Category Archives: Mariners

Posts dealing with the Mariners

by | April 25, 2010 · 3:33 pm

Game Recap 4/25 — White Sox 3 M’s 2

Those were three tough losses in a row.  It’s easy to panic and over-react after a series like that, but the series told us nothing about the Mariner’s we didn’t know already.  The defense was good to excellent, even with Tui at short most of the series.  RRS was okay but not great.  Fister and Vargas were better than expected but not dominant.  The bullpen had a rough series, taking the loss in each game, but they’re not any different than what we thought they were: a group of sometimes dominant guys who occasionally get lit up or lose their command.  That’s pretty much every good but not incredible bullpen.  If they blow every lead the next two series too, then it’s trouble.

Unless the Mariners decide they don’t like the team they’ve assembled all of a sudden, those pieces are going to remain.  They were the focal point of the rebuild: excellent defense, solid starting pitching designed to take advantage of Safeco and the defense, and a potentially shut-down bullpen.  So far, so good, the bullpen’s last three games not withstanding.

The offense has been the concern, and continues to be.  The team is scoring runs better than it did the first week, but it’s short on threats.  A quick scan through the roster:  two guys are producing better than expected, Guti and Kotchman.  Two guys are hitting decently, within shouting distance of what was expected, Ichiro and Wilson.  The catching duo is about where we feared they would be, which isn’t good.  Figgins and Lopez are below what was expected, but show no real reason to worry yet.  Bradley’s in the same boat, with a little more worry, given his combination of age and injuries on top of his 2009 season and low contact rates this year.  Not much was expected of Griffey (and Sweeney) by those not with the team, but they’ve done even less.  The bench has done nothing.

So, we have mostly a bunch of guys who aren’t performing as expected, with Franklin and Kotchman carrying the team (with occasional help from Ichiro and Lopez).  They should still get better, but I’m not sure they’ll be good enough even then.  I already made my case this week for what they should do: lose Sweeney and/or the seventh reliever, find a righty left fielder/1B to play the majority of the time, shift Bradley to DH the majority of the time.  That’s not likely to happen for a bit still, if at all.  Getting Jack Hannahan back will help with the versatility issues, so that we can use a pinch-hitter or -runner for someone other than the catcher on nights like tonight.  That’s not a difference maker, though.

On the bright side, this team is one game below .500 and 2 and a half out of first.  They play the Royals next and get Cliff Lee back on Friday.  Things could be worse.  If they win this series, they’re back at .500 or better when Lee comes back, which is all we were hoping for at the start of the month.

Hero: Franklin, because home runs are great.  Vargas was good too.

Goat: League.  Holding them without a run in the 8th would have been huge.  Or they might have just lost it in the 9th.

-Matthew

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by | April 24, 2010 · 6:58 pm

Saturday Recap (Huskies and Mariners)

I didn’t make it to the scrimmage at Husky Stadium today and I didn’t feel like devoting a full post to the Mariners loss so I’ll just combine the two keep things brief. 

First, the Huskies.  It should come as no surprise that the freshman running back, Deontae Cooper, was the star of the day.  He has been the Huskies best running back the entire spring (Chris Polk is sitting out with a shoulder injury).  Today he rushed 114 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries.  The backup running back job won’t be decided until the start of the season but Cooper has the early edge in my opinion.  His style is similar to Polk’s in that he’s a downhill runner. 

Locker had a decent day in ugly conditions.  The backups appeared to struggle but sometimes stats don’t tell the whole story. 

Jesse Callier, Nate Fellner, and Alameda Ta’amu sat out today.  Unfortunately, Callier may be out for the rest of the spring.  He also has impressed this spring.

Now, for the Mariners.  I was okay with last nights loss because they really didn’t deserve to win that game.  Today was a little different.  I don’t get to up and down with my emotions throughout a baseball season but today would have been a nice game to have.  The M’s fought back and, to their credit, got 2 runs off a pretty good pitcher, Jenks, in the 9th.  Then, Aardsma came in and showed why some people don’t want him to be our closer.  I think he threw more fastballs down the middle than Fister threw all game.  Granted, Aardsma throws harder than Fister but he doesn’t get a ton of movement and was facing major league hitters.  Just because you throw hard doesn’t mean you don’t have to locate your fastball.  He didn’t and he got beat.  I think he’ll be okay going forward and I’m not jumping ship yet but he scares me and will continue to scare me no matter how many saves he gets.

