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Monday, March 31st, 2008
Posted by Darrin Beene @ 08:19:46 pm
MARINERS NOTES: The Mariners have won consecutive season openers for the first time since winning three in a row in 1995, '96 and '97. Erik Bedard struck out the first batter on three consecutive strikes to start his Mariners. debut and finished with five The Mariners recorded more walks (7) than hits (6) in today’s game; the Mariners only had more walks than today’s total in two games last season. The Mariners' come-from-behind win today was the first of the season. In 2007, the Mariners were tied for the AL lead, and tied a team record with 45 comeback wins. The sold out crowd of 46,334 fans was the ninth largest in Mariners history. The Mariners have sold out every home opener since 1996 (13 consecutive). Jose Vidro went 0-for-3 with a walk in today’s season opener, snapping his eight-game hitting streak on opening day. He had collected a hit every opening day since 2000 and was tied for the second longest current streak on Opening Day. Jose Lopez and Adrian Beltre combined to go 4-for-8 with a run and three RBI. March 31 ties the earliest the Mariners have started their season, matching the 1996 and '98 seasons. Kenji Johjima’s two walks mark the first time in his career he has been walked twice during a game. The Mariners are now 3-5 in home openers when the roof is closed. RANGERS NOTES Michael Young was 1-for-17 against Erik Bedard before hitting a home run in the top of the first inning. The home run was the only extra-base-hit for the Rangers who finished with seven hits. Kevin Millwood allowed only two unearned runs in his six innings of work in his third consecutive Opening Day assignment for Texas and the loss dropped him to 1-4 in his previous five Opening Day assignments despite a 3.86 ERA (12 ER, 28.0 IP). Ben Broussard made his first trip back to Safeco as a Ranger and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Franklyn German’s relief appearance in the seventh inning was his first since May 9, 2006 against Atlanta. Texas’ Kazuo Fukumori made his Major League debut in the seventh inning, retiring the first batter he faced before allowing the next four Mariners to reach base. NEXT GAME PITCHING MATCHUP: RH Vicente Padilla (6-10, 5.76 in ’07) vs. RH Felix Hernandez (14-7, 3.92 in '07).
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 1 comment
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 06:52:19 pm
With most games being on TV and radio, I'm not going to do constant updates, but I'm going to write things during the game, that might not be picked up TV or radio. And other thoughts as well. First of all, the roof will be closed for the game today. Dave Niehaus got a standing ovation for throwing out the first pitch. He was wearing a tux, which isn't exactly Dave's style. To make matters worse it looked like his pants may fall off. Game time temperature 50 degrees. First pitch at 3:46 pm. 6:46 --- ahhha, huuhhh, ahhhh, THUNDER. That's right it's JJ time. I have to give Kudos to the Mariners staff, his video is even cooler than last year. 6:35 -- Weather.com says its 45 in Seattle, perhaps in places other than Safeco. The sun is out a little, but its cold, just look at my boy John McGrath...  6:21 -- after a nice piece of hitting with the double down the line, Jose Lopez has my first "what were you thinking moment" getting thrown out third trying to steal. He was in scoring position with the No. 3 hitter up. hmmmmm. I'm guessing that steal wasn't called. 6:06 - sorry for the delay, I had to finish up something for the paper. Great hustle by Beltre on that ground out to beat out the double play turn and let the go-ahead run to score. There no chance of scoring Sexson's pop up, Hamilton has one of the best arm's in the major leagues.  Here's a photo from News Tribune from the game... 5:25 --- It's officially snowing outside of Safeco Field, Wow. SEan Green is entering the game for Bedard in the sixth. Here's his line 106 pitches (59 strikes). He pitched five innings, allowing one run on three hits, he walked four and struck out five. 5:01 --- Bedard's 94th pitch was clocked at 96 miles per hour. He's getting stronger as the game goes on, I wonder if he'll have a pitch limit.After all it is the first game. Also the temperature just dropped considerably as the wind is starting to come throught from left field. 4:40 -- the Seattle PI's John Hickey just got hit in the hand by a foul ball in the press box, and it hurt. It's pretty cold in here and your hands get pretty raw. and Rangers manager Ron Washington and the dugout just got issued a warning from Joyce about jawing from the bench. It's the top of the third and Bedard has thrown 77 pitches already. Joyce still refuses to give him the inside corner. 4:17-- home plate umpire Jim Joyce is a little tight with his strike zone, he's called a few pitches that looked like strikes balls, he's really not giving up that inside corner on right handers. 4:10 -- so much for this whole going deep into the game stuff, Bedard is at 32 pitches the first batter into the second inning. Paging Sean Green, Eric O'Flaherty -- you will be pitching on opening day. 3:52 --- Jose Lopez should have made that play. They ruled it a hit. I really don't get what Richie is doing there, he probably could have made the play and I think Lopez was expecting him to. Jose should know better. 3:49 -- The fan that caught Michael Young's home run off of Erik Bedard won't throw it back despite the pleas of the people in the right field stands. You gotta throw it back. Bedard fell behind threw a 3-1 and threw a fastball, most major leaguers are going to put a good swing on it when they are sitting fastball, but a good hitter like Young, well it's pretty dangerous.
