Felix and TaiJuan Walker Have Good Outings

The Seattle Mariners had two games yesterday one in the afternoon and the other in the evening that was on Root Sports as well.

The Mariners won the first game 5-4 over the Kansas City Royals while in the nightcap they lost to Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2. TaiJuan Walker pitched in the first game giving up four hits, no walks, striking out five and not allowing a run. I would say that was a really good outing for sure. It is nice that he had good control pitching like he did most of last season.

Felix gave up three hits and one run in four innings. He felt good in the outing however did not want to go another inning.  Left handed reliever Mike Montgomery went in for Felix and pitched one inning. This is the second outing Montgomery has made coming out of the bullpen after making a start earlier. The Mariners felt it was important to put him in the bullpen instead of keeping him starting since he was not in contention for the fifth spot in the rotation and the Mariners needed another lefty reliever especially with Charlie Furbush who may not start the season in the bullpen. So far Furbush has been only throwing in the bullpen and has not gotten in a game yet. Furbush is important as the primary left handed specialist for the Mariners. The Mariners want him to feel right after being out the second half of last season before getting going. Last year showed how important he is to the Mariners. The Mariners may have to go and shop for another lefty for the bullpen depending on how the other ones work out. Besides Furbush and Montgomery they have Vidal Nuno and Dave Rollins who likely start in Tacoma. Another possibility is James Paxton if he is not the fifth starter however he likely starts in Tacoma or is a long reliever. The chance of making him a short reliever is remote.

The Mariners have 47 players still on the roster with two weeks until the regular season begins so I would not be surprised if they narrowed it down to 35 players after this weekend. Going into the last week of spring training they likely will be at 30 on the roster before getting down to 25 when the season begins.

So the players who are on the bubble will need to make a really good performance this coming week to be sure of being among the 30 before reducing down to 25.

The right handed hitting first baseman position is still open for the taking. Stefan Romero who can play the outfield position as well does have an option remaining while Jesus Montero is out of options and Dae-Ho Lee who is on a minor league contract has an option to buy out of his contract. He may do so if he sent to Triple A unless the Mariners can promise him a promotion during the season.

So it will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple weeks and whether the Mariners will look to make a trade or get someone off the waiver wire. Until next time! Go Mariners!