| By Jason A. Churchill |  | By 03-26-2009 |
The Seattle Mariners take on the Kansas City Royals today and right-hander Felix Hernandez will make his first Cactus League appearance.
Also, the lineup is a good look at what might actually be the opening day lineup.
Ichiro
Lopez
Griffey
Beltre
Branyan
Sweeney
Johjima
Betancourt
Gutierrez
Though I like Gutierrez in the 2 spot much better than Lopez.
Comments
The following 18 comment(s) for this article are shown below:
| 1. By: acqb1424 on 03-26-2009 14:57:22 I like Gutierrez in the two spot as well. If he were to hit there where would Lopez hit? In the six spot? Also, Jason, what are the M's going to do with Clement? I have this weird feeling that they are going to send him to Tacoma where he will either A) split time with Moore or B) begin learning how to play first base. What do you think? |
| 2. By: Jason A. Churchill on 03-26-2009 15:02:57 You have this weird feeling? Like that thought hasn't been talked about on several occasions in multiple venues the past few weeks? If he goes to Tacoma, it'll be mostly about 1B, yes. It'll also mean the M's are shopping him. |
| 3. By: acqb1424 on 03-26-2009 15:53:46 What is Clement's value right now? Would he even bring back a B level prospect? |
| 4. By: marinerseric on 03-26-2009 16:04:56 Is this game on Television? |
| 5. By: marinerseric on 03-26-2009 16:12:00 Damn Felix has given up two runs so far. Griffey looking good at least in the box score. |
| 6. By: Jason A. Churchill on 03-26-2009 16:34:19 Right now, not much. It's too early for a lot of guys that aren't sure-things to have much value. No, eric. |
| 7. By: Gustafson on 03-26-2009 16:50:13 I believe starting tomorrow KIRO (or ESPN 710 as it is now known) will broadcast every game the rest of the way. These mid-week media blackouts of games suck. |
| 8. By: The Great Pumpkin on 03-26-2009 18:30:57 Is Aardsma the closer on opening day? |
| 9. By: Gustafson on 03-26-2009 18:40:43 Man Mark Lowe continues to get hammered. I know it's Spring Training, but at some point he needs to show he can get through an inning without giving up 3 or 4 baserunners. I can't find five trustworthy arms down in the pen right now. Aardsma Corcoran (for the most part) Walker (kind of) ... Who am I missing? |
| 10. By: The Great Pumpkin on 03-26-2009 19:00:06 It's hard to say, there are so many of them. Tyler Johnson maybe? |
| 11. By: Blowgun7 on 03-26-2009 19:28:20 This bullpen is gonna be downright terrible.. Everyone talks about the lineup, but i think the lineup is gonna be better than people think, and im more worried about these relievers... outside of Aardsma and Kelley, has anyone thrown the ball well? |
| 12. By: Slack on 03-26-2009 21:16:00 A bit off topic but the Rays just send David Price down to AAA. What do you make of that, Jason? I think he should have made the team. |
| 13. By: Jason A. Churchill on 03-26-2009 22:55:00 It's a good move. They get monitor his workload - remember, he's never thrown more than 133 innings in any season. If he starts the year in the big leagues, he makes at least 32 starts and goes well over the 180-190 inning mark, if not 200. That's a big jump, 60-70 innings? You can't stunt his development and use him in relief to curb innings and you can't have him on a pitch count that taxes the pen for four innings in each of his starts... And it saves the club service time, like with Longoria. Tampa has a few clues to spare, I like the move. |
| 14. By: Lonnie on 03-27-2009 01:50:54 I don't mean to brag, but I was at the game today/yesterday/whatever. Felix was really over-throwing the ball and subsequently, got hammered. Griffey looked pretty good at the plate AND out in the outfield. He made a hell of a throw from the corner to second to stop a runner from advancing. Franky looked good, I really like this kid and I think he is going to blossom with Seattle. Betancourt pisses me off. It's not one big thing, it's more like several. It's funny to hear some of the fans opinions on some of the players. The majority of the fans do not like Johjima, but love Ichiro. David Aardsma looked great on the mound. A big plus (in my book) to go along with his production is that he knows how to wear his pants correctly. The guy just looks like a baseball player. I saw Olson pitch on Monday, and he seemed to handle all the lefties pretty effectively, but got lunched by the righties the Giants threw up against him. I can easily see him coming in as a Loogy at some point this spring. I really, REALLY don't think starting is going to be in his future this year. The bullpen could definately be the undoing of the Mariners this year, and that seems sorta strange after all these years of good bullpen work. Lonnie |
| 15. By: Pedro on 03-27-2009 03:50:48 Well, the M's bullpen was solidly in the bottom half of the AL last year at #9. That's just going by ERA though, but it was the same place in FIP. If you're going by context (which I'm not saying is a judge of talent, but just how things worked out) they were dead last in WPA. Statistically, the 2006-2007 bullpens were slightly above average to very good, depending on how you measure. However, I think we forget how bad the 2008 version was. This year's could be worse in ERA/FIP, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were the same or even a little better. |
| 16. By: Slack on 03-27-2009 08:46:15 Re 13: That makes a lot of sense. I didn't see it that way. I think Price is a lot better than Niemann and Hammel and I just wanted to see the best guy make it. But monitoring work load is a big deal and the Rays have a lot invested in Price for the long term. Pitching depth is never a bad thing either and Niemann and Hammel can still be good pitchers. |
| 17. By: The Great Pumpkin on 03-27-2009 09:12:42 Is there any chance Mark Lowe doesn't make the team out of ST? |
| 18. By: Jason A. Churchill on 03-27-2009 10:29:46 Niemann is a pure relief prospect, Hammel has a chance to start, but neither is the arm Price is. So sure, ya wanna protect the most worthy. He'll be up soon enough. |
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