Categories: General
• 5 comments
Posted by Scott Fontaine @ 06:46:42 pm
For (maybe) the final time tonight, I'll mention that I've updated Word on the Street.
Categories: General
Posted by Scott Fontaine @ 05:47:14 pm
I've got two more posts about fans at Safeco Field over at Word on the Street.
Categories: General
Posted by Scott Fontaine @ 04:24:22 pm
I've posted a link about fans at Safeco Field here. I'll be updating the Word on the Street blog throughout the day.
Categories: General
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 03:08:52 pm
 UPDATE 3:32 p.m. it started raining about 10 minutes after the Mariners opened the roof, now they are closing it again. It's finally here.... decent response on the predicitions, I'm hoping for a little more. Don't be afraid to throw a few things out there. A little debate is a good thing. A few things.... We have a full staff up here with myself, John McGrath, Dave Boling, Doug Pacey and also a "man on the street" reporter Scott Fontaine out roving amongst the fans and writing blog posts on his blog --- blogs.thenewstribune.com/street --- with pictures and updates from the fans at Safeco. We're also coordinating with the photo/mulitmedia man Joe Barrentine back at the desk so I'll have in game photos posted as well. Also Larry LaRue is here today but not writing. He's still recovering but made an appearance and is going to sit back and enjoy the game. He got plenty of hugs, handshakes and well wishes from the Mariner players, coaches and staff. A few notes... the press box is packed. Opening day brings out all the media from all over the state. Talked with Charlton Jimerson, Ryan Rowland-Smith and Mike Morse about their first opening day on a major league roster and all of them are trying to play it cool, but they are clearly excited. Ian Kinsler is back in the Rangers lineup. He was a scratch and then decided to stay, apparently he has the flu. It's pretty crisp here right now, but expect it cool down even more. Jose Lopez told me he'll going be without sleeves though. Erik Bedard was sporting the long black tights that he'll be wearing under his pants in the clubhouse. Here's the schedule for the pregame activities.... Dave Niehaus, who will be inducted into the broadcaster's wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch to help get the 2008 Seattle Mariners season underway on Monday, March 31, vs. the Texas Rangers. Game time is 3:40pm. Gates open to the public at 1:40pm. Pre-game ceremonies start at 3pm. All fans through the gates will receive a 2008 Mariners schedule magnet. Fewer than 1,000 tickets remain available. Opening Day Festivities
Posted by Darrin Beene @ 02:44:21 pm
Second baseman Ian Kinsler will start and hit leadoff for the Rangers instead of Ramon Vazquez.
Categories: Answers to your questions
Posted by Darrin Beene @ 02:43:05 pm
The Mariners are 16-15 in Opening Day games. YEAR.......OPPONENT.........RESULT
Categories: Answers to your questions
Posted by Darrin Beene @ 01:24:19 pm
Texas Rangers (0-0):
Categories: Answers to your questions
Sunday, March 30th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 08:35:04 pm
We're coming live to you from the Las Vegas airport as I await to catch a late flight back to Seattle on Sunday evening. Gambling report: (down about 600), thanks to some idiot who didn't know how to be the black jack anchor and a few hours to kill today. Sleep report: about eight hours in two days. UPDATE: the good folks of that airline that rhymes with Who Us Care just informed me our flight is delayed. What's the over/under on the number of times I fly with said company in the future --- First of all, since we have space and several of you who have been commenting lately, I thought we'd see who's got the best prognosticating skills. It's something fun to do. Let's not kid ourselves many of you are just as qualified and probably better suited to make these type of picks than me. First pick each division, both AL and NL, the wild cards, the LCS winners and the World Series champs --- (mine were in the TNT's baseball special section). Also pick the MVPs, Cy Youngs, Rookie of the Years, and while were at it the Richie Sexson, oh, I mean the comeback player of the year awards. And just to have a little more fun .... here's 50 random predictions you can make (all you have to do is cut and paste these in the body of a comment). Most of these questions we can look up the answer to, so I'll even consider some sort of a prize for the person with the most right. They are just for fun and don't need to be much more than a word or two? I'll post mine in a separate post tomorrow. 1. How many wins for the Mariners?
