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RYON HEALY personally nixed the White Sox' fruit cup, with two towering 3-run jacks on Sunday.  If you want to see them live and in the flesh bab-eh, here's the video.

This left Healy with 20 homers in 82 games played, to go along with 53 RBI.  It's not often that you see a player with a 40-100 type season become a moot point, but a lot of wacky-n-wunnerful things are happening to the Mariners this year.

Also via StatCast, he's not doing bad via xwOBA.  If you just joined us, think of this stat as "normalized OPS+", normalized to take luck out, and the other thing about it is that it's calibrated to a batting-average type scale.  Healy's was .346 before his two jacks, which is #4 on the club (Boomstick, Haniger, Span ... with even Segura behind Healy).

We say moot because Jerry Dipoto has already given the M's August 14-Oct.1* lineup as Dee Gordon 2B, Robinson Cano 1B.  When Cano "was great about" playing 1B on a daily basis, you coulda knocked me over with a feather.  However, 40-100 or no 40-100, the fact remains that Healy's OBP is .270 and Robby's .385.  Without any controversy, the single most important stat in baseball is OBP, the most important difference that between being safe or out.  Robby's OBP ranks him a cool #11 among American League hitters, and you know how Dipoto likes "traffic."

So Cano is out taking grounders at 1B in "his own pickup games" as we speak.  For those who like the idea of the "defensive spectrum" it is indeed a move towards an easier position, so we'll see.

What they're going to do roster-wise, you tell me.

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MITCH HANIGER had two base hits and three walks (!) giving you one of the few times you're ever gonna see a player get on base 5 times.  Checking his own OBP spike .... hmmm, it's at .365 with a bullet, which is #15 in the AL.

While we're counting down, Boomstick is #18 and you probably knew that Segura was high at #25 (or #4 for pure AVG and that with a .456 SLG).

So if you figure the average team as having a #7-8, a #22, a #37, and a #52 OBP crew, comp the Mariners at #11-#15-#18-#25.  Well, the Mariners of three weeks from now, that is.

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If you didn't see the game, Segura laid out for a gorgeous dive-and-backhand DP ... hmm, let's see if they have it on video.  Sho' nuff.

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If you enjoy this article and the Think Tank, you may wish to check out Dr. D’s fundraising shtick.  Or if you know you’re ready to join the Ownership Committee, here’s a direct link to the sponsorship page.  Already over 25% to goal after a mere 3 days.  Thanks amigos!

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So, Dr. D is boggled.  You do what with Ryon Healy for six-plus weeks?

BABVA,

Jeff