hollander states CEJs things was a few of the most explosive hes seen in camp, and he gets Walton to roll over one despite some area mistakes. Braden Bishop displays more of the saint-like patience hes been revealing on Twitter recently and handles to lay off some poorly-located things, making himself a walk. Cal Raleigh enters the video game only to quickly become the second out of the inning as hes tricked by a big-league running fastball. Evan White works a walk and things shift into drill mode, with Dee Gordon doing some situational bunting, and Justin Hollander openly advocates for a crowning achievement derby to identify a winner. JH, were warming to you. Sam Delaplane closes things out and while he doesnt allow any loud contact, he again did not have command, which is a little troubling as its his 2nd rusty trip in a row, followed by some shaky getaways at Spring Training. Simply close your eyes and picture its all Modesto, Sam. If you require it, were delighted to pipeline in some cow smells and the scary rictus of Wally the Walnut.
