Category Archives: Roster

When it rains, it pours . . .

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First, the M’s not only lose their first road series (vs. Tiger) and lose Robbie due to a broken hand (hit by a pitch on the 13th)

but then, on the 15th comes the extremely disappointing news that Robbie has been suspended . . .

It was going to be bad enough to do without Robbie for 4-6 weeks because of injury.

Now, not only does the team have to do without him for much longer but, the reason could have a larger, different impact on the team. Truly one of the biggest challenges the organization has had in many years. It will be interesting to see if the team is able to pull together and if Scott and Jerry can pull the right strings in order to get the right pieces, shuffle the field, respectively to ensure all bases are covered for the rest of the season.

hs1 | short but sweet homestand = series win!

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Yes, we will take TWO out of THREE every time! (and all ONE-RUN games, at that!)

2 out of 3

 

Mariners 2 | Indians 1

Mariners 5 | Indians 6

Mariners 5 | Indians 4

 

 

 

(covered Opening Day in  previous post )

Each of the second and third game saw the M’s earn FIVE runs (one short of a win in one game and just enough to win the other). So, in the two games combined, they had EIGHTEEN hits, FIVE doubles, THREE homers and FIVE walks . . . very decent production.

Mitch is on F I R E !!!

I know, it’s only three games but, still . . . fun to see him leading the majors in BA/OBP/OPS/SLG  🙂 especially since I picked him to be the best “new-comer” last season and he was off to a great start but, then got hurt (a couple times 😦 )

Speaking of injuries . . .

oh, Nellie! a homer in each of the first TWO games and then some freak accident, turning his ankle stepping into the dugout 😦

I-chi-ro!

spectacular wall-climbing catch on Saturday: Ichiro’s robbery

On the MOUND

  • James had a bit of a blip on Saturday (OK – giving up a grand slam in the first inning is not how anyone draws it out) but, he’s allowed a mulligan or two if he can just stay HEALTHY this season (please! please! please!).
  • Mike Leake had a nice > quality start in Sunday’s game: SEVEN innings – FIVE hits – TWO earned runs – THREE walks – FOUR strikeouts
  • Overall, the BULLY was pretty great. As mentioned, Eddie’s save on Thursday was a bit of an adventure but, Sunday’s was a gem: 1-2-3 SIT!!! The pen followed up James’ short and not so sweet outing with FOUR.ONE innings of HITLESS, SCORELESS ball!

So, really seems that it all comes down to health . . .

  • Seems like the new guys (Gordon, Healy, Marjama) really have a chance to contribute.
  • Kyle off to a slow start (but, then, you can pretty much draw up his season in PEN – slow start but great defense and in the end .260 w/25 homers.
  • As mention, Mitch is hot and Robbie’s not far behind, Segura should be steady.
  • Get well soon, Nellie and Zu!
  • And, of course the arms . . . please protect the arms!

Next up – short 2-game series w/the Giants in SanFran and then the Twins home-opener (another Thursday/Saturday/Sunday series) then off to Kansas City for three).

Go M’s!

 

Meet your 2017 Seattle Mariners!

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Pitchers (13 + 5 DL)

53 ALTAVILLA, Dan RHP

39 DIAZ, Edwin RHP

38 FIEN, Casey RHP

49 GALLARDO, Yovani RHP

34 HERNANDEZ, Felix RHP

18 IWAKUMA, Hisashi RHP

37 MIRANDA, Ariel LHP

60 OVERTON, Dillon LHP

65 PAXTON, James LHP

47 PAZOS, James LHP

25 RZEPCZYNSKI, Marc LHP

58 SCRIBNER, Evan RHP

50 VINCENT, Nick RHP

31 CISHEK, Steve — DL RHP

59 SIMMONS, Shae — DL RHP

33 SMYLY, Drew — DL LHP

63 WHALEN, Rob — DL RHP

55 ZYCH, Tony — DL RHP

Catchers (2)

52 RUIZ, Carlos C

3 ZUNINO, Mike C

Infielders (5 + 1 DL)

