Tag Archives: Cliff Lee

by | April 2, 2010 · 4:13 pm

Calm Down Mariner Fans

I’m so glad March is over.  When it comes to baseball, March always feels really long but this one was particularly long.  Over the past four weeks it seems all we’ve had is bad news:  Cliff Lee got hurt, Jack Hannahan got hurt, no one in the back-end of the rotation had a great spring, the offense was pretty sucky, having Mike Sweeney on the team will single handedly ruin the Mariners playoff chances, and Milton Bradley will obviously explode and kill someone this year.  All of a sudden, the best off season in team history turned into a spring training filled with doom and gloom.  I want to tell all of you one thing, it’s going to be okay!

Here are a few reasons why:

  • The offense will not be worse than last year.  I would bet any of you a lot of money that the Mariners will score more runs this year than last.  All projections I’ve seen have Seattle scoring about 50 more runs than last year, if not more.  I’m not saying the offense will be good, I’m saying that the offense was absolutely terrible last year and the Mariners still had a winning record.  This team can still be good even with a bad offense.  (As I wrote this Chone Figgins hit a home run.  This is a minor miracle.  Seriously.)
  • I’ll keep the comparison to last year going.  Let me remind you that Ichiro was on the DL at the beginning of last year.  I think Ichiro missed a total of 8 games last year.  Over the course of those games the Mariners had a 6-2 record.  Ichiro is the Mariners best player but somehow the Mariners had a winning record when he was gone.  I hope you’re following me here.  Losing Cliff Lee for about a month will hurt.  Over that month he probably would have picked up 5 or 6 starts; instead of watching Lee we’ll be watching Doug Fister which makes this injury hurt more.  But the Mariners excelled in 8 games without their star last year, I think they can survive 5 games without Lee.  I could be wrong but I think this injury has been blown way out of proportion because there’s nothing else to talk about.
  • I admit the back end of this rotation scares me.  These guys aren’t sexy names by any means and they haven’t had the best spring training.  But, this rotation is almost identical to the one that pitched through August and September (minus a frustrating Brandon Morrow and add a frustrating Jason Vargas).  Through that time period the Mariners had a record of 33-26.  Most experts feel that if the Mariners are around .500 by the time Lee and Bedard (hopefully) come back.  As they showed last year, .500 could happen quite easilyin April.
  • Another reason that a .500 record could be easily accomplished is because of the schedule.  The Mariners playOakland (7 times), Texas (3 times), the White Sox (3), the Royals(3), the Tigers(3), and Baltimore (3)  from the start of the season until April 28th.  Those teams were a combined 456-523 last year.  During that same period the Angels play teams with a combined 491-483 last year ( including the Yankees six times and the Twins four times) and the Rangers play teams with a combined 509-464 record (including the Yankees and the Red Sox).  The schedule certainly favors the Mariners while Cliff Lee is expected to be out. 
  • April baseball can be weird.  Some bad teams start out hot and some good teams start out cold.  It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen in April and you’d much rather have injuries in your team in April than you would in September. 

I believe the Mariners are a better team than last years team that went 85-77.  I know, that team overachieved based on numbers but what those numbers don’t say is that the Mariners are built for close games.  There may have been a little bit of luck with the 1-run game record last year but I think it has just as much to do with the defense than it does with luck. 

So, don’t panic.  Sure, it was a March to forget for the Mariners but it’s not as bad as everyones making it seem.  Writers don’t have anything good to write about during spring training so problems are magnified.  But March is over and real baseball is about to begin.  Despite the problems this spring, it very well could be a summer to remember in Seattle.

Andrew

(If the Mariners come out and are truly awful you can blame me.  If that happens we should try to forget that this post ever happened.)