Hero:  Doug Fister.  Yep, he was fantastic again.  He needs to be in the rotation.  Right now he looks like Greg Maddux.  Seriously.  He’s throwing his fastball a ton and why not?  He’s putting his fastball exactly where he wants it and is getting some good left to right action on it.  Right now that’s a well above average pitch. 

Goat:  David Aardsma.  Read the paragraph above.  He was pretty awful.

  • After I called for Wak to move Lopez out of the clean-up spot the other night he’s done some good things.  I’m still not crazy about him there but at least he’s had a few decent at-bats.
  • The play where Byrnes kept the ball in the ball park caused a mix of emotions.  On one hand I’m thinking, dang it Byrnes , why didn’t you just catch it.  On the other hand, that was an incredible play just to reach the ball.  He was high on that fence and did save a run.  All in all, it was a good play but really weird.
  • I hope Milton Bradley comes back soon.
  • I saw Byrnes drop more F-bombs today than I’ve said in my life.  He’s annoying but at least he cares.  He did get screwed in the 9th inning when he beat out the throw to first but was called out.  That really wasn’t very close.
  • Don’t get too down about this.  There is another game tomorrow.  And Cliff Lee has a rehab start in Tacoma! Take the good with the bad, things are still looking up in Mariner country.
  • Casey Kotchman keeps hitting the ball hard.  That double in the 9th was smoked.

That’s it for today!  Thanks for reading.

Andrew

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by | April 24, 2010 · 11:03 am

Game Recap — 4/23/2010

When the Mariners score 6 runs, they are usually going to win. Maybe that’s what made last night’s loss so hard to swallow. Or maybe it was the the fashion in which they lost, giving up a walk-off homer to Andruw Jones. Or maybe it was especially difficult given how the A’s, Rangers, and Angels all won their games. Either way, that game really put me in a bad mood. Just ask my wife…So on that note, let’s review some quick points and move on!

  • Jose Lopez didn’t just hit his first HR of the year, he hit his first career grand slam. Congrats Jose.
  • Milton Bradley is missed. It doesn’t take long to get tired of seeing Eric Byrnes in his spot.
  • That last pitch by Mark Lowe was an absolute meat ball. I would have kept challenging Jones with 98 mph heat, but it’s all hindsight. I thought Lowe had him struck out on the 2-2 slider he threw. Oh well.
  • Jack Wilson is one injury prone dude. I mean really, he nearly breaks his finger on a ground ball. Thankfully x-rays were negative.
  • Hey Sean White, you suck. Hey Wak, why do you have a crush on him? I understand White had not technically given up a run all year, but he is shaky every time, and really shouldn’t ever pitch in a game we are leading. That needs to be Brandon League’s spot. That’s my opinion anyway.
  • Tui can’t field and strikes out a lot. I guess that’s to be expected for a young guy, but you have to wonder if he is cut out to be the utility guy on this team. I like him on the team, but he can’t play any position well, other than maybe first base, let alone fill in at multiple spots. Of course I’m a little biased because I have flashbacks of yelling “Tui sucks” throughout my high school career when Bothell was busy bruising Woodinville. (Quick shout out to Rocky Jorgensen and his 80 yard TD return in 2002. He stiff armed Tui running down the sideline to end the first half. It was like James Harrison in the Super Bowl.)

    Hero: Jose Lopez. His first career grand slam got Seattle back in the game, and it was nice seeing him pumped up in the dugout. I especially liked that he hit it off Putz, because it reminded me that we traded him for Guti. That always puts a smile on my face. I also really like how Jose has played this year. I figured getting rid of Yuni would be a positive thing for Lopey and his so-so work ethic, and it looks like it has been.

    Goat: Mark Lowe. It’s tough to single out Lowe as the reason we lost, and I could give it to Kotchman for his 0-4 performance, but Lowe did give up the walk-off to Jones, and that usually makes you the goat, at least for a day.

    I like our chances today with Fister on the mound against Freddie Garcia. Hard to believe he is still pitching! The M’s need to start winning some road games, and let’s hope it starts today.

    -Dan

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    by | April 23, 2010 · 3:46 pm

    Series Preview- M’s vs. White Sox 4/23-4/25

    While picked by some to win the AL Central, the White Sox are struggling so far, at 5-11.  They’re not hitting, and not pitching terribly well either.  With Mariners teams of old, this would be the time when our starters would fall apart and the White Sox would get hot all at the same time, and we’d get swept.  I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I guess we’ll consider this a minor litmus test.