22 CANÓ, Robinson 2B

21 MOTTER, Taylor INF

15 SEAGER, Kyle 3B

2 SEGURA, Jean SS

26 VALENCIA, Danny INF

36 O’MALLEY, Shawn — DL INF

Outfielders (5)

23 CRUZ, Nelson OF/DH

1 DYSON, Jarrod OF

17 HANIGER, Mitch OF

5 HEREDIA, Guillermo OF

12 MARTIN, Leonys OF

g57-60 | splittin’ w/the Tribe

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Three outta four would have been great but, we’ll take a split . . .

split1

g57 Mariners 1 | Indians 3 Woe is sloppy play, wasting a stellar pitching effort

ON the MOUND
~ James threw WAY too many pitches for SIX innings but, certainly provided a bit of excitement with the TEN strikeouts, several hitting TRIPLE DIGITS . . .
~ Edwin Diaz, making his major league debut, (out of the pen) threw some GAS of his own – a clean inning w/his first ML strikeout
~Then Monty went TWO scoreless w/THREE strikeouts

AT the PLATE
Why is it that when the pitching FINALLY comes around, the hitting goes south?!?

IN the FIELD
And, once again, TWO errors, hurt a stellar start

g58 Mariners 7 | Indians 1 Lookie here! They CAN pitch and hit in the same game!

ON the MOUND
Sans beard becomes you, Wade 🙂
SEVEN innings ~ FOUR hits ~ TWO ~ ZERO runs ~ THREE strikeouts

} Joaquin allowed a solo shot in his inning, Steve posted a clean inning of ‘non-close’ work

AT the PLATE
~ hitters 2-3-4 (Seth, Robbie, Nellie) posted 6/11 w/FOUR runs, THREE RBI and ONE walk
~ hitters 7-8-9 (Adam, Steve, Shawn) posted 5/10 w/TWO runs, FOUR RBI and TWO walks
~ Nellie w/TWO homers, Shawn w/a TRIPLE

IN the FIELD
* Steve w/a passed ball
* Nice ’round the horn DP (Kyle-Cano-Lee)

g59 Mariners 5 | Indians 0  Tai the terrific, Chris the conqueror 🙂

ON the MOUND
Tai not only got back on track, he was steam-rollin’ . . .
EIGHT innings ~ THREE hits ~ ZERO runs ~ ZERO walks ~ ELEVEN strikeouts

} Nick added another scoreless innings and TWO more K’s

AT the PLATE
Have a day, Chris!
TWO homers for THREE RBI and then an RBI double for good measure
~ Kyle with the other RBI on a ground out
~ Ketel picks up where he left-off from the DL w/TWO hits and TWO runs scored

IN the FIELD
catch of the season, so far, for Guti . . .

g60 Mariners 3 | Indians 5  Oh, those base on balls . . . 

ON the MOUND
Nathan’s issue was his pitch count from WAY too many walks (FIVE)

Monty was good again but, Edwin gave up his first run and Joaquin was the real nail in the coffin, allowing a 2-run shot and then an UNearned run on his own error 😦

AT the PLATE
THIRTEEN hits (including TWO doubles and THREE homers) should net a LOT more than THREE runs. As it turns out, the THREE runs were all off solo shots (TWO by Robbie, ONE by Adam)

tweets of the series . . . 

g54-56 | swept outta Arlington

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that certainly didn’t go as planned or desired . . .

nobodys perfect

the first TWO games they were just out pitched (Karns and Walker w/season-worst starts) and out hit . . .

g54 Mariners 3 | Rangers 7

g55 Mariners 4 | Rangers 10

but, the third game was clearly a case of “where’s the DEE?” . . .

g56 Mariners 2 | Rangers 3

Kuma allowed a single to the first batter of the game and then proceeded to retire TWELVE straight. Unfortunately, he had to throw many extra pitches in the Rangers 5th where TWO of their THREE runs were UNearned (Sardinas and Romero each recorded key errors as well as UNrecorded faux paux that very likely made the difference between Kuma going NINE and getting a win and only going SEVEN and being tagged with the loss (Luis should have turned a DP to end the inning and later booted a ball, Romero also committed an error AND didn’t come up firing after fielding a fly ball, allowing the runner on 3B to score). Hurry back Ketel and Leonys!

tweets of the series . . . 