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by | April 1, 2010 · 2:26 pm

Random Day Dreaming Thoughts…

  • Has it ever occurred to anyone that only in baseball do managers wear uniforms just like the players? In football, the coach dresses comfortably like the fans and in basketball and hockey, the coach wears a suit like a top executive. Imagine if coaches in football, basketball and hockey all wore the team’s uniform, similar to in baseball. Makes for a funny image in my mind.
  • Jake Locker could be a New England Patriot next year. Here’s how-
    When the Raiders acquired Richard Seymour from the Pats last year, they gave up their 1st round pick in 2011. Considering the Raiders could be awful this year, and possibly even the worst team, it’s likely New England will have a top 5 pick next year, which is of course a rarity for a good team like the Patriots. To add to the intrigue, Tom Brady’s contract runs up after the 2010 season, and while it is likely the team will re-sign or franchise him, another Brady injury could add some uncertainty. Even if Brady is extended, he will be 33 after this year, so the Pats may be looking ahead and who knows, Jake Locker could be their target with a top 3 pick.

  • Is it safe to say the Mariners have the best hitter, AND the top 2 pitchers in the AL West? Ichiro, Felix, and Lee might be the top 3 players in the division. A healthy Bedard could contend for 3rd best pitcher too.
  • In other Mariners topics, does anyone find it odd that Chone Figgins came to Seattle as a great lead off hitting 3rd baseman, and now he is 2nd in the order and playing 2nd base? Obviously Ichiro is tough to beat out for the lead off spot, but in a year where production from the 3 hole could be difficult to come by, I think the team should have seriously considered Ichiro in that spot. Wouldn’t be the first time that discussion has come up though.
  • Finally, what’s to make of the Huskies wearing all Gold jerseys in their home opener just to draw attention to Jake Locker and his Heisman trophy campaign. Sounds odd to me…

    (Ok April fools on that last one)

    Although speaking of jerseys, I would love to see UW bust out black unis at some point this year!

    PS- Our next post will be our 100th by the Good Guys!

    -Dan

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    by | March 29, 2010 · 12:30 pm

    Monday Quick Notes

    Who doesn’t like some quick notes on their Monday lunch break? 

    • Just when it looked like the Mariners season was going to fall apart before it started, it now looks like it probably won’t.  Of course, both feelings were based on spring training, which is usually not a good way to go.  Cliff Lee is still injured, but there have now been good performances in the last week from everyone else expected to be in the rotation.  Ryan Rowland-Smith looked sharp yesterday, although his velocity was a little down from what you’d like to see.  Has anyone heard if it’s just a slow gun in Peoria?  Fister threw four innings today as he’s mostly recovered from that forearm bruise, and looks like he should be good to go to start the year. 
    • Speaking of Lee, his suspension appeal hearing that was supposed to be today was postponed indefinitely.  He also was shut down for 5 days to rest his abdominal strain.  I think that time is about up, so hopefully we’ll know more about when he’ll be back later this week.  At this point, I think he’s a 95% bet to start on the DL.  Even if he recovers quickly, he’ll still need to stretch out a little bit after a spring of little work.  In the interest of keeping hopes down, I’m planning on him returning around May 1st.  Anything before that is a great bonus.
    • Bedard threw off a mound today, which is a huge step.  He didn’t throw real hard, of course, but the added strain from throwing from a mound compared to flat ground is a big hurdle to overcome.  It sounded like everything went well today, so hope for very little soreness tomorrow.  The team sounds very enthused about his comeback, and he’s theoretically way ahead of schedule, but setbacks can happen in a hurry.  May 1st or shortly thereafter isn’t out of the realm of possibility form him either, but I would plan on closer to June 1st.
    • We are now seeing the downside of an NCAA tournament with a ton of upsets, in my opinion, that being a pretty uninteresting Final Four.  As great of a story as Butler is, I just can’t get excited about seeing them in a semi-final, much less the final.  I want the big names!  I couldn’t even tell you who the best NBA prospect still playing is.  Any thoughts?  It’s been a great tournament to watch thus far though.
    • Spring practice for the Huskies starts tomorrow.  I’ll try to get to a few practices, and I’m sure Andrew will make a few more.  See Andrew’s spring preview posts for an idea of some of the issues the Huskies are looking at.  I’ll try to put up a quick post with some of the biggest questions the Huskies have this spring later today or tomorrow.

