Tag Archives: French

ST26 | vs. Rangers

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Mariners 4 | Rangers 5

NOT SPECTACULAR MOUND PRESENCE TODAY
French gave up a lot of hits (NINE) in FIVE innings allowing THREE runs, ONE walk and ZERO K’s.  The “W’s” (Wilhelmsen and Wright) continued to cruise through spring and the “P’s” (Pauley and Patterson) each gave up ONE run (Patterson’s coming in the 10th as the winning run for the Rangers)

OFFENSE EARLY SPARK AND THEN A FIZZLE
Figgy hit his first homer of the spring in the first inning with Ichiro on base.  Bradley singled, moved to second when Cust grounded out and scored on Langerhans single.  Then the lull began, as only TWO player reached base (and NONE scored) until Seager homered in the 8th to tie the game at four.

DEFENSE LOOKING SOLID (even the backups)
Heard most of the game on the radio today (a rarity) and the guys seemed pretty pumped about the D.  Only ONE double play, but Moore recorded a pick-off and Josh Wilson made some nifty plays at 2B.

NEWS AND NOTES

ST13 | vs. A’s

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Mariners 10 | Athletics 2

PITCHING, FOR THE MOST PART, STRONG AGAIN
Beavan looked good in his THREE innings of work.  In fact, all but League (who you hope is working on something because he’s given up at least one run in all but one outing this spring) had good days:  French continues having a great spring, adding another FOUR scoreless innings with FOUR strikeouts; Wright and Wilhelmson each pitched scoreless innings to preserve their respective 0.00 ERA’s

BATS BANG OUT THIRTEEN HITS
including FIVE doubles and a TWO-run homer from Justin Smoak – great to see him getting going (he also had a two-run single).  And, gotta love the 7 for 14 with RISP!

NEWS AND NOTES

  • Mariners cut SIX
  • Felix has some fun “down under” – tosses FOUR innings in an intrasquad game

Yesterday pitching, today hitting…

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And about 15 days to get it all together!

Lovin’ the new pest ~ Ichi-Fig… 
Ichiro and Chone combined for 5 hits (including 2 triples), 3 rbi, 5 runs scored and 1 stolen base

The “D” really shaping up…
2 more double plays (by the way ~ the position switch is officially “a-go”)

And there was a little power…
Eric with a 3-run homer

The pitching was really not too shabby…
Luke made it through without too much damage, Sean and Jesus each gave up their first runs of the spring, and Mark and Brandon lookin’ rea-DY!

box score Mariners 12 | Angels 6



Mariner Matters | 9.7

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Brandon to take Luke’s spot in the rotation and Sean appears down for the count…

Morrow, who started Sunday for Tacoma, will join the Mariners in Anaheim this week and slide into the rotation in French’s spot.

French, acquired in the deal that sent Jarrod Washburn to Detroit, has gone 3-3 with a 6.38 earned run average since joining Seattle. Opposing hitters are batting .331 against him.
In 22 games with Seattle this year, six of them starts, Morrow has an 0-4 record with six saves and a 5.28 ERA. In 10 starts for Tacoma, he went 5-3 with a 3.60 ERA. He pitched 55 innings, including a four-inning start Sunday, and struck out 40 with 23 walks. His one complete game was a four-hit shutout of Iowa on Aug. 14.
If he pitches every fifth game the rest of the way, Morrow would get four starts and the Mariners would get the chance to evaluate the right-hander.
White, who went from non-roster invitee to spring training to one of the team’s most reliable setup men, took his ailing right shoulder back to Seattle on Sunday and will see team doctors today. He is almost certainly done for the season, and if he needs surgery, he may be unavailable for the start of next season.

:::

White, 28, made spring adjustments to his delivery at the suggestion of pitching coach Rick Adair, and enjoyed the best season of his professional career.
“If you could promise me the same season next year he’s given us this year, I’d take it in a heartbeat,” Wakamatsu said. “That’s how special his year has been.”

