The Seattle Mariners
season now is six days from today to start in Texas against the Rangers with
King Felix taking the mound. Also he will be pitching the last game of the
first home series against the Oakland A’s.
The Mariners have announced
how the starting rotation will go in those first two series. Besides Felix
opening at Texas on April 4 he will be followed by Iwakuma and Miley. TaiJuan
Walker will pitch the opening game at home on Friday April 8. Nathan Karns who
won the battle for the fifth starter over James Paxton who is starting the
season in Tacoma will go on the Saturday before Felix on the Sunday.
It looks like Robinson
Cano is ready for the season since he hit three home runs on Sunday and then a
towering one on Monday in Peoria. Not only has hitting been good his defense
looks more like the old Cano before last season.
The Mariners
twenty-five man roster is close to being completed with Dae-Ho Lee winning the
right handed hitting first baseman with Stefan Romero being optioned to Tacoma
and Jesus Montero being claimed on waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays. It looks
as though Montero will be on their opening day roster since they are expected
to name the twenty-five man roster today. Hard to know how many at bats he will
get with Toronto since he will be the backup at both first base and DH. Manager
Scott Servais let Lee know that it is important that he hit well off of lefties
to keep the job. It may take a little while because he doesn’t know the
opposing pitchers very well however they like the fact he is good at making
adjustments. Depending on how many lefties the Mariners will be facing starting
the season it is possible that Adam Lind could start against some lefties
himself though his history shows he doesn’t hit lefties very well. I would say
if the Mariners faced three lefties in a row Lind likely would start against
the third one depending on how Lee is hitting since they probably would not
want Lind to have that many games off in a row.
Luis Sardinas who has
had a really good spring training as expected won the job as the utility player
for the Mariners over Chris Taylor and Shawn O’Malley who both were sent down
to Triple A. Expect both of them to play some at short and third base. O’Malley
especially the Mariners want him to play short because it is the position he
lacks experience in and if he is called up at some point in the season he will
need to play some short. Since Cano and Seager don’t take a lot of days off the
utility player will play mostly short with some at first base and in the
outfield. The Mariners expect Sardinas to pinch run in the late innings for
either Lind or Lee so Servais wants him to play first base late in the game so
they won’t use up two players.
The Mariners still
have one spot in the bullpen left for a right hander to be used. There is a
possibility they may pick one up in a trade or on the waiver wire depending on
who is available. They have had talks with the San Diego Padres about three
different right handed relievers since they have too many on their roster.
The last position
would be the backup catcher for the Mariners. Steve Clevenger who the Mariners
traded with Baltimore Orioles for Mark Trumbo likely is the choice however Rob
Brantly who they acquired from the Chicago White Sox on waivers has had a good
spring training since coming over to the Mariners. It is anyone’s guess who
wins the job. I am sure the Mariners are talking to other teams about them both
so the winner for the position will depend who gets traded. I am sure the
Mariners will want to get something instead of losing one of them by release.
The Mariner has four
games remaining on the spring training schedule;
One today and tomorrow along with two on Friday and Saturday. I am sure the
twenty-five man roster will be completed on Thursday the off day if not before.
Enjoy the final four games and be ready for opening day. Go Mariners.
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