Categories: General
• 10 comments
Saturday, March 29th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 11:59:39 am
It's a good thing I didn't make a bet on how the roster would shape out because I would have lost plenty of money like any fan who's team played Davidson in the NCAA tournament. OK, here's what happened..... McLaren will go with an 11-man pitching staff. Greg Norton and R.A. Dickey have been sent to Triple A. In order for the Mariners to send Dickey down, they had to trade Jair Fernandez to the Minnesota Twins, since Dickey was a Rule V Draft pick up. Mike Morse, Charlton Jimerson and Cha Seung Baek are on the team. I talked with Morse, Jimerson, Morrow, Dickey, GM Bill Bavasi and obviously McLaren. McLaren told Morse as they walked through the casino of the HArd Rock on their way to the team bus. Jimerson said it was all little less dramatic than he thought. Dickey was obviously disappointed, but a true professional. Morrow was disappointed, but admitted that he wasn't completely right with his mechanics. And he will be throwing relief not starting at West Tenn... Here's my thoughts... I tend to agree with many of you, who think they should be begin the permanent transition of Morrow to starter now, since Lowe is obviously healthy. Dickey was simply better than Baek this spring, but Baek was out of options and they didn't want to risk losing him. I have no problem with keeping Jimerson and Morse both, but you need to use them. It does no good to keep them and not use them. I think part of the thinking in keeping jimerson is that Morse still isn't completely at ease defensively in the outfield, and Jimerson can be a good late game replacement. Here's the roster ... Pitchers (11) Catchers (2) Infielders (8) Outfielders (4)
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 15 comments
Friday, March 28th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 10:08:42 pm
McLaren announced that reliever Brandon Morrow and outfielder Jeremy Reed will be optioned out immediately. Morrow will be sent to Double A West Tennessee with its warmer climate, while Reed will be sent back to Triple A Tacoma for the second consecutive year. “Morrow is just not quite ready yet,” McLaren said. “He hasn’t pitched back-to-back yet. His velocity is great, but he’s having problem with his delivery.” Indeed, McLaren saw first hand on Thursday night in San Francisco when Morrow walked the bases loaded to start his only inning of work. And while he got out of the inning only allowing a run, he was clearly fighting with his command and his mechanics. “We’re going to put him on a throwing program and get him where he throws back-to-back,” McLaren said. “We’ll know when he’s ready soon and I see him being back fairly soon.”
Categories: General
• 8 comments
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 06:28:46 pm
 Well, I made it here finally. I just want to give a big thanks to the people of the airline that rhymes with Who Us Care? Actually, you probably save me at least 200 or 300 on the black jack table. Also, they caused me to miss the McLaren pregame meeting, which the lovely Shannon Drayer told me "Mac didn't say anything." And apparently he didn't. But he did hint that possibly there could be roster moves tonight, but most of us don't think the final roster won't be decided till the Sunday workout. He did say also that he doesn't see any reason why Brandon Morrow will start the season the DL. I think he makes the team. And going by that theme, I'd lay a double down on a hundred dollar bet that the Mariners carry a 12-man rotation. Given what Morrow did last night I think you have to be a little conservative and can't run the risk of carrying just a six-man bullpen. Here's my predictions for the bench and bullpen.... UPDATED 9:08 p.m. I just got back from the clubhouse and I was kind of glanced over at Brandon Morrow and he looked pretty upset about something I'm thinking he's going to be sent down to work on his control. He has options left and I don't know that the Mariners are comfortable with sending him out there. Also Kenji Johjima hit a three-run homer and Brad Wilkerson hit a pinch hit home run to right in the eighth inning. Bench: Burke, Bloomquist, Cairo and Morse. At no point this spring has Mac ever intimated that Cairo might not make the squad. Bullpen: Putz, O'Flaherty, Green, Morrow, Dickey, Lowe and Rowland-Smith Let's get to the game.....  That's the Las Vegas mayor getting ready to throw out his first pitch. Some politicians travel with armed security, this guy travels two shows girls and the world's largest martini, (hint one of the girls is holding it) not that any of you are notcing it. UPDATE 7:48 P.M. -- A moment of silence and a raise of a beer in sadness, the gritty Chris Snelling was outrighted by the Phillies today. He's one of the good guys in baseball and injuries have totally derailed his career and .... Unbelievable double play by Betancourt and Lopez. Betancourt went up the middle made a nice stab on a ball up the middle, flipped it with his glove to Lopez who then threw out Mark DeRosa. UPDATE 8 p.m. Jose Lopez ripped a single right and then Raul Ibanez followed with a homer to right that went in between the legs of the giant inflatable cow atop the right field wall. Lou is looking for a refill on that giant martini UPDATE 8:44 Mike Morse hit monster home run deep to left field in the sixth inning. I don't know how he can't make this team, but then again these are the Mariners.... Here's tonight's lineups... the Mariners are the visitors Chicago
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 10:24:49 am
Alright, I'm sitting here in the San Francisco airport, since my flight this morning to Vegas was cancelled. I'm not going to name air line, but it rhymes with Few S Care. It's also the same airline that will be charging people 25 bucks for checking in a second bag, starting in May. Needless to say, I won't be flying Pew S. Hair, anymore. I've gotten a few questions from some people that I plan on answering, and no I won't be doing it on video. No need to frighten people with my massive cranium on video. Here's one final thought before I get on the plane, no doubt stuck to a 400-pound man who reeks of garlic and body odor, .... If you were picking the Mariners remaining bench spots and bullpen spots, who would you choose and why? Feel free to post, it and I'm interested in your opinion. Also start thinking about making your predictions for the season and we'll have a separate post for that.