    Who’d You Rather Have

    (As usual, tonight’s line-ups, with my pick between the two players in BOLD)

    C:  M’s Rob Johnson    CWS Donny Lucy.  I have never heard of Donny Lucy in my life.  Pierzynski is the usual guy, but I’m not sure I’d even take him over Ro-Jo, which is saying something.

    1B:  M’s  Casey Kotchman    CWS Paul Konerko.  I guess this one’s kind of close, right this second.  Konerko has 5 home runs, which is nice, but Kotchman has 3 and is hitting a little better overall.  Actually, they’re both decent so far, but I’ll take Kotchy for his glove and left-handedness.  Check again in two months.

    2B:  M’s Chone Figgins    CWS Gordon Beckham.  Ooh boy.  This is tough.  Love Beckham, but he’s off to a slow start.  Sophomore slump?

    3B:  M’s Jose Lopez    CWS Jayson Nix

    SS:  M’s Jack Wilson    CWS Alexei Ramirez.  Going past this series, I’d think about Ramirez, but right now I love Jack’s glove and he somehow has a hot bat.

    LF:  M’s Eric Byrnes    CWS Andruw Jones. Good year so far for Jones.  I’d take Bradley over him though.  Hopefully he’s back tomorrow.

    CF:  M’s Franklin Gutierrez    CWS Alexis Rios

    RF:  M’s Ichiro    CWS Carlos Quentin

    DH:  M’s Griffey    CWS Juan Pierre.  Wow.  I mean, really, wow.  This has to be the worst DH matchup ever. 

    I feel like a homer but that’s 8-1 Mariners.  Catcher and short are close to toss-ups, but Chicago has a mediocre line up that’s not hitting at all yet.  I like Quentin and Beckham, but not better than Figgy and Ichi. 

    Pitching Match-ups

    Friday:  M’s RRS    CWS Gavin Floyd.  I’m not actually crazy about either of these guys.  RRS is throwing a little better so far.

    Saturday:  M’s Doug Fister   CWS Freddy Garcia.  I have no idea what to expect out of Freddy, but oh, the memories!

    Sunday:  M’s Jason Vargas    CWS John Danks.  Matchup of young lefties.  Unfortunately, there’s is a lot better than ours.

    Closer:  M’s David Aardsma    CWS J. J. Putz.  Both have been okay this year.  Aardsma’s been a little better, and was better last year. Again, oh, the memories!

    3-1 M’s on the pitching, but our starters are a bad outing away from changing that in a hurry. 

    I’m not totally confident in this team yet, but the White Sox don’t really scare me either.  I think the M’s win the series, but don’t sweep.  Everybody have a good weekend!

    -Matthew

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    by | April 23, 2010 · 12:24 pm

    The 24-Man Roster

    The Mariners come out of a 7-2 home stand tied for the division lead.  The pitching looks excellent and gets Cliff Lee in a week, and the offense has been better.  Still this team just doesn’t look right.  Everyone agrees it could use another big bat or two or three.  Most people agree that Mike Sweeney at this point isn’t a good fit.  Some agree that going back to the 6-man bullpen seems like a good move now. 

    No one likes roster analysis more than a Seattle-area sports blogger, so let’s see if we can figure out the mess and find room for some more offense not named Adrian Gonzalez or Prince Fielder!

    The Definites

    1. In the lineup, 2B, SS, 3B, CF, and RF are not going to be changing soon.  Hanley Ramirez instead of Jack Wilson at short would be great, but it’s not going to happen.  There are incredibly few shortstops around, and it’s incredibly unlikely the Mariners would try to get one when there are easier places to upgrade.  It’s possible Lopez could still be traded, especially in a deal for a big bat, but that’s not likely to happen for at least another month or two, if at all.  The rest of these spots are manned by definite assets.
    2. One pitcher will leave the rotation when Cliff Lee comes back on (hopefully) April 30th.  It’s possible they juggle things around and wait to make the move until a few days later, so they can see everyone throw again, but one pitcher out of Fister, Vargas, Snell, and RRS will be out of the rotation sooner than later.
    3. Milton Bradley will play somewhere, preferably more at DH to help hold off minor injuries like the one with which he is currently out.
    4. There’s not much, if any, offensive help ready in the minors.  Michael Saunders might come up later, but from what I’ve heard he’s still working on his swing and not looking too great right now.  Someone else could certainly make an appearance at some point, but there’s no one likely to provide the offensive spark this team will likely need at some point.
    5. Jack Hannahan will almost surely rejoin the team once he’s done with some rehab time in Tacoma. Continue reading →

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    by | April 21, 2010 · 9:46 pm

    Game Recap – 4/21/2010

    That went as expected.  I feel a little bit bad for Baltimore.  They really suck and probably won’t reach 10 wins for another month.  Seriously.  Thankfully, I’m a Mariners fan and it appears that the dark days like those are past us.  After starting the season with a 2-6 mark and causing concern throughout Mariner nation, the M’s have rattled off wins in 7 of their last 8 games and are only a 1/2 game out of first place. 

