Seattle Beat Writers and BS About the Offense.

[Seattle or Bust]

Dude went 1-7 there. I would say that Cal has met his projection due to his power. Julio obviously hasn't, JP has had only one really good season as a hitter, Marte started off well and then got busted for PEDs at which point the air went out of the balloon. Arroyo? I don't think Vogie even looked him up. Finally, as we all know, Locklear and Young have not stood out at all hitting-wise. I just wonder what the hell is going through Vogie's mind as he clicks on "SUBMIT".

Just imagine if Vogie had been on the Mariners Forum in 1985, he'd be telling us about how the Mariner organization has done such a great job developing guys like Manny Castillo, Johnny Moses, Domingo Ramos, and Al "Choo Choo" Chambers.

Agree a little bit re: Cal -

The only thing that bothers me about his development is that he was a .275 hitter in the minors and he once had a 23-game hitting streak. He once hit in 32 of 35 games to start a season for Tacoma.

Where did the ability to contact a baseball go?

Pitching is better in the majors. You know this.

Sure I know this. But some 70 points less in batting average? Massive jump in K rate?

The guy is hitting .218 for his career...

Only 4 catchers with 300 at bats hit worse than him from a batting average perspective in '24. We're not talking a small dip caused by MLB pitching. We're talking a total transformation of a guy who showed he could contact the baseball at a well-above average rate in the minors.

It's really hard to make the argument that Cal wouldn't be the clear no. 1 catcher in baseball if he could just hit .240... but alas, like most Mariners, he can't do the the thing that elevates him to the next level.

[GL_Storm]

Agree a little bit re: Cal -

The only thing that bothers me about his development is that he was a .275 hitter in the minors and he once had a 23-game hitting streak. He once hit in 32 of 35 games to start a season for Tacoma.

Where did the ability to contact a baseball go?

Pitching is better in the majors. You know this.

Sure I know this. But some 70 points less in batting average? Massive jump in K rate?

The guy is hitting .218 for his career...

Only 4 catchers with 300 at bats hit worse than him from a batting average perspective in '24. We're not talking a small dip caused by MLB pitching. We're talking a total transformation of a guy who showed he could contact the baseball at a well-above average rate in the minors.

It's really hard to make the argument that Cal wouldn't be the clear no. 1 catcher in baseball if he could just hit .240... but alas, like most Mariners, he can't do the the thing that elevates him to the next level.

I think Cal has sort of maximized his abilities, or come close. He's an overachiever type. As a hitter, I think .240 to.260 is possible if he can incrementally improve his chase, whiff, and K percentages. He's at the age range where players typically have their best seasons.

[bpj]

I'd be pretty happy with Cal at this point in his career if he was batting about .240

What about you guys?

Well, the thing is, he is.

T-Mobile is murdering everyone, but Cal had a .237 batting average this season in Away games. .201 at Home.

For his career he has a .229 BA in Away games and .207 at Home.

Whattayado??

Fix the park?

[bpj]

And the thing is, you'd assume it's his BABIP.

But, for his career:

And 2024:

[bpj]

And if not BABIP, surely it's more K's...

But for his career:

Screenshot_20250129_002753_DuckDuckGo.jpg (27.49 KiB) Viewed 854 times

And 2024:

Screenshot_20250129_002825_DuckDuckGo.jpg (27.86 KiB) Viewed 854 times

But a 2% higher K rate at Home only accounts for about 7 extra strikeouts in 300 plate appearances at Home.

That sure doesn't explain the discrepancy in his OPS:

Screenshot_20250129_003319_DuckDuckGo.jpg (27.82 KiB) Viewed 854 times

Screenshot_20250129_003351_DuckDuckGo.jpg (27.12 KiB) Viewed 854 times

[bpj]

Nearly equal PA's, but over his career he has 100 XBH in Away games, but only 66 at Home. That's 50% more extra base hits in Away games.... That definitely does explain it. Just another guy that T-Mobile kills.

[D-train]

Is it me or does it seem that T Mobile is getting worse and worse to hit in every season??? How is that possible???

[Michael K.]

Is it me or does it seem that T Mobile is getting worse and worse to hit in every season??? How is that possible???

A lot of hitting is mental. Makes one wonder if the more it is talked about, the more these guys think about it, so the harder it is to hit? Jeff Cirillo was one of the first I ever heard of that needed to see a psychiatrist. Here guys leave here and a weight is lifted. I think a lot of it is mental, and they can’t break free.

[DavidGee24]

??? Bro why are you so routinely bad at this.

Julio was supposed to be the next coming of Jesus. He put up a .734 OPS in his 3rd year in the majors when he's supposed to be Mike Trout. His bat has gotten worse each year in the majors. That's not supposed to happen.

Cal and his career .218 BA and .740 OPS? Yeah?

JP Crawford has had one good season with the bat. He's had 5 seasons of a .684 OPS or worse with the M's. He's a horrible hitter.

Noelvi Marte was technically the worst player in the majors last year over his 66 games. He put up -1.8 bWAR with a .539 OPS.

Arroyo is 20. They traded him at 18. He didn't play last year. WTF kind of development are you talking about?

The world seems down on Locklear. Perhaps he'll hit as a major leaguer but many don't think he will.

The same Cole Young that slugged .390 in AA?

Like do you read this shit before you post it?

Dude went 1-7 there. I would say that Cal has met his projection due to his power. Julio obviously hasn't, JP has had only one really good season as a hitter, Marte started off well and then got busted for PEDs at which point the air went out of the balloon. Arroyo? I don't think Vogie even looked him up. Finally, as we all know, Locklear and Young have not stood out at all hitting-wise. I just wonder what the hell is going through Vogie's mind as he clicks on "SUBMIT".

Just imagine if Vogie had been on the Mariners Forum in 1985, he'd be telling us about how the Mariner organization has done such a great job developing guys like Manny Castillo, Johnny Moses, Domingo Ramos, and Al "Choo Choo" Chambers.

Agree a little bit re: Cal -

The only thing that bothers me about his development is that he was a .275 hitter in the minors and he once had a 23-game hitting streak. He once hit in 32 of 35 games to start a season for Tacoma.

Where did the ability to contact a baseball go?

I think that in the minors they didn't yet have the scouting report that if you get two strikes on Cal, just fire a high fastball because he can't lay off of it. It surprises me that anyone tries off-speed with him in that situation because they're doing him a favor.

[DavidGee24]

Is it me or does it seem that T Mobile is getting worse and worse to hit in every season??? How is that possible???

A lot of hitting is mental. Makes one wonder if the more it is talked about, the more these guys think about it, so the harder it is to hit? Jeff Cirillo was one of the first I ever heard of that needed to see a psychiatrist. Here guys leave here and a weight is lifted. I think a lot of it is mental, and they can’t break free.

Cirillo was indeed the first. He went from four seasons in Milwaukee and Colorado where he hit .321/.326/.326/.313 with an OPS in the mid-.800s to two seasons with us where he hit .240/.205 with an OPS of about .600. He then went back to Milwaukee and became a .300/.800 hitter again.

In looking up Cirillo I noticed that you could sort of say the same thing about Carlos Guilen, who started his career with the Mariners and put up league-average numbers, then went to Detroit and his career totally took off overnight.