Seahawks Opening of Training Camp

Seahawk players arrived Friday however training camp did not start until Saturday. A sellout crowd is to see how the Seahawks will do today. I am sure for a lot of 12^th man they are excited for this day. Not much goes on right now but seeing Michael Bennett in action because of contract situation made everyone feel good. It is nice to know that talk about general manager John Schneider and Coach Pete Carroll’s contracts being signed this week will not have to be mentioned either.

On the field there will not be a lot of questions about who the starters will be. On the offensive line everyone will wonder how that ends when the season begins. The pre-season games may give us an idea how much Russell Wilson will be running around.

Beginning of training camp will be how much Thomas Rawls and Jimmy Graham participate in practice. I am sure they won’t have much going on until the pre-season games at the very least. There is a possibility they may not get any action until the season starts. Another question will be who will back up Rawls or who may start in place of him. Right now I see Alex Collins playing a lot at running back on first and second down.

Jimmy Graham the question beyond his health is whether he spends more time at tight end or wide receiver. I would prefer seeing him at wide receiver. Whichever position he is actually at I am sure plays have been made to take advantage of his height especially on third downs.

There are other questions that will be answered during training camp like who may start at cornerback on the other side from Richard Sherman and those who will be in the game on passing downs. Another is who will play a lot at the third linebacker alongside K.J. Wright and Bobby Wagner. Right now Mike Morgan is expected on running downs however could be different choices on passing downs. These will be answered when the season begins in September.

The important thing right now is for the 12^th man to enjoy the ride. We do not need the answers right now. One thing we do know that the Seahawks will be in position to compete for the division, playoffs and Super Bowl. The only thing we hope won’t happen is what happens if Russell Wilson gets hurt for several games. Until next time enjoy training camp.  

Felix Struggles However Mariners Win

I was thinking before writing this how many times Felix pitched and the Mariner batters scored less than three runs. At the beginning of the season I figured it to be just over one hundred games and Mariners only won about three more than they lost. Now Felix has come off the disabled list and his first two outings although he pitches poorly especially Tuesday night’s game the Mariners have won both games.

I guess our question is do we want the old Felix back where the games are 3-1 and 2-0 and the Mariners only win half of the games or the new Felix where the hitters are scoring more runs to win. Of course we would like to see the old Felix at the same time the offense is scoring runs as well.

The first outing I thought Felix did a better job than he did in Tuesday night’s game. The good thing though is that Felix has the pride to fight even when he is struggling to get the pitches over the plate. Positive thing again he gave up three runs out of the four in the first inning along with the fact he pitched six innings. I am sure with many of the other pitchers on the Mariners starting rotation they would have been taken out of the game before six innings were complete. It allowed the bullpen not to be overused which is another good thing.

Vidal Nuno struggled to in the inning he pitched although he did not give up any runs. This was primarily because Tom Wilhelmsen came in and did an outstanding job. He looks like he is back on track for the Mariners and we should see more of him in relief.

Edwin Nunez pitched the eighth inning and two hitters got on base without any outs. He showed us all how tough he is by getting three outs without the Pirates scoring any runs. The amazing part is that he did not strike out a batter at all. Normally he would have struck out the side. This is showing us more and more the pitcher he truly is. He is dominating even when not striking out batters. This shows that he is the closer in the making.

Jerry Dipoto made another move by trading Joaquin Benoit to the Toronto Blue Jays for a younger reliever who is also struggling in Drew Storen.  He previously was a closer so the Mariners could look into putting him in that role for the time being or wait to see how he does. Both Benoit and Storen are looked to become free agents at the end of the season. I am sure the Blue Jays were looking at Benoit being used in the stretch run to help them out while Storen could be used in the same way or Dipoto is thinking down the road as well as this season. If Storen gets things back in order the Mariners may look at giving him a new contract possibly for a couple years likely.

It is still interesting to see if the Mariners will make any other moves this weekend or into August where players have to go through the waiver wires first. I am sure this was a trade that the Blue Jays may have come to the Mariners first to see about moving Benoit. I am sure the Mariners are still talking to the Miami Marlins and other teams about Wade Miley. Since he has done well in his last couple outings the Mariners could get good value for him than what they would further down the road.