    This game had two key parts that determined the outcome:  Felix Hernandez and the bottom of the 4th inning.  We’ll start with the latter.

    Guti started the inning with an out but then the miraculous happened, Jose Lopez drew a walk!  When that happens I feel like something special is about to happen.  After Loafie walked, Kotchman singled and Sweeney popped out (more on Sweeney later).  Tui then hit a sharp single and Lopez stopped at third.  Rob Johnson hit a slow roller up the middle and somehow Tui beat the throw to second.  Then Jack Wilson cleared the bases with a double.  Bingo!  That’s all the runs the Mariners needed.  What’s even more weird is that all those RBI’s came from Hips and Hot-Hands Wilson.  I was beginning to believe that Jack Wilson was going to hit about .230 all year and I was okay with that because of his amazing defense.  All of a sudden, he has 4 doubles in 3 games.  I hope he can continue to hit at least somewhat. 

    Once that bottom of the 4th happened the game was over.  Most 3 run games can be a little bit tense but not this one, I had no fear that the Mariners would lose this game and that is because of Felix Hernandez.  Felix didn’t appear to be very sharp early; leaving fastballs over the middle of the plate and not mixing in other pitches.  He gave up four hits in the first two innings and one unearned run.  But then, he got in one of those moods.  You know, the “Hey, I’m Felix and I’m better than you” mood.  His control got better and his other pitches became a part of the game plan.  He faced Adam Jones in the 6th and snapped off a 90 mph slider to strike him out.  In the 9th, he ended the game with nasty curveball that Reimold chased as it dove to the dirt.  After a few games in which Felix didn’t quite look like the king we saw last summer, he found his crown tonight and showed why he’s one of the best pitchers in the AL. 

    Kevin Millwood was weird.  I’ve watched Millwood pitch quite a bit and he’s never looked like that.  I’d have to do some research to be sure but his fastball used to have a little more velocity and didn’t run so much.  It seems as if he switched from a 4-seam fastball to a 2-seamer that had a little more run on it.  It ranged anywhere from 86-91 mph and came in on righties.  He threw his normal slider that was around 82 mph.  That’s a normal Millwood pitch and was pretty effective.  Then, he threw in this loopy breaking ball.  It was SLOW!  It came in at about 70 mph and had some major break to it.  You know what that repertoire looks a lot like?  Doug Fister.  No, seriously.  Matthew made this observation about halfway through the game and then I started to pay closer attention.  Fister threw in that loopy breaking ball on Monday and had some very good success with it.  So, in a week where Fister has been compared to everyone from Brad Radke to Carlos Silva, it seems like Millwood may have been trying to imitate Fister.

    Hero/goat after the jump along with a few notes.  Continue reading →

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    by | April 20, 2010 · 10:25 pm

    Game Recap 4/20 – M’s 3, Orioles 1

    I said I’d take the recap on this one, and then ended up not being able to watch most of it, so this recap will be short.  As much as any game is in a 162 game season, this is the type of game that the Mariners need to win if they want to challenge for the playoffs.  Facing an incredibly struggling team with an inexperienced and mediocre pitcher, a good team has to take advantage.  Will they always?  No, and if they hadn’t it wouldn’t have been the end of the season or anything.  But with the chance to go above .500, a loss would have been more frustrating than a win is satisfying.

    Not to say that this win isn’t satisfying.  The offense, while not scoring a lot tonight, did enough and has a lot of guys locked in pretty well.  I remember being told by a coach when I pitched that the most important inning you’ll throw is right after your offense has scored some runs.  It’s the pitcher’s job to maintain the momentum to some degree.  Tonight in the first, the Orioles couldn’t hold a one run lead, and the Mariners could.  Vargas, from what I could tell, did everything you could want from him.  The Orioles are a terrible team right now, but they have enough guys who could hurt you if you don’t execute your pitches.  I’m anxious to see what Snell will do in his next start.  He’s not showing more than Fister or Vargas right now, better stuff or not.  Fister and Vargas will get hit more than they have when they face better teams, but they’ll minimize some damage through lack of walks.  Right now, I’m not confident Snell can limit walks or hits.  I’d love for him more than anyone to prove me wrong, though.