 

g21 | missed the on-field sweep but, changes off the field . . .

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Mariners 4 | Astros 7

ON THE MOUND
Not Kuma’s night . . .
Way too many pitches and extra-base hits allowed (3 doubles and a homer)
FIVE innings ~ SEVEN hits ~ FIVE earned runs ~ TWO walks ~ SEVEN strikeouts

Bully . . . 
} Monty, Videl and Nick were great: combined for THREE.ONE innings of NO HIT relief
} Unfortunately, Mayckol didn’t even get out of ONE inning and gave up TWO runs

AT THE PLATE
~ Plenty of hits (TEN) and extra-base hits (FOUR)
~ TWO doubles: Kyle and Seth, TWO homers: Robbie and Adam
~ but, that old RISP deal bites again (ONE fer TWELVE)

IN THE FIELD
* Kyle with a great diving snare and throw to 1B for an out in the 6th
* a nice DP (Kyle to Ketel to Lee)
* an OF assist from Nellie (but also a fielding error)

tweets of the game . . . 

 

and, before the game, a big announcement!

 

Let’s Meet those who are going to own the zone . . .

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Jerry gathered all the pieces with controlling the zone as his guide, now it’s time for Scott to assemble to puzzle into a complete picture of work ethic, peak performance and leadership.

Only ELEVEN players on the 25-man roster have been M’s before . . .

ROTATION | TWO new guys

FELIXhernandez RHP The King is still The King  ~ set to start his NINTH Opening Day
HISASHIiwakuma RHP thank goodness he’s back ~ came  t h i s  close to being a Dodger
WADEmiley LHP at least he’s an innings eater ~ 190+ in each of 4-full seasons
TAIJUANwalker RHP time for Tai’s breakout season ~ slider a key performance indicator?
NATHANkarns RHP beat out Paxton for the 5-spot ~ if he can match last year, not too shabby

BULL PEN | FOUR new guys

STEVEcishek RHP couple years removed from TWO 34+ save seasons ~ can he do it again?
JOAQUINbenoit RHP an oldie but, hopefully still a goodie!
JOELperalta RHP another oldie but, a necessity with Charlie out for the start of the season
TONYzych RHP has the stuff but, this will be his first time on an Opening Day roster
NICKvincent RHP he switched clubhouses late in ST ~ from the Pads to the M’s
VIDALnuno LHP not a great season last year (but, then, who in the M’s pen had one?!?)
MIKEmontgomery LHP started last season (posted TWO shutouts) ~ long relief this year?

CATCHERS | BOTH new guys

CHRISiannetta C needs a bounce-back season, though was still better than any M’s C
STEVEclevenger C has been better defensively than expected and the 7th lefty bat

INFIELDERS | THREE new guys

ADAMlind 1B veteran solid first baseman with some pop but, only vs. righties
DAE-HOlee 1B   welcome to the U.S.! ~ plan to platoon with Lind vs. lefties
ROBINSONcano 2B after double hernia surgery in the offseason, bound to bounce back!
KETELmarte SS tasted the big leagues last season ~ won the starting SS spot out of ST this year!
KYLEseager 3B had a rough year at the hot corner (after his GG) but, looks to continue his upward trajectory at the plate
LUISsardinas U young at utility not always the case ~ hopefully, he can get some consistent time

OUTFIELDERS | THREE new guys

NORIaoki LF consistency seems to be his motto ~ as in consistently on base
LEONYSmartin CF stellar defender at a crucial position (and a new daddy for the second time!)
SETHsmith RF great against righties, will platoon with Guti
FRANKLINgutierrez RF here’s to keeping him healthy, then there’s no stopping him!
NELSONcruz DH key is keeping fresh and focused  ~ no doubt Gar can help with that

At-a-glance observations . . . 

  • lack of lefty pitchers is a bit concerning
  • mix of platoons/experience of the position players seems like a great balance
  • from all accounts, newbies and veterans alike are “all in” on the vision and philosophy set forth from day one of the new regime and, to a man, they are all focused on C the Z