Mariners Face Rangers

The Seattle Mariners playing this weekend within the division so it would be nice if they could win two of three like they did against the Colorado Rockies or even sweep the series against the Texas Rangers.

What will be important for the Mariners is to continue hitting like they have been since the all-star break. Another thing the Mariners need to do is get their bullpen in order. With the trading of Mark Lowe it is more difficult to do so but they must find a way. The key is for Fernando Rodney to correct himself along with Tom Wihelmsen. The Mariners need to be sure not to overuse the bullpen. This is especially true for Rodney and Carson Smith. If the offense scores at least four runs and the starting pitching keeps it to no more than three runs in seven innings than the bullpen should be successful. It would be nice not to use Wihelmsen and Rodney in the same game. It would be good if the Mariners could use lefty Joe Beimel against right handed batters as well. At this point I don’t think the Mariners can afford the left handed specialist right now until Charlie Furbush gets back. He has been a real loss for the Mariners.

Another thing going on this weekend is the induction of Jamie Moyer into the Mariners Hall of Fame. Outside of Felix Hernandez and Randy Johnson he has been the Mariners best pitcher. Unlike those two pitchers he did not pitch with much power. His fastball was only in the 80s; when you call someone a crafty lefthander you define Jamie Moyer to the tea.   When the Mariners traded for Jamie Moyer he did not have much of a career up to that point. In fact I would expect no one would consider that Jamie Moyer would pitch so many years for the Mariners. The Mariners traded Darren Bragg for Moyer. In fact Boston Red Sox traded Moyer because they needed more offense the season of 1996. Bragg’s career did not last much longer so even if Moyer would have only pitched a couple years for the Mariners it would have been called a success. So Moyer turned a so so career into a good career lasting more than twenty years in the major leagues. What made Moyer a success with the Mariners is that he had a play book for each player he faced. He was able to confuse them by having them chase his breaking pitches. His fast ball was a success because he was able to make those other pitches consistently.

I would say the one player the Mariners now have that could resemble Moyer to some degree would be Mike Montgomery. He throws some good breaking pitches; the main difference is that Montgomery throws a harder fastball. If Montgomery is smart would be to speak with Moyer over the weekend. It would be nice if Montgomery could have a successful career like Moyer.

So Mariners let’s do it this weekend. The twenty year anniversary of the 1995 season that got the Mariners into their first playoff experience; they did show that this is possible for the Mariners to turn around though it does seem to be impossible. What will be important will be that every night they will have a different hero. It was the reason the 1995 came back to win. Another thing though the Mariners will need some luck as you may call it if one of the teams ahead of them will crash like the Angels did that year. Since the Mariners are out of the playoffs we think anyway who knows what they actually will do. These next two months will be for the Mariners primarily playing for next season to see who will return. Of course, we are not really sure if Jack Z and Lloyd will return at all. The next two months will decide their fate as well. I really hope that the Mariners do rebound. I am sure I will write in the coming weeks what changes will do for next season. Go Mariners!