Kyle Seager hit a home run that put the Mariners ahead after the team started down 4-1. The Mariners were able to rally win the game 7-4. Seager’s home run became his 20^th of the season and the fifth straight year for him. Nelson Cruz left the game early because of his legs and precautions. We will have to see if he is into Wednesday’s game too. James Paxton will be starting the game Wednesday. With the record of 3-1 on this current road trip we can hope that the Mariners can extend it to 4-1 going to Chicago. The Mariners will have another day off on Thursday before starting the three game series against the Cubs. Go M’s.

Thomas Rawls and Jimmy Graham

 The Seahawks start training camp on Friday. Two of the big questions is whether Thomas Rawls and Jimmy Graham be ready for training camp or at the very least the opening of the regular season. They both ended last season prematurely because of injuries.

The Seahawks have questions at the running back position whether Rawls returns at top tip shape or not. I am sure there be ones thinking   whether Rawls was a one season wonder or not. He did look the real thing but we won’t know until at least the pre-season games are underway at the very least.

The Seahawks do have other running backs that will try to get their time in at the position too. Christine Michael is the only veteran coming back to see what he can do. At this point we have no idea what he can do for the Seahawks. Will he be the guy we saw at the end of the season when Rawls was injured or will he go back to where he was before last season started and was shipped off to Dallas?

Other candidates the Seahawks have are rookie running backs.  A good candidate is Alex Collins out of Arkansas who looks like Richard Sherman but can run over tacklers like Rawls and now retired the beastmode. Another candidate is C.J. Prosise out of Notre Dame who was the first back picked by the Seahawks in the college draft. Right now he is projected to be the third down back that can catch the ball or run with it too. Depending on his success could get more carries as well. A third rookie and last one that the Seahawks drafted as a running back is Zac Brooks out of Clemson. He has shown the Seahawk coaching brass a lot in the rookie camp earlier. These guys all have great potential but we won’t see until the pre-season games are under way.

Jimmy Graham is questionable as well though he looked good in the ota’s.  Coach Carroll thinks he should be ready to go. Besides coming back from injury the other question is whether he is best at tight end or wide receiver. The Seahawks have other good tight ends so if he is switched to wide receiver full time that would be OK. Having a big body the most important thing is to get him the ball whether on the outside or inside. If he does play some tight end it will likely be on passing downs and the Seahawks likely in a two tight end formation. He is not known for being a very good blocker. The Seahawks would be better if he could learn to be a better blocker but that may not happen at all. He can be an outside receiver on the opposite side of Jermaine Kearse or Tyler Lockett. Probably see a lot of three wide receiver formations with Doug Baldwin in the inside. With their speed Baldwin and Lockett can both play the inside. The important thing is that the Seahawks make specific plays for Graham, Lockett and Baldwin. Graham especially will be important on third downs in medium or long range. Also gives flexibility on short downs as well. The thing though is that we will see a lot of long passes to any of the wide receivers including Graham. We hope that the answers for Rawls and Graham will come sooner than later. Go Seahawks!

 

John Schneider Here For Six More Years At Least

Seattle Seahawks general manager has one more year left on his contract however he signed an extension of five years to keep him around for at least six more years. This contract probably makes him the highest paid general manager in the NFL since details were mentioned.

The Seahawks will probably have another announced coming up soon with an extension for Head Coach Pete Carroll. Whether that contract will be as long as Schneider’s it is hard to tell at this point. Again Carroll will likely be the highest paid coach or at the very least near the top.

It has been really nice the work Schneider and Carroll have done together the time they have spent in Seattle. Not many general managers and head coaches work well together. We know that by the prior regime that was here though there was success on the playing field for some of the time.

Training camp will be starting for the Seahawks this coming Friday July 29. I am sure some of the news we will be hearing about is the contract of Michael Bennett. We can hope that the Seahawks can reconstruct his contract however Bennett knew what he was into when he signed the contract. I recommend that Seahawk players in the future with their agents put in where they get performance clauses for being recognized as one of the top at their position. I am not sure this would apply to someone like Russell Wilson or Doug Baldwin but the rest of the players should look into it. Another option would be to sign a shorter length contract with a higher guarantee. This would work especially for guys like Bennett. Of course a lot depends upon the position they are playing and what other guys are making. Unfortunately there is no perfect solution.

