Game of the Week: August 23: SEA @ OAK

[Commissioner Erick]

Seattle Mariners (85-40) @ Oakland Athletics (65-60)


SEA: Sean Koch (10-1, 2.99)
OAK: Danny Medina (12-9, 3.68)


It’s year two of the Seattle Mariners being a regular season juggernaut. They had a tough postseason last year, but they’re playing another year together, and have even more talent than their 2031 version. Eight position players already have at least 1.9 WAR, including MVP candidate Tony Sierra and hit 29 homers, 30 doubles, and great defense.

Seattle’s pitching has been just as impressive with three starters with an ERA under 3. The reigning Cy Young, Monster Koch, is having another monster year with a 10-1 record and a 2.99 ERA. A .209 BABIP is playing a big part of that, but the Mariners have easily the highest Zone Rating in the AL, so defense is a big part of their identity. Righties are hitting just .165 with a .290 slugging percentage, preposterous numbers.

Koch has only faced Oakland once this year, but the A’s did put up four runs in 6.1 innings, so there’s hope for the Athletics. Perpetually on the fringes of the AL playoff picture, Oakland is once again in decent position to make the postseason, but needs some help from Cleveland.

Seattle has two MVP-candidate outfielders, but Elias Ramirez is the AL WAR leader. He’s shown that he has the power to thrive, even in the marine-layer suppressed parks of the AL West, and his speed and defense make him a wonderful player, even if the ball is staying in the park. Watching the outfielders in this game will be a treat.


Questions for the GMs:


For Jay Bigs, Pat Hembree has a bit of a nicked up shoulder. Will he be in the lineup today?

It looks like your outfielders are a bit fatigued. Will any get the day off today?

It looks like you’re rolling with only seven pitchers in your bullpen. Are you confident they can hold up without the unit getting too fatigued?

For Garrett White, Simon Ferguson has a substantial rib injury, but he should be back at full strength by the end of the week. Will he end up on the IL?

Lucius Fox is on rehab this week. Will he be activated ahead of today’s roster?

Angel Garcia is 8-3, but will miss the rest of the year. How will he be replaced in the lineup?



TRIVIA: Who was the last AL MVP who was primarily an outfielder?

[Jay Bigs]

For Jay Bigs,

1. Pat Hembree has a bit of a nicked up shoulder. Will he be in the lineup today?
He's been nursing the shoulder for a couple of weeks and will likely continue to play through it.

2. It looks like your outfielders are a bit fatigued. Will any get the day off today?
We do have a slight rotation when people need rest and with a big series vs KC coming up we may take chance to rest those guys now.

3. It looks like you’re rolling with only seven pitchers in your bullpen. Are you confident they can hold up without the unit getting too fatigued?
This is how we've setup for 2 years now 3 lefties 4 righties and we have been one of the best pens for both those years despite changes in personnel. If we need an arm down the stretch we will use it but for now we have a tight knit group and they are all performing.

[oaklandgm]

May 21, 2024 19:52:53 GMT -5 Commissioner Erick said:

For Garrett White, Simon Ferguson has a substantial rib injury, but he should be back at full strength by the end of the week. Will he end up on the IL?

Simon is dealing with a few different things, he's got the rib issue and also dealing with the flu. We'll give him the day off to get feeling a little better but we think he'll end up playing through the rib injury. It sounds like it's minor for now.

Lucius Fox is on rehab this week. Will he be activated ahead of today’s roster?

As of now, the plan is to let Fox continue to rehab through the end of the month, he'll be one of our September callups. We're trying to get him some time in the outfield down in Sacramento so he can come back and get a lot of at-bats for us in a super utility role in the infield and outfield. Obviously he's returning to a bit different landscape with Sean Mendoza back on the roster.

Angel Garcia is 8-3, but will miss the rest of the year. How will he be replaced in the lineup?

It's a tough time to lose him - he started the year in a swingman role for us but has really come on the longer the season has goes and has stabilized the back end of our rotation. We'll give Alvaro Paz another shot coming up from AAA today; he reminds us a lot of Garcia a year or two ago, has all of the stuff but still unproven and a bit inconsistent. Hopefully he can find a groove down the stretch for us.

[Commissioner Erick]

Athletics 7 - Mariners 6


WP: M. Ta (2-2)
LP: I. Soto (5-3)
SV: J. Ochoa (4)


Behind the hitting of Elias Ramirez, the Oakland Athletics stopped the Seattle Mariners, 7-6. Ramirez belted 2 home runs, while scoring 3 runs and driving in 2 for the Athletics. Juan Ochoa earned his 4th save in 4 chances. Oakland raised its record to 66-60 with the win.

Had Jake Sanfilippo not delivered a key base hit in the bottom of the eighth, the outcome might have been different. Instead, with two down and the bases loaded, Sanfilippo hit a 2-run single. That made the score 7-5, in favor of the Athletics.

"Nice to see our side come away with the win," Ramirez said after the game.


Questions for the GMs:


For Jay Bigs, you gave Raimfer Salinas and Bryce Zettel the day off and still scored six runs on 11 hits. How comforting is it to know that you can give key guys some rest and not have your offense miss a beat?

Ji-hu Kim went 0-4 and is now hitting .214, albeit with a lot of power. Are you happy with the power for average tradeoff Kim is making?

Will you try to change your gameplan against Elias Ramirez next time you face him?

For Garrett White, Milt Pool went 0-2 with two walks and two whiffs. How has he looked to you as a backup?

Did you agree with your manager bot pinch hitting Adam Haseley for David Witter?

Juan Ochoa now has five saves in only 9.2 innings. How has he looked with your manager bot primarily using him as a closer.


TRIVIA: In 2030, Milt Pool received 13 of 14 votes for AL Third Base Silver Slugger. Who are the three AL position players who won unanimous Silver Sluggers that year?

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 2: Ben correctly guessed Retana and Dalton. Daniel correctly guessed Vargas

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 1: Matt correctly guessed Gabe Bonilla