Good Start to Road Trip

The Seattle Mariners have begun the ten game road trip thru Texas and then onto Los Angles.Good start by winning the first two games against the Texas Rangers.

TaiJuan Walker started out doing well in the first game on Monday with the Mariners winning 3-1. This was the second good game in row which Walker has pitched after having rough outings in his first two games. He thought his fastball was not good in the game; however, he was able to locate the pitch very well. He continues in same manner he should win a good amount of games.

On Tuesday night J.A. Happ continued his good start of the season going six and two-thirds of an inning, and the Mariners winning 2-1 on a triple by Nelson Cruz followed by an infield out to second base by Kyle Seager. Also, Rickie Weeks had a home run in the game.

The Mariners have a really good chance to sweep the Rangers with King Felix Hernandez pitching tonight (Wednesday). King Felix had an outstanding start in his last game after having to leave the game because of a small injury in the game the time before. If Felix continues his outstanding pitching he should win at least twenty games this season.

Right now on the offense the Mariners have been in a minor slump over the last several games with only Nelson Cruz really producing consistently. The Mariners need to figure something out in the top two positions in the batting order. Austin Jackson has been inconsistent at lead off and should be moved down in the batter order. Not sure who should be leading off on a regular basis because the Mariners have different lineups depending whether they are facing a right or left handed pitcher. Ruggiano would be a good choice if he was in the lineup more on a regular basis. He could be playing more regular being in center field against right handed pitching and in either left or right field against left handed pitching. Austin Jackson seems to be doing better against left handed pitching.

Other choices would be having Rickie Weeks in leadoff against left handed pitching. They have also tried Seth Smith and Dustin Ackley in the lead off position. Both Smith and Ruggiano have done well in lead off by making the pitcher throw a lot of pitches. The other problem is who hits second on a regular basis. Right now the guys being considered batting second are the same games for lead off as well.

On Tuesday night I was listening to the post game show on the Mariner radio broadcast. There was suggestion by manager Lloyd McClendon maybe trying Kyle Seager at leadoff. It could work, however, who would bat fifth where he has been in the lineup since the first game of the season. The only choices I see there would be Seth Smith, Ruggiano, or Rickie Weeks. The best choice would be Logan Morrison; however, he has been struggling hitting although behind Nelson Cruz he could get better pitches. One other choice would be to bat Brad Miller in the fifth spot since he is hitting good right now.

I spoke of who to bat second in the order as well. Seager and Miller would be good choices as well. The most important thing as far as the lineup is the Mariners need to stick to a consistent lineup. They could have one lineup against right handed pitching and another against left handed pitching. This could change as well depending on who is hitting good.

The nice thing the season is only about one month old so we can hope that in May things will get where everything will be normal. Besides the top of the batting order needing improvement the bottom of the order needs it too. Logan Morrison, Dustin Ackley, and Mike Zunino are all struggling at the plate. None of them need to have a high average but batting between .230 and .250 would be good. The Mariners need a little offense out of them.

Now the starting pitching seems to headed in the right direction besides straightening out James Paxton if the Mariners pitching and offense can work at the same time they should be winning at a regular clip. It would be nice to split the four games in Houston at least and win two out of three against the Angels in Los Angles. It would make the Mariners on a successful road trip and be a little over five hundred on the record. Currently the record is 9-11.