 The Huskies and Cougars will be starting their training camps soon as well. A couple weeks ago the Media that covers the Pac-12 announced that they figured the Huskies would finish second and the Cougars fourth in the Northern Division behind Stanford and UCLA favored in the South. Oregon is right between the Huskies and the Cougars. We hope this means that this year the Huskies will finally beat the Ducks. I know all of us being Seahawk fans there is a mixture of Huskies, Cougars, Ducks and Beavers in the group.

Huskies Coach Chris Peterson thought it was premature to favor the Huskies to be second place. I believe that they have the talent but the lack of experience it is hard to say whether second place will happen. There is a possibility that the Cougars and Huskies could flip flop this year. It would not surprise me at all that in 2017 that the Huskies and Cougars could be going for the lead of the North Division. The Apple Cup over the next several years should be very interesting. The winner could go on and win the Rose Bowl at the very least. Anyway whether NFL or Pac-12 this will be a very good football season.

Over the next six months or so I will be writing a lot here about these three teams while I have been writing about the Mariners primarily since last football season was over. For those who are Mariner fans too I have another website that all I do write about is the Mariners so here is the link to it https://marinerbaseballbyherb.wordpress.com. I hope that all the sport teams have a lot of success for the remaining of 2016.

Junior Griffey “the kid”

Today July 24, 2016 Ken Griffey Junior will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I know a lot of writers especially in the Seattle, Washington area will be writing about his induction so I will keep it brief.

I have to say that he is one of the two favorite players that I got to chance to watch and enjoy. Actually Jr I got the chance to see more because he played for my home team the Seattle Mariners for thirteen years. The other was Willie Mays who I only got to see just the last few years of his career because I was a young child. The games of Mays were only shown on Saturday game of the week that I could see. Both these guys were the very best two players ever to play centerfield. Junior never considered himself a home run hitter primarily because he was more than that in his mind. Most of his home runs had a lot of meaning to them though.

Junior could not only run and crash into walls while making the catch he ran the bases pretty well too. We all know that by remembering the score he made to beat the New York Yankees in the playoffs of 1995. He scored all the way from first base on a double by Edgar Martinez to win the fifth game and for the Mariners to help move on in their first appearance in the American League playoffs. His smile at the bottom of the pile when scoring that run showed what we had seen many times before and since. Today whether we remember all the words he speaks to accept his place in Cooperstown I am sure we will see that smile along with his wonderful laugh.

I was in Cooperstown for my only visit so far five years ago. I look forward to the next time and see him along with the Big Unit. Also I hope to see Edgar Martinez there along with Ichiro who will get his 3000 hit in the major leagues very shortly.  

Anyway I will leave this right now for all of us to think and meditate on all what Junior did for the Mariners and baseball. Congratulations George Kenneth Griffey Junior.

The LOB

The training camp starts in one week so I figured it was time to write about the Seahawks secondary better known as the Legion of Boom.

Last year the secondary wasn’t as good like in the previous years but that was because of the hold out of Kam Chancellor and the injuries that had happen to guys like Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Jeremy Lane. None of them were at full strength when 2015 season began however going into camp this year they are ready to go.

We expect that the four big names will be back ready to go this season. Also returning is Brandon Browner who is back after a couple seasons. Though he may play some cornerback he is expect to play a bit at linebacker and safety. He is expected to cover one of the big wide receivers or the tight ends on passing downs. He will certainly get a lot of practice against Jimmy Graham in training camp as long as Graham is healthy.

The Seahawks do have other defensive backs returning with some additional experience. How well they do will depend upon how healthy they can stay and be at practice. We know that Chancellor along with Sherman and Thomas will be in on most plays. The other guys will be playing depending on Lane and in passing downs as well. We know how the Seahawks work it will all depend on how competitive they are and who is able to grow into maturity.