Categories: General
• 12 comments
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 06:43:59 pm
 For Snydro, I wasn't in Peoria this morning to see the game or meet with McLaren, I flew out this morning at 7 a.m. and got to San Fran around nine. Like some of the other writers, I'm trying to finish up some stuff for our special baseball preview that kind of took precedent over blogging at the time, plus I knew I'd be blogging from the game. It's not a question of being lazy, it's a matter of prioritizing. Anyway, I posted some pictures of AT&T Park. I have to say it's one of the cooler parks I've ever been to. If you look closely there is no signs that Barry Bonds ever played here. No signs. No pictures. Nothing. UPDATE 10:47Update 9:40 Brandon Morrow tried to pitch his way to Tacoma and then back into the Seattle bullpen in one inning. I think there is some concern about his location. The velocity is good, but can McLaren really afford to run him out there with the possiblity of a repeat performance happening. UPDATE 8:59 UPDATE 8:24 UPDATE 8:18 I talkled with Jamie Burke before the game and he was pretty concerned with how much Dickey's knuckleball was going to move. He was constantly working that "knuckleball" glove, which is basically a fastpitch' softball catchers glove in. "Yeah I'm worried, you have no idea what that thing is going to do with the wind," Burke said. "But that's how it's going to be the rest of the year." Also I talked with Mark Lowe about his last outing the other day. The last three pitches he threw were 95, 95 and 96 to strike out a hitter. "I'm telling you I felt that good all spring," he said. "The velocity has gone up the more I throw and the stronger my arm gets. I feel great."
Also it doesn't look like it's moving as much on TV, but sitting behind home and pretty low (sweet press box here) you can see that knuckle ball moving like crazy. UPDATED 7:29 --- Dickey just picked off Fred Lewis on a sweet move to first. No problem with conversation Snydro. I know you're a die-hard NEws Tribune blog reader so your criticism is expected and justified. I got some quotes from the McLaren press conference this morning, thanks to Kirby Arnold of the Everett Herald. A few things. * He didn't say Morrow might stay back, but he didn't say Morrow is going either.He was asked whether Morrow was on the team and McLAren answered: "We’re trying to see where we are with him." * Here's what McLaren said about the fourth outfielder. * Here's his thoughts on how the AL West is looking. Lineups 51 Ichiro Suzuki (L) CF   
Categories: General
• 4 comments
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 01:11:00 pm
There's pretty much no way I could write that headline without drawing smirks or comments from people so why even bother. Here's the release from the Mariners... PEORIA, Ariz. - Seattle Mariners Director of Player Development Greg Hunter announced today that catcher Wei Wang has been assigned to the High Desert (A) Mavericks club in the California League. Wang, who was signed as a non-drafted free agent on June 20, 2007, will report to High Desert for the start of the season. The Mariners have also already granted permission for Wang to re-join the Chinese National Team this year, when requested. Wang has 10 years of professional experience in China, and has been the starting catcher for the Chinese National Team since 2002.
Categories: General
• 3 comments
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 03:20:00 pm
 Sorry if picture is a little blurry, but that's the phenom Carlos Triunfel playing shortstop for the Mariners. He looks pretty good in a SEattle uniform doesnt' he? On the first ball that was hit to him, he made an unbelievable stab of a bouncing ball up the middle, wheeled around a delivered to a seed to Richie Sexson at first to get Mark Teahan. I had actually ran down to sit on the first base side so I saw it quite well. It was a big-time play, and I swear you could hear the ball hissing on its way to first. In his first at-bat, Triunfel smoked a ball to center that was good enough for a sacrifice fly.
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 2 comments
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 01:20:37 pm
As expected LHP Ryan Feierabend was optioned to Triple A Tacoma this afternoon. Feierabend pretty much knew it was coming with all of the signings this season.  No word yet on Reitsma. Again none of the stuff involving him, Rhodes, Corcoran and Hulett have not been officially gone through, but might become official tonight or tomorrow. * Also as the title said, Angels' starter Kelvim Escobar could be done for the season, and possibly his career. * The Angels also still have questions about their infield. * Here's the game notebook from the SF Chronicle. * The Royals are still awaiting to find out if Jose Guillen can get out of his suspension. * Jason Botts has the made Rangers, which might not be good for former Mariner Ben Broussard. * Kevin Mench - the man with a size 8 head, will not be making the Rangers.. * Here's some more about the Canseco book and his accusations leveled at A-rod and Magglio Ordonez.
