Mariners Insider
You will find news, observations, anecdotes, analysis and photographs on this blog. The purpose is to keep readers informed, but also give them a feel for the team and its players, and a place to go to read about baseball.

Contributors:

Ryan Divish has been with Tacoma News Tribune since 2006, covering the Tacoma Rainiers and high school sports. Divish played baseball at Dickinson State University and also earned a journalism degree from the University of Montana.
E-mail Ryan.

Larry LaRue has covered the Seattle Mariners and Major League Baseball for The News Tribune since 1988. E-mail Larry.

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    Mariners Insider
    Friday, February 27th, 2009
    Mariners first win is a blow out
    Posted by Larry LaRue @ 03:19:13 pm

    Erik Bedard and a handful of relievers shut the Dodgers out until the ninth inning, and the Seattle offense pounded out 20 hits in an 18-2 victory.

    Their first victory of the spring included home runs by Mike Wilson, Matt Tuiasosopo and Mike Carp, who had five RBI.

    "It was good to see Adrian Beltre and Erik Bedard back out there, and we swung the bats pretty aggressively," manager Don Wakamatsu said.

    Beltre's first game of the spring included two hits and an RBI, and he felt fine after playing.

    He'll test himself with one more game - playing third base against the Giants - and then decide whether to play for in the World Baseball Classic.

    Two games into the Cactus League schedule, the Mariners are now 1-0-1.

    Categories: General
    Bedard makes quick work of the Dodgers
    Posted by Larry LaRue @ 01:15:54 pm

    Scheduled to pitch one inning against Los Angeles, left-hander Erik Bedard went two - and then had to go throw in the bullpen.

    Against the Dodgers, he got six outs on just 14 pitches - nine of those strikes. At that pace, he could have thrown a complete game with 63 pitches.

    Instead, he left the game with a lead, threw another 20 pitches in the bullpen and called it a good day.

    "I was just getting the feel for my pitches, throwing strikes," Bedard said. "Fourteen pitches in two innings? That's not me."

    As for the Mariners offense, it grabbed a 4-0 lead, scoring first on back-to-back doubles by Matt Tuiasosopo and Franklin Gutierrez.

    Adrian Beltre doubled home two runs and Bryan LaHair doubled home a fourth.

    Off the field, Mike Morse was a late scratch with flu-like symptoms and Felix Hernandez became a second-time father with the birth of his first son, six-pound, 10-ounce Abraham.

    Categories: General
    Here's the Game 2 lineup - and Beltre is in it
    Posted by Larry LaRue @ 07:45:15 am

    The Los Angeles Dodgers visit Peoria today, and the Mariners have a lineup that features a former Dodger - Adrian Beltre - as their designated hitter.

    Here's the lineup for Game 2 of the Cactus League:
    Ronnie Cedeno SS
    Jose Lopez 2B
    Russell Branyan 1B
    Adrian Beltre DH
    Bryan LaHair LF
    Mike Morse 3B
    Franklin Gutierrez CF
    Prentice Redman RF
    Rob Johnson C
    Erik Bedard P

    Typical of the second game of the spring, the Mariners have 11 pitchers on hand to pitch as needed in relief.

    The game begins at 12:05 p.m. (PDT) and will be broadcast on KIRO radio.

    Categories: General
    Around the horn: A look at who'll be catching in April
    Posted by Larry LaRue @ 06:19:42 am

    It’s never too early to start looking ahead, so we’re going to begin looking at the competition in Mariners camp, position by position.

    When pitchers and catchers reported to spring training more than two weeks ago, one argument was that four catchers – Jamie Burke, Jeff Clement, Rob Johnson and Adam Moore – were each going to be major league ready by opening day.

    And that didn’t include the man dubbed Seattle’s regular catcher by manager Don Wakamatsu: Kenji Johjima.

    An embarrassment of riches, because there’s no way the Mariners can carry three catchers once hey open the season with a 12-man pitching staff. Barring an injury, the catchers almost certain to make the 25-man roster are Johjima and Clement (pictured), a righty-lefty hitting tandem.

    What that means, unfortunately, is that the best defensive catchers – Burke and Johnson – will probably start the year in Class AAA Tacoma. And, come to think of it, neither Johjima nor Clement put up much of an offense in 2008, either.

    The team is hoping Johjijma rebounds to 2007 numbers (.287, 14 HR, 61 RBI) instead of those he posted last year (.227, 7, 39), when his on-base percentage fell off to .277).

    Clement, meanwhile, has had only 219 big-league at-bats, and in those has batted an unremarkable .237 with seven home runs. His swing has shown power in the minors, but it’s yet to translate consistently in Seattle.

    Of more concern is their defense. Both Burke and Johnson call good games and have better arms, and Johjima hasn’t blocked the plate against a runner since 2006 – when he was flattened in a jarring collision.

    In his first year as manager, former catcher Wakamatsu knows all this. What he might do in a perfect world isn’t going to happen, not with Johjima in the first year of a new three-year contract. And not with Clement, 25, offering the possibility of left-handed power in Safeco Field. If Clement hits his weight here (215 pounds), he goes north.

    For Burke, Johnson and Moore, then, this camp is about who makes the best impression for down the line should Johjima or Clement be injured. There was no way anyone was going to crack that top two this spring, especially with Johjima in Japan for the World Baseball Classic.

    A lot of catching talent, no real competition.

    Categories: General