The other cornerbacks available are DeShawn Shead who is actually ahead of Jeremy Lane on the depth chart.  Other candidates are veteran Marcus Burley, Tye Smith who was a rookie last year, George Farmer another rookie last year, Jean- Baptiste Stanley  three year veteran, Trovon Reed two year veteran, and  Tharold Simon a four year veteran who has trouble staying healthy though very talented. The Seahawks have one rookie trying out for cornerback to in DeAndre Elliott out of Colorado State.

At safety positions besides Chancellor, Thomas and Browner other candidates to get some playing time are four-year veteran Kelcie McCray, who is backing up Chancellor and  another four-year veteran Steven Terrell who backs up Thomas. Others who will get a chance in training camp are rookies Tanner McEvoy out of Wisconsin and Tyvis Powell out of Ohio State.

At the end of training camp we will see whether the legion of boom will be the strength to the Seahawks defense. The backups will get plenty chance to show themselves during the exhibition games.  Go Seahawks!

Mariners and Blue Jays

The Seattle Mariners are in Toronto to face the Blue Jays for three games in the beginning of an eight game road trip. Following the Blue Jays the Mariners will play two against the Pittsburgh Pirates and then next weekend three games in Chicago against the Cubs before coming home.

I am not sure about the Mariner fans however the Blue Jay fans in British Columbia along with Alberta probably consider this an international rivalry. I am not sure about those in the Toronto because they are on the east coast and the Mariners go there no more than twice a year. The Jay fans come down to Seattle and can be almost half the crowd against the Mariners. This is especially true when the Blue Jays come only once in a season.

For those fans who come down it is a real rivalry and in many cases the fans root for both the Mariners and Blue Jays except when they play against each other. I know because my cousin Christy and her husband David watch games of both teams. They are able to see some Mariner games on TV in British Columbia however more Blue Jay games. All the Jay games are on while Mariner games come on after the Blue Jay games are over. Hard to see a Mariner game when the Blue Jays are on the west coast except when they play each other in Seattle. My cousin has a place in Peoria, Arizona so they see Mariner spring training games. I hope to go down next spring training to see the Mariners once again.

This series in Toronto is important to keep the Mariners hopes alive for the playoffs. The Blue Jays have a five game lead for the second wild card spot so the Mariners could bring that closer if they can win all three or at the very least two out of three games.

What makes the series exciting to be that both teams are at the top of the American League in home runs. The Mariners do lead in home runs however the Blue Jays seem to have more power hitters so this could end up be a home run derby. Also the Mariner fans will be able to Michael Saunders the first time after playing in this year’s All-Star game and Justin Smoak is having a decent season hitting quite a few home runs though his batting average is low. The Mariners should see J.A. Happ pitching in the series for Toronto. He played a partial of last season for the Mariners before being traded to Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a free agent so he resigned with Toronto who he previously had pitched for. In fact the Mariners got J.A. Happ from the Blue Jays for Michael Saunders.

Friday night James Paxton who is a Canadian from British Columbia will be starting for the Mariners. With the way that Paxton has been pitching of late it is important that he pitch a successful game Friday or he could be sent to the bullpen. Mike Montgomery being traded to the Chicago Cubs gave a spot open in the starting rotation. The Mariners now have three candidates for the rotation where with Montgomery they had four. Montgomery could be starting or in the bullpen for the Cubs like he was in Seattle.

When the Mariners get back to a five-man rotation it will likely look with Felix Hernandez, Iwakuma, and TaiJuan Walker from the right side. Paxton along with Wade Miley and Wade LeBlanc compete for the two lefty spots in the rotation. LeBlanc has been pitching pretty well since the Mariners traded for him so the other would be between Paxton and Miley who both have had good and bad outings. Paxton being a hard thrower could be what Montgomery was when he started the season in the bullpen. How they all do can decide whether one of them could be part of a trade by the end of July. Paxton has the upside when it comes to be traded over Miley and LeBlanc. I would say LeBlanc would be the least likely one to be traded unless his pitching becomes outstanding that other teams feel he would be good for them; the same feeling when Montgomery was traded with his value going up and could be at the very best right now.