    The offense is doing about what we hoped it would, with Ichiro and Figgins on base and a few guys hot behind them.  I’m still not convinced that Kotchman will keep this up or ever hit lefties, but he looks excellent right now.  Bradley swings harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.  He’s a little more contact away from a monster year.  Hopefully he’s alright after leaving the game tonight.  I haven’t heard yet what the injury was.  Franklin is looking like a legitimate MVP candidate.  Once Figgy starts getting a few more hits to go with his walks, they could really have something.  The little hot streak from Wilson is nice too.

    Hero, goat, and a few quick notes (after the jump): Continue reading →

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    by | April 20, 2010 · 10:06 am

    Mariners Game Recap – 4/19/2010 – The Fist and The 3rd!

    Enter The Fist

    My fellow Good Guy Andrew is scheming to recap every Felix Hernandez game this year. That’s fine, you can have Felix, Andrew, I’ll take Doug Fister!

    This is a very simple recap: It’s all about Doug Fister and the bottom of the 3rd inning. Let’s cover both.

    Doug Fister: The Fist pitched exceptionally well. Granted it was against Baltimore and everyone is quick to remind folks like me of that fact. I would respond that it doesn’t matter, a win is a win, he pitched against a major league lineup. I know the O’s suck right now, but Nick Markakis is good, Wigginton has been in the bigs for a while, Weiters is a rising star, Luke Scott is no slouch. Fister kept pounding the strike zone forcing Baltimore to swing and forcing the Mariners defense to make plays. This is why I love Fister, I think he knows what he is: He’s not overpowering, he doesn’t have superior stuff, but he knows how to pitch and use all the millionaires behind him. I love how he works fast, keeping the pace up. As a fan that is fun to watch. Julio Lugo (I can’t stand the guy, always has annoyed me…) continually tried to slow Fister down by stepping out, adjusting himself, wiggling around, it was absolutely annoying. No matter, The Fist was having none of it. Lugo was 0-3.

    We all know Fister had a no-no going into the 7th, that was fun. Overall, a solid performance from Fister. I feel he has earned his way into staying in the rotation when Cliff Lee comes back. I see no reason not to keep him there, he is doing what he is being asked to do. Let’s not outsmart ourselves here and get all baseball geeky stats and move him to the pen for some reason. The Fist belongs in the rotation until he doesn’t deserve it any longer. It’s really simple!

    Bottom of the 3rd: The inning started mundane enough, Rob Johnson flying out to center. It ended mundane enough, Rob Johnson striking out on three pitches. But what happened in the middle was pure baseball goodness, a little bit of everything for every baseball fan.

    After the Robo-Rob fly out, Jack Wilson stretched a single into a double by hustling 100% out of the box, forcing a bad throw from left, and sliding safely into second with a double. Ichiro and Figgins then forced walks to load the bases. The Baltimore pitcher, Brad Bergesen, was clearly bothered by Ichiro and Figgins. He was agitated on the mound, was afraid to hit the strike zone, and Ichiro and Figgins were happy to watch him burn. I love the plate discipline both showed, knowing full well Bergesen was stressed. Gutierrez then showed yet again why he is a emerging superstar at the plate. He knew what he had to do, and under control, ripped am RBI single to left. Lopez then grounded to Wigginton who promptly booted a sure fire DP ball. Junior then singled for another RBI. Then came the power. Milton Bradley absolutely ripped a double to deep left center. It was beautiful swing and hit. When Bradley is right, he is extremely dangerous at the plate. Casey Kotchman then followed up with a mammoth home run to right.

    The inning had it all: Hustle, plate discipline, a little luck, awesome oppo-field power, and Casey’s bomb. And it was quick too. It was 7-0 within 15 minutes. Game over, Mariners win.

    If the M’s can keep the plate discipline going, they will score runs. Innings like the 3rd don’t come around often, so I was pleased to be able to witness it, baseball, in many respects, in it’s purest form.

    Hero: Easy, Doug Fister. He came out and did work, and got it done.

    Goat: Rob Johnson. He was terrible at the plate. 0-4, 2K’s, 2LOB. On a night when everyone was hitting, it’s tough to excuse this line…

    -Joe

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