9/18: Home Away from Home G/T

[D-train]

I'm not ready to give up on KK. His stuff is much better this year, and he's got the arsenal to be pretty effective. I think it's all mental at this point. Can they get him straightened out? That remains to be seen, but the potential exists. Next year will be the key for him.

Yeah, I think he's much better than Altavilla. Altavilla throws hard and has a decent slider, but as far as overall stuff goes, Kikuchi is much better.

Stuff scmuff. I would would rather have 1 Moyer than 10 KKs or 1 Maddux than 100 KKs.

[D-train]

I guess that was my point without stating it, and you brought it to light with your Felix analogy. Mental toughness is something that has to be there in the athlete, but sometimes brought out by coaching.

I just don't think of that killer instinct as a coachable trait. Its something a guy like Kobe and Lebron and MJ had. If you could take Gonzales' mentality and put it with Kikuchi's stuff, you would have a perennial cy young contender imo. I don't have any delusions of Kikuchi being an ace, because I don't think that can be developed. I do think he can be more consistent and be a serviceable starter. He was able to do it for years in Japan, and pitchers in the past have shown that the jump from Japan to MLB is doable. Not sure why its been so tough for him. I think he's shown some positive things this year, but he's just not been able to put it altogether.

I agree and btw what they hell happened over the Pacific Ocean? A lot of Japanese pitchers have had almost as good as success here as they did in Japan. Why not him?

[Donn Beach]

its interesting about his contract actually...I remember this now, it gives the Mariners the option of deciding if he is going to be part of their growth going forward

A year ago, Kikuchi was 6-11 with a 5.46 ERA in 32 starts. In 161 2/3 innings, he struck out 116 batters and walked 50. His velocity on his fastball would vary from start to start. If he had a game with 94-95 mph fastballs, the next two would be 90-92 mph. His approach to his mechanics seemed to change from game to game and at times inning to inning. The Mariners chalked much of it up to transition to the increased difficulty of Major League Baseball from the Nippon Professional Baseball in his native Japan. Throw in the death of his father and the birth of his first child, and, well, he had a full season on and off the field.

And this year? Well, he throws consistently harder with his fastball and slider after shortening his arm path and cleaning up his mechanics during the offseason with the help of the Mariners coaches and Driveline Baseball in Kent. And he hasn’t strayed from those mechanics all season.

But that’s about it.

There’s still been minimal consistency in performance or execution. At age 29 and with 40 MLB starts made, the variance of expected performance is too extreme.

So much of 2020 is a throwaway season for players in terms of true evaluations. But the added velocity and the Mariners use of a six-man rotation should’ve provided significant benefits for Kikuchi to pitch well.

Could a return to some level of normalcy in the 2021 season with the increased velocity and normalized mechanics bring consistent success? It will be seminal for Kikuchi and the Mariners for a variety of reasons – mostly financial.

As part of his unique four-year, $56 million contract, the Mariners have to make a decision about his future when the World Series ends after the 2021 season.

The Mariners will have three days to decide if it wants to exercise its club option on Kikuchi. The club option isn’t for one year but four, yes, four. The option encompasses the 2022 through 2025 seasons for a total of $66 million at an annual average salary of $16.5 million, which would then put the contract at $109 million dollars.

If the Mariners choose not to exercise the club option, Kikuchi would be given a player option year of $13 million for 2022. He could either exercise that option, spending 2022 with the Mariners or opt out of that final year and head to free agency.

“It is a contract structure that is beneficial to the club and the player,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said at the time. “It gives us the opportunity to keep him here for seven years at 100-plus million or gives him the flexibility to seek something else if it’s not as easy of a transition for him.”

Well, it would be unfathomable for the Mariners to exercise that club option and keep Kikuchi based on what they’ve seen thus far and even what they might see next season.

[D-train]

White killed that. lord.

Okay, I'm PUI (posting under the influence) so take anything I say with a grain of salt. But I think anyone ready to throw in the towel on Evan is barking up the wrong tree. They have to keep in mind that this is his first season above AA. He's had streaks where he has absolutely raked, and he's one of the best defensive 1st basemen in baseball.