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 1 comment
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 10:43:50 am
 And we move a little closer to determining the Mariners bullpen for opening day. Manager John McLaren said this morning that Arthur Rhodes and Chris Reitsma will not be be making the team out of spring training. "We've talked to Arthur Rhodes and told him he's not going to break camp with us," McLaren said. "Our thoughts are we are going to take him Vegas have him continue his throwing program and work some back-to-back games in." As for Reitsma? "We've talked to Reitsma and asked him to do the same thing and he's going to go home and think about it?," McLaren said. "He's not sure what he wants to do right now. We're hopeful he does want to continue." Besides those two, McLaren said he also talked with RHP Roy Corcoran and IF Tug Hulett and informed they will be sent down to minor league camp. Officially none of the players has been reassigned and no roster moves have been made. McLaren only informed them of what is going to happen. UPDATE: Neither Reitsma or Rhodes had minor league options in their deals. They have to accept minor league assignments or retire (or at least not play this year. Really this didn't come as too much of a surprise to the people down here. Neither pitcher has yet to throw in back-to-back games this spring, and that's something that McLaren felt vital. With Brandon Morrow still limited, there was no way he could take two, or really even one, more reliever that might be limited in some way. "We don't want to put ourselves in the position where we have too many pitchers that we have to take extra caution with and paint ourselves in our corner," McLaren said. "Why you gotta be cautious with three or four guys, you're asking for trouble and that happened to us last year." McLaren still wouldn't commit to an 11- or 12-man pitching staff at this point, but the guess down here is that he'll go with 12 to stay on the safe side. Basically, that leaves... Mark Lowe, Brandon Morrow, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Cha Seung Baek, R.A. Dickey for the four remaining spots ... so that means either Baek or Dickey because Rowland-Smith has thrown well all spring and there is a need for a second left-hander in the pen. If and when Rhodes gets healthy, he'd probably move into the bullpen and they'd send Rowland-Smith down. Remember Rhodes' target date for a comeback was supposed to May 1st. McLaren said there could be more moves made on Thursday. But his goal of getting his 25-man roster before the team heads to San Francisco. "I don't think so, but we're going to be very close," McLaren said. Here's today's lineups
Categories: General
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 08:05:13 pm
 We're coming to you live from the press box at Surprise Stadium where the temperature is 82 degrees at first pitch at 7:07 p.m. Here's my story from today's paper on Mark Lowe.... * Let's not screw around here and get to the bigger news. Angels starter Kelvim Escobar was shut down a week into his throwing program after feeling more discomfort in his throwing shoulder... It says that Escobar's return is now early June, but I bet its about mid to late June. * This isn't the only injury issues for the Angels. Outfielder Gary Matthews twisted his ankle the other day, and that's caused some issues. He's day-to-day. * Here's the SF Chronicle's game story on the A's 6-5 loss to the REd Sox. I think they're playing the second game right now as we speak. * The Rangers haven't decided to do with Marlon Byrd yet. * Signing John Patterson isn't a risk for them because, well, their starting pitching is terrible. * Here's SI's Tom Verducci's season picks.... he does not pick the Mariners to win the AL West. And because I love youtube and thought it was cool, I couldn't help but post Kansas City's Joey Gathright jumping over a pitcher the other day. Why because the guy can jump over a car.....
Categories: Answers to your questions
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 03:31:34 pm
Brandon Morrow sat in front of his locker with a somewhat disgusted look on his face. Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus approached him and asked, "how'd it go today?" Morrow didn't hesitate. "I got shelled," he said flatly. And to be fair, Morrow did get shelled, raked, knocked around or any other baseball vernacular that would describe giving up a plethora of hits and runs. Morrow, who was pitching against the Texas Rangers Triple A team, faced seven hitters and recorded just one out, giving up five runs on four hits and walked two hitters. The inning never actually ended with three outs, after the triple both teams just switched. "It was a tough one," Morrow said. "Definitely frustrating." Morrow looked to have very good velocity with his fastball but just not the command. He immediately put himself in trouble by walking the first two hitters. Bu "I was hitting my spots in the bullpen," Morrow said. "I felt good in the bullpen." And part of the problem might have been the mound. On that field, it seems every pitcher that's thrown on there regardless if they are major leaguer or minor leaguer has complained about the height of the mound and severe steep. "It's completely different than the bullpen mound," said Ryan Rowland-Smith, who threw before Morrow and also walked the first hitter he faced. Morrow admitted the mound bothered him and was causing him to miss down. "It seems like it's a foot higher," he said. "I don't want to make any excuses but since you brought it up, that's why I felt like I was missing down in the beginning of the game. It felt like where your foot was supposed to land it would fall another three or four inches. It's tough to get used to." As for what he will do next, Morrow wants to throw again this spring. "I'd like to get in another game," he said. "I guess that would be in San Francisco." So what does it mean?????? Well, if the Mariners decide to keep Morrow on the team to start the season, I don't think there is any way they can go with an 11-man rotation. It just doesn't make sense to shorthand themselves, especially since Morrow hasn't thrown on back-to-back days yet this spring and Mel Stottlemyre made it sound like he wouldn't for another few weeks. So of the seven bullpen spots, we know that J.J. Putz, Eric "Pototaoes" O'Flaherty (that's Geoff Baker's nickname) and Sean Green are in. So that leaves Morrow, Mark Lowe, Chris Reitsma, Arthur Rhodes, R.A. Dickey, Cha Seung Baek, Ryan Rowland-Smith to fill those four spots. I'll have a breakdown on them a little later...
