Pinch Hitting and More

I guess it depends on your team but I am not a big fan of pinch hitting. I know it certainly does not work for the Seattle Mariners. I think manager Lloyd tries to out think himself by using pinch hitting when trying to use a left handed bat against a right hand pitcher and vice versa.

My idea of pinch hitting should happen in certain situations where the batter most likely can be successful. For example, if there is a runner on third base with less than two outs, and the pinch hitter has had success to hit sacrifice flies. Another case would be if the runner is on second base with no outs, and the pinch hitter is a good bunter. The only other time maybe if the batter has power and possibly can get at least a double; the most important thing is the batter must have some experience in pinch hitting. The Mariners do have one such player in Seth Smith. He has played in the national league where it is common to pinch hit for the pitcher since there is no designated hitter. These are the kind of players the American league should get if they plan on pinch hitting.

The whole thing is that pinch hitting is not going to be successful most of the time unless the manager puts the batter in a position to succeed like the examples I mentioned already. Another thing the manager needs to let the player know that he will be pinch hitting a few innings before he does. If I were a manager I would explain to the player beforehand what he wants him to do. The whole thing is not everyone is meant to be a pinch hitter. Also, he must pinch hit for someone who he can be more successful than. I guess this is enough about pinch hitting for now.

Right now the Seattle Mariners pitching both starting and relieving have been corrected except maybe Danny Farquhar but we will see. The main problem now is the hitting especially with runners in scoring position. The problem mostly occurs at the bottom of the batting order. Of course I believe most people realize the problem. The Mariners need look to shake up the lineup. In my opinion they need to have a good hitter batting eighth. This may sound funny because usually the worst hitters are at the bottom of the batting order; however, the Mariners are getting batters on base in the sixth or seventh in the batting order but get stranded. I am not sure the player should be but someone needs to fit it.

I see if the pitching continues on course and the Mariners make corrections in the batting order they should start winning more games than they lose. Right now Austin Jackson is doing a rehab assignment with Triple A Tacoma and he is available to come off the disable list in the next come days. He will make things more stable in the outfield. He could be the guy that would fit at the bottom of the batting order. We can all hope as Mariner fans that the hitting can be corrected when June starts. Go Mariners!