Mariners Moose Tracks, 6/14/24: Luke Raley, Levi Stoudt, and Yusei Kikuchi

It’s time for the links.

Hello folks and happy Friday! As the week comes to a close, here’s what’s happening in baseball.

In Mariners news...

• Davy Andrews at Fangraphs breaks down the oddity that is Luke Raley and his unusual ability to bunt for a hit.
• The Mariners lost some rotation depth on waivers with the Orioles claiming right-hander Levi Stoudt. The M’s also lost right-hander Eduardo Salazar to a waiver claim from the Nationals.

Around the league...

• Using a George Kirby vs. Javier Báez at-bat as an illustrative example, Fangraphs writer Michael Rosen explains why batters don’t tend to swing at sliders.
• In a wild “small world” kind of story, Japanese teenage (soon-to-be Stanford baseball) phenom Rintaro Sasaki was babysat by Yusei Kikuchi as a kid.
• Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs dives into the numbers behind five hitters who have turned around their offensive performance after slow starts.
• Incredible stuff.

Anders’ picks...

• Seattle-area comedian and friend of the site Gabey Lucas is performing in Seattle this weekend in advance of her showcase at Edinbrugh Fringe. Go check it out!