Categories: General
• 2 comments
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 03:02:51 pm
Mariners at Rangers
Categories: General
Monday, March 24th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 11:46:48 am
Here's my story from today on the bullpen situation, specifically Brandon Morrow's progress.... I honestly don't think there is any way the Mariners don't carry seven pitchers in the bullpen at this point. There is still some level of uncertainty about how much he can pitch early on, and whether he can go in back-to-back games. You could get away with keeping him in the bullpen still if you had the extra guy in the pen. That's why it doesn't seem like Arthur Rhodes will make the team out of spring. They simply can't rely on him at this point, and he hasn't thrown enough down here to determine whether he's sharp enough to pitch in the regular season. In the spots where the Mariners would need Rhodes, you don't want him to be still trying to find location or building velocity. Here's my story from Sunday on McLaren not being happy with the way his team is playing.... He said today he wants his team to make a little push and go into the season playing better than it has the past week. Other links of note... * Here's a good story from SI on the DH and how it shaped baseball.. Let's check around the AL West * The Rangers are so pitching-starved they signed John Patterson. No word on if Ho-Ram signed with anybody yet, but I hear the Bellingham Bells need some pitching. * Mike Sweeney made the Oakland A's roster * Here's some good preview stuff on the A's from the San Francisco Chronicle. * The Rangers felt their victory over the Mariners the other day was a breakthrough win. White Sox at Mariners
Categories: Answers to your questions
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 09:11:31 am
The Mariners trimmed their roster to 35 as outfielder Wladimir Balentien and catcher Rob Johnson were optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, while Jake Woods, who signed a minor-league contract and came in as a non-roster invitee, was optioned to the minor-league camp and will be reassigned, most likely to Tacoma.  None of the three was much of a surprise. If the Mariners didn't want Jeff Clement sitting the bench in the big leagues, they weren't going to have Balentien doing so either. "He needs to play every day," McLaren said. "He's a young kid learning the strike zone and we want him playing every day. It doesn't serve any purpose ... to me he mirrors Clement. We don't want those guys sitting around as extra players. We want them playing on a regular basis, and if we need him, he'll be ready." This spring, Balentien appeared in 20 games, hitting .319 (15-for-47) with six doubles, three home runs and nine RBI. More importantly, he only struck out seven times. As has been well documented in the past, Balentien struggled with strikeouts, but they've gone down each of his three seasons: 2005 (160), 2006 (140), 2007 (105). "I want to be under this season," he said a few weeks back. "I've got them down every year." He also understood that the possibility of going back to Triple A was a distinct possibility. "I don't have no problem with that if that's what they want me to do," he said. "I'll just go to Tacoma and try to do what they want me to do, have success." McLaren liked what he saw this spring and hopes it will improve. "He used the whole field, showed some power. I want him working on his defense, trying to steal a few bases, try and improve on his all-around game. I like Balentien a lot. I told you all coming into camp when we made this Adam Jones trade that a lot of our people thought he had a higher ceiling than Adam. With that said, he's going to go down there and play every day and keep working on his game."  Quietly under the radar amid all the talk about Jeff CLement, Johnson made serious strides this sprign at the plate. He hit .385 (5-for-13) in limited action. But he had changed his approach at the plate. Last season in Tacoma, his stance was spread more and he was taking a defensive-type swing, hitting mostly singles. This year, he's standing more upright, has shortened his stance and is trying to drive the ball with authority. "I'm a big guy and I needed to start hitting like one," he said. "I feel so much comfortable and free in the batter's box." Defensively, Johnson is major-league ready right now. "I've seen a lot of improvement with him," McLaren said. "If he hits, he's going to be an everyday player for 10 years. If his bat doesn't come, he'll probably back up for 10 years. We like him a lot. He's got a nice feature any way you equate it. I talked with Rainiers manager Daren Brown, who said Johnson and Clement will platoon behind the plate and DH for Tacoma much as they did last season.  Woods' demotion wasn't much of a surprise. He was vying for the long-relief spot and became the odd man out with Ryan Rowland-Smith, Cha Seung Baek and R.A. Dickey also competing. But McLaren liked what he saw from him. "I see him as a reliever myself," McLaren said. "Then again, left-handers can do just about anything given the opportunity. I thought he threw much better this spring. He is on the radar screen and we'll be watching him closely." *Updates in progress
Categories: General
• 4 comments
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 03:38:55 pm
 Brandon Morrow threw one inning of rehab work. He allowed a single to right and then retired the next three hitters in a row. He threw 12 pitches, seven of which were strikes. Nine of the 12 pitches were fastballs and three were sliders. "It was a good inning. I didn’t want to stay out there and labor too long. I felt strong," Morrow said. As for being ready for opening day, Morrow seemed pretty confident. "I didn’t take too long to warm up," he said. "I warmed up the one half-inning before that, which is normally the time they would give you. I didn’t baby it too much. The effort level was pretty good; I didn’t feel like I was holding anything back." Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre anticipates Morrow will pitch again on Tuesday either against the Rangers in Suprise or in another minor league game.
