May 06, 2005
What's up w/ the Mariners?
Yeah, yeah, Beltre's off to a tough start, but there's something else going on here. Boone, Reed, and Sexson are all hitting below .250, which isn't bad, but there just doesn't seem to be much in regards to run production. Is it Ichiro? Should he be moved to clean-up? What do you think pitchers fear most? Belte w/ one on (most likely Ichiro) who's hitting .223, or Ichiro w/ the bases loaded and no outs? What about having Reed lead off, followed by Winn, and Beltre w/ Ichiro batting fourth? Given this teams horrible start, it might not be a bad idea.
Pitching seems to be so-so as well. Franklin has proven he is NOT starting material. Guardardo has done a "steady-Eddy" job in the bullpen, so I don't think it's an Ayala situation. It will be interesting to see how Madtrich does coming back hopefully full steam. Sele also seems to be struggling, however, if you remember, he had a 4.51 ERA when he won 17 games w/ the M's a few years back. He's an ok pitcher when he gets run support, bottom line.
I expect this team to turn things around, but it will be difficult to do w/ their upcomming schedule w/ Boston and NY on the road (especially given NY's desperate need for W's). This team needs to stay positive and weather this storm.
Seattle Sports Blog Guy
Posted by james at 06:32 AM | Comments (0)