If youre a fan of pitching duels, and more particularly a fan of sliders, this video game was tailor-made in baseball heaven for you and you must run not walk to your nearest MLB TV broadcast and re-watch it in all its magnificence.
Sheffields started to move when he was seen as expendable adequate to be dealt to the Mariners in the James Paxton trade, since clearly if the Yankees dont desire it, its garbage, and took another hit when the Mariners moved Sheff out of the Bouncy Ball Funland of Triple-A and sent him to Double-A Arkansas, where he could develop together with fellow pitching prospect and BFF Justin Dunn. Today, in making his very first MLB win, Sheffield advised everybody that not just is his profession young– he has less MLB innings than he pitched at Triple-A last year– however so is his sequential age; hes still young enough to be on his parents health insurance,
German Marquez was excellent for the Rockies, blending plus speed with a nasty curve that he got a better feel for as the video game endured. There were a couple of at-bats where he found mid-90s at the outside edge of the zone that truly visually strengthened why hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do. He made one mistake pitch to Dylan Moore, though, and Dylan Moore, El Gigante de Yorba Linda, made Márquez pay:
That was a two-run shot since J.P. Crawford, who continues to make himself in the house at the top of the lineup, was on base with a single. The Mariners batters took the approach of being aggressive early in depend on Márquez, trying to get to the fastball prior to he had a chance to break out the nasty secondaries, and while it worked for Moore here, Márquez went on lockdown after that, dealing with the minimum till the sixth inning, cleaning up any errors– both to Joe Hudson, of all things, a single and a walk– with double plays.
On the other side, however, Justus Sheffield was even sharper than Márquez. One of Sheffields only mistakes on the day was, after sawing off the first two batters in the video game for simple flyouts, getting into a lengthy battle with a god-tier Charlie Blackmon, permitting a fastball to capture too much of the plate that Blackmon turned around for a double, since Charlie Blackmon.
The slider was vicious today; Sheffield tossed it between 78-84 miles per hour depending on place and count, sometimes utilizing it to wipe batters away at the back foot, as he does here, and other times utilizing it to pepper different parts of the zone at various speeds. He really struck Kemp out three times, two times on that backfoot slider and when on this, at 81 throughout the zone:
Even more impressively, Sheffield didnt stroll anyone, never getting to a three-ball count and consistently working ahead of batters. Sheffield got Isan Diaz to pop out on the infield on a slider up in the zone, and then got himself out of his jam with his fifth strikeout on the day:
That implied it was time for everybodys least favorite video game, Mariners Bullpen Roulette. Today it was Erik Swanson initially up, who is a minigame within himself: will it be the great Erik Swanson, or a steady serving of North Dakotas favorite reward, Swansons Meatballs?
Perhaps realizing they would require to do more to hold on to Sheffields first big league win, the Mariners benefited from some Rockies protective mistakes in the bottom of the seventh. Kyle Lewis made the most of Nolan Arenados day off to position an infield single down the third base line, and then Kyle Seager should have struck into a GIDP however Owings bobbled it when, twice, three times lady, and after that intensified his mistake by tossing it away, putting runners at 3rd and second without any outs. Vogey then grounded out, however Evan White, with two strikeouts on the day, pounced on Márquezs first pitch, a high slider that captured method excessive of the plate. White missed out on a three-run bomb by just feet– the ball came off his bat at 103.8 miles per hour, the second-hardest hit ball of the game, with an xBA of.810– however it sufficed to drive in Lewis from 3rd. Tim Lopes followed with an RBI single on a breaking ball that Márquez, plainly losing some of his feel at this point, left in the middle of the plate, poking an RBI single into center and then snatching second base. Dee Gordon followed with an RBI single of his own, scoring Lopes and pushing the lead out to 5-0.
Bullpen roulette giveth and it taketh, and todays bullpenning was committed by Dan Altavilla, who got 2 fast outs and then permitted a walk, stolen base, and RBI single to Trevor Story to put Colorado on the board. Blackmon then strolled, and Kemp, really delighted to see a pitcher not named Justus Sheffield, singled house Story. This triggered Scott Servais to rely on his cabinet marked “Break Glass In Case of Bullpenning” and release the TWilly, who enabled a single to David Dahl, bringing the score to an annoyingly close 5-3, but then wrecked pinch-hitter Daniel Murphys shit on this wicked fastball:
One of Sheffields only errors on the day was, after sawing off the first two batters in the game for easy flyouts, getting into a lengthy fight with a god-tier Charlie Blackmon, allowing a fastball to catch too much of the plate that Blackmon turned around for a double, due to the fact that Charlie Blackmon. Maybe realizing they would require to do more to hold on to Sheffields very first significant league win, the Mariners took advantage of some Rockies defensive mistakes in the bottom of the seventh. And hence the Mariners managed to Justus Sheffields very first MLB win.
Sheffields started to move when he was seen as expendable enough to be dealt to the Mariners in the James Paxton trade, because obviously if the Yankees do not desire it, its trash, and took another struck when the Mariners moved Sheff out of the Bouncy Ball Funland of Triple-A and sent him to Double-A Arkansas, where he might develop alongside fellow pitching prospect and BFF Justin Dunn. Today, in earning his first MLB win, Sheffield reminded everyone that not only is his profession young– he has less MLB innings than he pitched at Triple-A last year– however so is his chronological age; hes still young sufficient to be on his parents health insurance coverage,
The Mariners had an opportunity to add on when the Rockies brought in Tyler Kinley, a clearly inferior Tyler, who packed the bases with two walks and a hit batter, but the Mariners were not able to capitalize thanks to a poor plate appearance by Vogelbach (sigh) and a strong however eventually ineffective plate appearance from Evan White, who did not strike out! And thus the Mariners handled to Justus Sheffields very first MLB win.