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 10:06:55 am
Here's some news out of Tempe, Angels set-up man Scott Shields has been shut down with a sore arm and might not be ready for opening day.... that make Kelvim Escobar, John Lackey and now Shields all ailing. The Mariners must take advantage of this early in the regular season. Anyway Morrow is throwing soon .... And I will be there. OK I just got back from the minor league fields and the game isn't till 1 p.m. We were misinformed. So I am going to skip the first part of today's game in Tempe to stay and watch Morrow pitch. Why? Because if we were going to have any idea of how this bullpen is going to shape up before opening day, Morrow's progress is key to helping determine that. Two weeks ago, the bullpen seemed to be the least of manager John McLaren's problems. And now there's a certain level of uncertainess with Morrow being shut down for a few days with a "tired arm." With a healthy Morrow, you had the eighth inning set up guy locked in. Without him, things get a little tricky. You could use Sean Green there, but who's going to fill Green's role as a guy that comes in earlier and usually in dicey situations to get groundballs? At this point, McLaren still can't pencil in Chris Reitsma or Mark Lowe, who are coming back from offseason surgeries. I'll try and break down the bullpen a little more today.... A few quick notes .... * Richie Sexson is out today with a sore right shoulder. Sexson has bursitis in his shoulder that he developed from sleeping on it wrong. Trainier Rick Griffin gave him an injection to ease the discomfort --- we're not sure what it was, we're waiting to find out. My guess, as a person who dealt with nasty tendonitis in his elbow, is that it's probably cortisone. * McLaren said the team has kind of hit a rough spot of spring training where the players are looking are tired of spring games and are looking forward toward the regular season. Saturday, March 22nd, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 01:53:48 pm
No, it's not what you think. Felix Hernandez and J.J. Putz pitched in the minor league game today in order to avoid pitching against the Texas Rangers....  Putz looked pretty sharp. He gave up a home run to Josh Womack to lead off the the first inning, but then settled in to finish the inning. In the second inning Putz recorded three quick outs, but stayed out there to reach his pitch count, getting two more outs in the prolonged inning. His final numbers were 2 2/3 inning pitched, one run, two hits, and five strikeouts.  Felix didn't have quite as sharp an outing. He pitched six innings, allowing seven hits, five runs (four earned) and a walk, but he did strike out 10 hitters, including Matt Tuiasosopo three times and Jeff Clement twice. He was pretty much on cruise control until the fifth inning, when he gave up four hits, including a lead-off home run to Bryan LaHair and a deep double to Mike Wilson. But in typical fashion, he struck out the final five hitters he faced in the outing. A few notes ... Putz got his revenge, striking out Bloomquist on a nasty 3-2 split-finger – Bloomquist was about a foot out in front of it, and a foot over the top of with his swing. Manager John McLaren, who was on hand observing, couldn't help but tease Bloomquist. Not surprisingly, Bloomquist said nothing. Also, they had LaHair playing left field in the game. It's a position he played on occasion early in his career.
