The Days Dwindle Down to a Precious Few…
Seattle Mariners (81-70) @ Houston Astros (67-85) through Wednesday
As the season draws to a close, it seems only fitting that our final homestand should be closed out with another chapter in the long and storied history with our natural rivals. Traditions like this are a big part of what makes baseball so special. And although this season is wrapping up, it’s exciting to learn that we’ll open next season hosting another of our long-time rivals, the Cleveland Indians. We are truly blessed.
And it’s not just this season that’s winding down: the reign of one Bud Selig as commissioner is as well. The accomplishments of this great man are legion: his decisive leadership in transforming the All-Star game from the travesty that it used to be into a game that now means something; his adroit handling of the perfidy of the traitorous Montreal club; his brave and principled stand for visiting teams’ rights in stadia with retractable roofs; his astounding flexibility with scheduling in the face of natural disasters; his even-handed and transparent pursuit of justice in the PED scandal; and, of course, his delivery of the Astros to their rightful home in that most historic and glorious of divisions, the AL West. As we near the end of his tenure, we should all pause to think about what baseball might look like without his 23 years at the helm. I know I do every day.
There have been a lot of changes in the projected starters for this series, so I’m not very confident that I’m giving you the correct information here. But it’s a start.
Friday, September 19, 7:10 CDT
Taijuan Walker (1-2, 2.96) vs Brad Peacock (4-8, 4.80)
This is Walker’s first big-league start since July 23rd, and only his fourth appearance since then. In his three relief appearances this month, he’s pitched 9.0 innings giving up 10 hits and 3 runs (2 earned), with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks. Those aren’t bad numbers, but they came against the Oakland and Texas, not the juggernaut that is the current Astros offense, and not in the intimidating environment of MMPUS. On the other hand, current Astros have a .196/.260/.326 line against this guy in 50 plate appearances over the last two years, so who knows what we’ll see.
Peacock is carrying a 4.80 ERA for the year, but since August 11th he’s had a 2.90 ERA in 6 starts and 31.0 innings. Current Mariners have a .280/.369/.449 line against Peacock in 122 plate appearances, so between that, his 5 inning average, and his recent back issues, the bullpen had better be ready for some action in this one.
Saturday, September 20, 6:10 CDT
Chris Young (12-8, 3.33) vs Dallas Keuchel (11-9, 3.00)
Young has basically been a 5 or 6 inning guy over the last couple of months, except for a 0.2 inning gem against Oakland on September 1st in which he gave up 5 earned runs. Let’s hope for one of those on Saturday. Current Astros have an uninspiring .178/.288/.356 line against him, but Fowler is 4-10 with 3 walks in 13 appearances. Of course, that means everybody else has been really dismal.
Keuchel has matured into a genuine major-league pitcher this year. He certainly doesn’t have dominating stuff, but he seems to be extremely composed and mentally tough, and he gets ground balls at a rate that limits the damage hitters can inflict. In his last 8 starts going back to the beginning of August, his ground ball/fly ball ratios are 14/7, 11/9, 14/3, 19/6, 19/6, 15/6, 14/11, and 14/4. That’s some impressive work. The history of current Mariners against Keuchel bears that out: they’ve got a .222/.263/.333 line against him in 115 plate appearances over the last three years, and a .183/.216/.254 line in 75 plate appearances this year. He is probably a very frustrating guy to bat against, especially when you start to worry about what might crawl out of that beard. I think he can be a valuable pitcher for a long time (he’s 26 years old now).
Sunday, September 21, 1:10 CDT
Hisashi Iwakuma (14-8, 3.42) vs Collin McHugh (10-9, 2.66)
Iwakuma is a pretty good pitcher, but in his last 5 starts he seems to be showing evidence of fatigue, going 2-2 in 21.1 innings with a 9.28 (!) ERA. The Astros have fared pretty well against him, sporting a .286/.308/.408 line, with the mighty Altuve leading the way at 9-22 in 25 plate appearances, including a couple of doubles and 3 sac flies. Marwin Gonzalez also seems to have him figured out, hitting .583/.583/.917 in 12 at-bats. Bring the lumber, guys.
McHugh is coming back after taking a line drive off his left wrist in his start last Monday. Hopefully that won’t affect him this time out. McHugh has been positively studly since the beginning of August: the Astros are 7-2 in the 9 games he has started, and he is 6-0 with 60 innings and a 1.50 ERA. Current Mariners have a .169/.216/.337 line against McHugh in 88 plate appearances this year. He has had a fine season, and it’s fitting that he gets to wrap up the final home series of the year.
Injuries
Mariners
Willie Bloomquist (2B, knee) and Roenis Elias (P, elbow) are both out for the season. Isn’t there some sort of rule about having four or five pitchers on the DL? I knew these guys were cheaters.
Astros
This week the Astros finally admitted what the rest of had suspected for a while: Springer is done for the year. Albers, Cisnero, Crain, Zeid are also done for the year, but none of those is a surprise.
Promotions/Giveaways
Jackpot! It’s the last homestand of the year, so there’s something going on every day. Friday night is fireworks night, and after the game they’ll also put on a fireworks show. People who still have hair can get it cut during the game in Home Run Alley. Saturday is the Fiestas Patrias Event. Although I’m not sure what all that will entail, I’ll bet it involves Ziegenbock. Sunday is Fan Appreciation Day. The first 10,000 folks will get a 2014 team poster (I wonder when they took the photo; it could be kind of fun to go through: “yup, yup, nope, nope, yup”). They’ll be giving away stuff every half inning, and some of it may even be desirable. Maybe. Let’s hope a television contract is in there somewhere.
And congratulations to Josh Hader and Brett Phillips, who will be introduced before Sunday’s game as the Astros’ minor league pitcher and hitter of the year, respectively. I look forward to watching them at MMPUS in a year or two.