Darrin Beene is entering his seventh year at The News Tribune, having covered the Tacoma Rainiers in 2005 and Major League Baseball for two years before that. Beene, a former assistant sports editor at The News Tribune, also worked for the Los Angeles Daily News and Los Angeles Times. He lives in the South Sound with his wife and two children.
This blog is about baseball in general but specifically the Seattle Mariners and the Mariners’ Triple-A team, the Tacoma Rainiers. It will contain news, analysis, answers to your questions and audio reports.
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I've always been a boxscore watcher, a practice dating back to when I was 12. Mariners fans would be wise to look at Monday's Tacoma Rainiers boxscore.
Right there, batting third for Tacoma, is Chris Snelling, CF. That's right, CENTER FIELD. This is interesting for many reasons:
1. The knee must be getting better. Snelling is recovering from ACL surgery on his left knee. If he's OK to be playing in the outfield, this is a good sign that he's getting healthy, especially if he's able to play the more demanding position of center field. Another nugget from the boxscore shows Snelling stole his first base of the season on Monday, further evidence that the wheels are working like they should.
2. He's in center, and not a corner spot. Last season with the Rainiers before his latest knee injury, Snelling played left and right field. No center. It makes sense because Snelling probably isn't as swift as he used to be because of all the leg woes he's had and, center field was not the position the Mariners would use him at anyway. Or is it? This might signal a change in thinking (or maybe that's reading too much into a boxscore). It's not like Jeremy Reed is tearing up the league and it looks like super prospect Adam Jones is still a year or so away, so why not have Snelling get some time in center?
3. Then, there's Snelling's line: 2-for-5, three RBI. Snelling had not been having the success at the plate like he did last year, but on Monday, he had his second consecutive two-hit game to raise his average to .263.