    Mariners season opener is in a week, April 5th!  Everybody getting excited?  You know I am! A few things to watch this last week of spring training:

    • Roster moves: the roster seems fairly set, but watch for injuries or a random surprise.
    • Cliff Lee: once there’s some resolution on the appeal and he throws again, we should have a better idea of a return date.
    • Can the pitching staff, especially the rotation stay sharp and stretch out to 80+ pitches in their last starts before the season?
    • This should be the time where numbers start to mean a little more for the hitters.  The veterans especially should be getting a little more locked in.

    -Matthew

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    by | March 23, 2010 · 5:07 pm

    Two More Weeks

    The Mariners season opener is just two weeks from yesterday.  Luckily we have the NCAA tournament and the Huskies to watch those two weeks, because we have reached the official spring-training-is-incredibly-boring point.  This is also the point, though, where players start to round into shape and stop experimenting with swings and new pitches and such, so the results begin to mean a little more, but not really.  A look at some issues and questions still out there in Peoria after the jump! Continue reading →

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    by | March 17, 2010 · 7:22 pm

    Why Cliff Lee Getting Ejected isn’t Awesome

    The only reason Cliff Lee getting ejected isn’t awesome is because he is now suspended for the first 5 games of the season.  I’m going to try to not go on a rant here but this is stupid for a number of reasons. 

    • No one got hurt, heck no one even was hit. 
    • It’s spring training and pitchers are wild.  I think Lee threw at Snyder but the league office is definitely not giving the benefit of the doubt to one of it’s best players.
    • League offices sometimes like to show off their power and “send a message” about the upcoming season.  I guess this years message is we will not tolerate pitchers almost hitting batters.  This is unfortunate since it’s been part of the game for 140 years and won’t stop anytime soon.  My mom might say “Good for them for trying to stop this.”  I’d say that the league office is power-tripping.

    I know I’m overreacting a little.  Five games is equivalent to one start for a pitcher but, as ussmariner.com pointed out, if Cliff Lee is playing to his full potential this year, one start could be worth up to $700,000.    Hopefully Lee’s suspension is knocked down a few games after he appeals, then he won’t have to miss a start.  If that doesn’t happen I say we send Milton Bradley up to show Bud Selig how angry he can get.

    Did I mention that Lee didn’t even hit Snyder with the pitch….

    Andrew

    Update: Right after I wrote this I saw Milton Bradley had been ejected from tonights game.  Irony is after me.

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    by | March 16, 2010 · 1:08 am

    Why Cliff Lee Getting Ejected is Awesome

    Matthew touched on today’s Cliff Lee incident a little bit earlier today but I wanted to go into more detail.  Like Matthew, I think this is awesome and am quite proud of Cliff Lee.  With one simple pitch Lee made a number of interesting things happen: 

    • A spring training ejection.  I don’t pay a lot of attention to spring training because frankly, it barely matters but I still read about it.  Over my years of loving baseball I can’t recall a spring training ejection.  If the games hardly matter than you might as well spice it up, our good guy Cliff did just that.
    • A stand-around brawl!  While the missed-dunk is one of my favorite parts of basketball games, a stand around brawl is the pinnacle of baseball games.  If you’re not familiar with this phenomena it goes a little something like this:  something happens that is controversial (The Cliff Lee pitch), the batter takes a few steps towards the pitcher and acts like he’s going to do something, the dugouts then clear (sometimes the bullpen too) and everyone piles onto the field, the players then proceed to stand there for a while (sometimes yelling at each other).  After all of this the player’s head back to their previous positions.  There is not an ounce of harm done in a stand-around brawl.  It is much like a peaceful riot, only on a baseball field.  If you haven’t had a chance to see one I feel sorry for you.
    • If for some reason Lee chooses to stay here after this year (let me dream), our first real memory of his run with the team is going to be getting thrown out of a spring training game.  Awesome.
    • You know the scene in “Cool Runnings” where the two guys stand in front of the mirror and say how they won’t take any crap from anybody right before one of them talks to his dad?  Well Cliff Lee is the bald guy in “Cool Runnings” who’s showing the team that he doesn’t take crap from anybody.
    • No one got ejected until the end of September last year with the Mariners.  Cliff Lee wasted no time showing that this group isn’t all smiles and unicorns.