Wak on Ichiro’s milestone…

“It’s such a feat,” Wakamatsu said of the 2,000-hit milestone and others within sight. “And just his ability to play every day over the years and make the adjustment from Japanese baseball to here as well as anybody is maybe going to. He’s just a special player and I know many guys in that dugout feel the same way.”

For Wakamatsu, what stands out is Ichiro’s ability to keep collecting hits even without drawing walks. Back in 2001, a big concern mentioned often by present and former players, managers and, yes, the media, was that Ichiro would never maintain the hits needed to keep his on-base percentage where a good leadoff hitter should.
And yet, nine seasons later, his lifetime OBP of .378 would put him near the upper echelon of this year’s best AL leadoff men — where five players, Ichiro included, are positioned between .380 and .401 (Ichiro is at .392).
Maintaining numbers like those over a prolonged period is something few hitters, power or otherwise, have done. And while the debate rages about Hall of Fame guideposts like 500 career home runs, in light of steroids revelations, the sanctity of a 3,000-hit career remains intact.
Ichiro will reach his 3,000th hit by the 2014 season at age 40 if he continues on this current pace.
“It’s just his versatility,” Wakamatsu said. “Like I said, he can hit home runs now and then, he can go to all fields and he can get a lot of infield hits. He puts a lot of pressure on an opposing team.”
And that pressure has continued this year, with his 54 infield singles being Ichiro’s second-highest total since 63 in 2001. And that’s come at a time when his slugging percentage of .463 is the highest he has ever posted.

So long Wash….

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At about 8:30am this morning, it was announced that Jarrod Washburn was traded to the Detroit Tigers for LHP Luke French and minor league LHP Mauricio Robles.

Sorry to see Wash go, but understand why it had to happen.

As the dust settles, seems most are thinking that Robles may be Jack Z’s diamond in the rough. And, he seems to be collecting some other gems as he travels down “replenishment road” unlike Bill B who preferred “plunder parkway” 😉

The Mariners need pitching depth, and the gem of this deal is Robles, who has emerged this season to become one of the Tigers’ top-five minor-league prospects. And he is the second top-of-the-line pitching prospect Zduriencik has acquired this month. Earlier in July he traded Yuniesky Betancourt to Kansas City for Dan Cortes.

It is possible both Cortes and Robles could be in the Mariners’ rotation sometime in the middle of 2011 or the start of 2012. They represent two giant steps up for an organization that was thin on quality arms.

The Mariners’ scouts love Robles, a hard-throwing left-hander who has 111 strikeouts in 91-1/3 innings in Class A this season. Talent evaluation is Zduriencik’s strength. If he says Robles is a diamond, believe it. Venezuelan baseball officials thought enough of Robles to put him on their World Baseball Classic roster, heady stuff for a 20-year-old.

And after struggling in his first two starts with the Mariners’ Class AA team at West Tennessee, Cortes threw six shutout innings Tuesday.

As he promised when he got here, Jack Zduriencik is rebuilding the Mariners’ fallow farm system. Sure, Friday’s trade will hurt in the short run, but this is the kind of pain teams have to endure as they slowly get better.

Some thoughts on Robles from a Detroit perspective….

Mauricio Robles has a chance at being for Seattle what Jair Jurrjens has been for the Atlanta Braves.

Robles, a left-hander, is that good.

Fans don’t pay much attention to the minor leagues, particularly to the lower rungs, but they should — and for this reason.

Robles is 20 years old. He was promoted earlier this year from Single A West Michigan to Single A Lakeland. That’s a big step for a kid who can’t yet buy a drink.

And yet he has flourished. He has 40 strikeouts in 35 innings and only 14 walks. He had a 4-2 record and a 3.60 earned-run average.


And here’s a collection of info on Luke French as compiled by Larry Stone…

Good luck, Jarrod.

You go, Jackie Z !