Based on what I have seen, I can easily see him as a .270-.280 hitter, 20 HR's, and 90 RBI's. Combine that with his GG defense, and I'll take that every time.

If that was illegal I would be serving 57 consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole.

[D-train]

White killed that. lord.

Okay, I'm PUI (posting under the influence) so take anything I say with a grain of salt. But I think anyone ready to throw in the towel on Evan is barking up the wrong tree. They have to keep in mind that this is his first season above AA. He's had streaks where he has absolutely raked, and he's one of the best defensive 1st basemen in baseball.

Based on what I have seen, I can easily see him as a .270-.280 hitter, 20 HR's, and 90 RBI's. Combine that with his GG defense, and I'll take that every time.

That used to be my expectation but now its .230-.240 with 25-30 HRs. Which probably is close to the same OPS. Really hope he finishes strong and last night was a good start.

[D-train]

Okay, I'm PUI (posting under the influence) so take anything I say with a grain of salt. But I think anyone ready to throw in the towel on Evan is barking up the wrong tree. They have to keep in mind that this is his first season above AA. He's had streaks where he has absolutely raked, and he's one of the best defensive 1st basemen in baseball.

Based on what I have seen, I can easily see him as a .270-.280 hitter, 20 HR's, and 90 RBI's. Combine that with his GG defense, and I'll take that every time.

I think Evan has to stop swinging out of his ass at every pitch if he ever wants to think about .270+

True that. But I think he's pressing this year in an attempt to prove himself. Give him a little more time and I think he will settle in and adjust his swing to be a little more under control.

I am guessing one of the points of the contract was so that he wouldn't press. Not working out there.

[bpj]

I'm not ready to give up on KK. His stuff is much better this year, and he's got the arsenal to be pretty effective. I think it's all mental at this point. Can they get him straightened out? That remains to be seen, but the potential exists. Next year will be the key for him.

Over the last few years a lot of people have said the same from Chone Figgins to Casey Kotchman to Justin Smoak to Nori Aoki to Wade Miley to Dee Gordon to Mallex Smith. The list goes on and on.

In the end, most just sucked. Some got better; would they have gotten better in Seattle? I lean, No.

[D-train]

I'm not ready to give up on KK. His stuff is much better this year, and he's got the arsenal to be pretty effective. I think it's all mental at this point. Can they get him straightened out? That remains to be seen, but the potential exists. Next year will be the key for him.

Over the last few years a lot of people have said the same from Chone Figgins to Casey Kotchman to Justin Smoak to Nori Aoki to Wade Miley to Dee Gordon to Mallex Smith. The list goes on and on.

In the end, most just sucked. Some got better; would they have gotten better in Seattle? I lean, No.

Trying to think of a single guy that suck for a year and a half with us and we were patient with and finally got better here?

[bpj]

I'm not ready to give up on KK. His stuff is much better this year, and he's got the arsenal to be pretty effective. I think it's all mental at this point. Can they get him straightened out? That remains to be seen, but the potential exists. Next year will be the key for him.

Over the last few years a lot of people have said the same from Chone Figgins to Casey Kotchman to Justin Smoak to Nori Aoki to Wade Miley to Dee Gordon to Mallex Smith. The list goes on and on.

In the end, most just sucked. Some got better; would they have gotten better in Seattle? I lean, No.

Trying to think of a single guy that suck for a year and a half with us and we were patient with and finally got better here?

I've tried doing the same.

The best I can come up with is guys that were jerked around and not given a steady opportunity like Dylan Moore and he's still performed when given the chance.

The guys they play every day that just suck, can't think of any.

[D-train]

Shannon Drayer
@shannondrayer
Servais gave some injury updates on players we haven’t seen in awhile. Tom Murphy has been shut down and sent home, Shed Long Jr. considering treatment options and Mitch Haniger making progress with workouts but no baseball activity.