    Continue reading →

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    by | March 15, 2010 · 5:04 pm

    The Greatest Team Ever

    In the Mariners spring training bout with the Arizona Diamondbacks today, new ace and enforcer Cliff Lee was ejected for throwing over Chris Snyder’s head.  The two had gotten tangled up on a play at the plate earlier when Snyder was waving for a teammate to slide and Lee took him out going to back up the play.  Snyder’s quote on the incident, taken from Baker’s blog, written by Good Guy Bob Condotta, 

    “Two guys going to where they need to be and we collided. Hell, he got me good, man. He Charley-horsed my leg. I still feel it. He almost clipped me twice. My leg hurt every time I squatted, then he threw a ball at my head. He’s up two-nothing on me. … He got me better than anybody coming around third. I aint been taken out like that in a couple of years (sic).”

    His next time up, Lee threw one inside and then another that went over Snyder’s head.  Snyder dropped his bat and took a few steps toward the mound, benches cleared, etc.  Lee was ejected.  The two said the earlier incident had no impact on the latter, Lee said he wasn’t throwing at him, everything played down like usual, although the benches did clear again later.

    Anyway, good story, but what I’m really writing about is my response to the text Andrew sent me about Lee being ejected, which was, “Nice! Way to go Cliff! This team could do almost anything and I’d be excited.”  And that’s totally how I feel about the Mariners right now.  They have so much goodwill built up from last year, and they’re so genuinely fun to root for, that I’d almost rather hang out in the clubhouse with them than watch them play a game.  Not that I don’t enjoy watching them play.  They’re just an incredibly entertaining, enjoyable, dynamic team.  Everything they do I get excited about.  A short list of awesome things from spring training off the top of my head so far:

    • Lee getting ejected
    • Griffey and Sweeney putting together A Mariner Idol and then coaching a practice in the span of a couple of days
    • Sweeney starting 12-15 when no one gave him a chance to even think about making the roster
    • Tuiasosopo hitting almost .500 while playing 4 positions so far, one of which he was playing it for the first time in over 2 years even thought it’s the hardest position on the field (SS)
    • Shawn Kelley possibly starting
    • Garrett Olson being just as bad as last year, so as not to delude anyone
    • Lopez and Chone trading positions, just because
    • Wak’s never-ending positivity about everything, including Lopez’s continued errors
    • Adam Moore playing like a good catcher and Rob Johnson not playing at all
    • Byrnes and Moore (? I think) falling flat on their faces before reaching the bag in consecutive games

    There’s just an overall feeling that this team can do no wrong.  That’ll probably change at some point this year, but maybe not.  Coupled with the realization that this team has a lot of really good players (Lee, Felix, Ichiro, Figgins, Guti, hopefully Bedard), it’s hard not to be excited.  I don’t think we’ve discussed how great Felix, Lee and Bedard at the top of the rotation would be if Bedard comes back throwing well.  Those are three pitchers who could each be the best in baseball any given year.  Will it happen?  Maybe, maybe not.  But that’s kind of how the whole year is.  Maybe they’ll win a lot, maybe not.  It’s just the excitement of knowing there’s the possibility that’s enough for now.

    A FEW QUICK NOTES AFTER THE JUMP! Continue reading →

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