Categories: General
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 10:15:21 am
 John McLaren and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre have some tough decisions to make in the coming days. John McLaren's face had a worn and tired look this morning. It's clear that the roster decisions he has to make in the coming week are weighing heavily on his and his staff's minds. But then, so are the other issues: lack of situational hitting, injuries and the high expectations for this team. The first question will be whether he goes with an 11-man or 12-man pitching staff. And there are plenty of variables in making that decision. "We know what we’ve got in our starting pitching," he said. "We want to see what we’ve got in the bullpen - the three rehab guys, how Morrow is. It all plays into the equation." And the equation can't really be solved until the factors of the equation are in place... meaning Brandon Morrow, Chris Reitsma, Mark Lowe and Arthur Rhodes have to go from rehabbing to reliable. "There’s still a lot of competition in the bullpen," McLaren said. "There’s a lot of thought over what we need to do there. There’s the rehab guys, Morrow, who can do what, who can’t do what. We’re going to have to sort this out a little at a time and see where we are. We don’t want to paint ourselves into a corner with innings available in the bullpen. We’ve got to look at the big picture and see what we’ve got to do to protect ourselves." Morrow is scheduled to throw in a game Sunday. He isn't on the list of pitchers going to Tempe to play the Angels, so most likely he'll join Carlos Silva in the minor league games in Peoria. But McLaren made it clear they aren't going to rush Morrow back just to make the regular season. They want to err on the side of caution. "We’re looking for opening day, but you’ve got to look at the big picture. We certainly don’t want to rush anybody just to come out March 31," McLaren said. "If he breaks down Week 1 or Week 2, we haven’t accomplished one thing. We haven’t accomplished anything as an organization and it sure isn’t helping our players. That’s a definite consideration." And all this needs to be sorted out in the next five days, because McLaren hopes to have the roster in place before leaving for the San Francisco-Las Vegas road trip. But of course he knows that isn't a guarantee. "I don’t know what we can do over the weekend that we won’t know by the middle of the week," McLaren said. "I just don’t know what a weekend series in Vegas playing the slot machines will do for us. We should know when we hit that plane exactly where we are." But then he dropped in this nugget that raised a few eyebrows.... "Unless there’s something going on with one of these guys - Dickey, the Rule 5 guy, if we’ve got a deal going for one of our guys who’s out of options," he said. "That may push us back, but I’d like to be set when we hit that plane. I don’t know that we can do that, but that would be my goal." Hmmmmm..... a DEAL? Maybe the competition for the last few bench spots might have a new player in the mix. GM Bill Bavasi hasn't been shy about late add ons from the waiver wire – think Jason Ellison from last season, or possibly a trade. For the record, the players who are out of options are: Mike Morse, Charlton Jimerson and Cha Seung Baek.
Categories: General
• 2 comments
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 09:32:33 am
Rangers at Mariners
Categories: Answers to your questions
Friday, March 21st, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 01:29:09 pm
Thought I'd post a few pictures from earlier since I got a chance to wander around a little. A quick game update, the Mariners are down 2-0 after Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer left-center off of Erik Bedard.  Here's why I gained 14 pounds since I've been here. I highly recommend the Chicken Gyro, or the barbecued chicken or the teriyaki bowl.  George Brett, enough said.  It's Jose Guillen and M's hitting coach Jeff Pentland.  "Brothers don't shake hands, brothers gotta hug."
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 1 comment
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 11:31:14 am
Royals at Mariners
Categories: Answers to your questions
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 10:51:24 am
 Alright I wanted to get some stuff up this morning, but got a little sidetracked by some NFL happenings with the Seahawks, like Mike Morse, I am all about versatility. Speaking of Mr. Morse, last night's debacle in right field didn't help his chances of making the club. For those of you who didn't see, Morse badly misplayed two shallow fly balls late in the game costing the Mariners a run. "I'm concerned," said manager John McLaren. "We're no closer to finalizing that extra bench position or two than we were two weeks ago." With the way Morse has been swinging the bat this spring, he seemed like a lock to make the team. But McLaren seemed very resolute about it still being an open competition this morning. "We're having meeting after this about it, and we debated last night after the game," McLaren said. Obviously Morse isn't going to win or lose the job based on one game. And I will say that he has looked serviceable in the outfield, but he is not as good as Charlton Jimerson, Wladimir Balentien or Jeremy Reed, who have been playing the position for many years. Morse still looks like an infielder trying to make the transition. Special instructor Jay Buhner talked with Morse briefly about last night and McLaren said he was going to work with him some today. "Buhner had a few moments out in the twilight zone last year," McLaren said. But the Morse talk isn't really what fired up McLaren. It was when we brought up last night's failure to score a run with bases loaded and no outs in the top of the 10th. All spring, McLaren has preached to us and to his players about being better hitters situationally, particularly with a runner at third and less than two outs. But in the last week, Seattle has floundered in those situations. "It was our Achilles heel last year and I still see signs of it," McLaren said. "If we're going to be a good ball club you can't leave runners stranded at third base with less than two outs. It just can't happen." Part of the problem is the mixture of hitters. You have guys like Jose Vidro and Ichiro who are a little more patient in that situation and then you have hackers like Yuniesky Betancourt and Jose Lopez, who seem to almost get overexcited in the box in those situations. "We got a little bit of everything there," McLaren said. And the more we talked about it, the more irritated McLaren got... "It's something we talked about a lot. We talked about not doing too much, trying to hit sacrifice flies to center," McLaren said. And from there he issued a bit of an ultimatum. "We will pinch hit for these guys if they're not getting the job done," he said. "We have confidence that they can, But if we keep leaving runners out there, we're going to have consider other options." It seems all spring that the fallback answer is always, "well, it's spring training." But the season is in sight and McLaren knows that excuse just isn't cutting it. "I certainly don't think we can just get to March 31st and turn it on, turn the light switch on," McLaren said. "You gotta have a game plan. And that's what we've been preaching. Get a $?% damn game plan and let's go." |