There are other players that could be traded in the next could weeks and I have mentioned them some already and probably will again. We will explore those options unless they are traded in the meantime. We should look at this weekend series as being excited especially if both offenses are working at full force. Go M’s.

 

 

Seahawk Linebackers

Over the years the Seahawks have been pretty good at linebacker. The question is who will replace Bruce Irwin at his outside linebacker position. Right now Mike Morgan is slated to be the starter at that position probably because of experience. He has been primarily been used on special teams in his six years on the team. I am thinking that Frank Clark could play some at that position on passing downs when not at defensive end. I am sure that Pete Carroll has other choices there as well. We will hear I am sure during training camp and see in the pre-season games.

The Seahawks are in pretty good shape at the other outside linebacker in K.J. Wright who can play some at middle linebacker if necessary. Wright is one of the best in the NFL and is so steady sometimes it is easy forget he is even in the game. With his speed he usually plays on passing down as well. His backups on the depth chart are Kevin Pierre-Louis and Eric Pinkins.  One or the other could play a significant amount of time on the other outside linebacker position too.

Bobby Wagner is the starting middle linebacker and like Wright can be seen and not always heard. He is one of the best in the NFL too. He is backed up by Brock Coyle who plays really well on special teams. You will see him mostly at middle linebacker during pre-season. You won’t see a lot of him at middle linebacker unless there is a big lead in the fourth quarter.  You may see him start at middle linebacker if Wagner is out for a game or two but Wagner is out for longer than that Wright will be shifted over to middle linebacker.

The Seahawks signed three rookie linebackers as free agents. They must have felt right about the linebacker position since they did not draft any linebackers. The three rookie linebackers are Kyle Coleman out of Arkansas-Pine-Bluff whose father is the head coach of the school and used to play in the NFL. He may get a chance to play at fullback as well. Like the other two most likely he will start on the practice squad unless he shows something more with outstanding skills than the others. The other two rookies are Steve Longa out of Rutgers and Pete Robertson from Texas Tech. It looks like to me that Pete Carroll is very comfortable with who the Seahawks have at linebacker. Outside of their skills most likely they will play only if there are injuries among the other linebackers. I am sure the Seahawks will look to see who else will become available during training camp especially any veterans. At this point the Seahawks are in very good shape.

Adam Lind Blast Away

Going into the ninth inning things did not look good for the Mariners to win Monday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. Chris Sale the ace for the Chicago White Sox who started in the All-Star Game gave up one hit in the first inning to Franklin Gutierrez and sailed through the rest of the game.

There is a good possibility Sale would have pitched the ninth inning if Gutierrez had not gotten that hit in the first inning. The White Sox had a 3-0 lead going into the ninth inning on two home runs off of Mariner starter Wade LeBlanc. On the positive side LeBlanc and the Mariner relievers were able to keep the score at 3-0 otherwise the walk-off homer by Adam Lind would not have happened.

Franklin Gutierrez again started off the ninth inning with a single and scored on a hit by Kyle Seager. It was nice to see Seager bounce back from a terrible game on Sunday. The Mariners were still behind 3-1 when Adam Lind came to bat with two outs but like in a previous walk-off homer this one was no doubt either. Lind has not had the greatest season so far for the Mariners however he has done well especially these two times with his homers. This gives him fourteen home runs for the season. If the Mariners plan to trade him before the trading deadline Monday’s night game certainly game him more value. The Mariners could get a better player than just a minor league prospect. His homer gave the Mariners one game above .500 to stay in the hunt for a few more days anyway whether the Mariners are in the playoffs and being buyers or sellers before July is over.

The other Wade in Miley will be taking the mound for the Mariners on Tuesday night. For him to stay in the rotation since Felix will be starting on Wednesday afternoon Miley will almost have to match LeBlanc. There is a good possibility one of them will be going into the bullpen. Dave Rollins who got his first major league win Monday night likely will be sent back down to Tacoma when Felix is activated for Wednesday’s game.

I have heard that Aoki and Mike Zunino may be brought back up from Tacoma on Wednesday as well. In this case Dave Robertson and Jesus Sucre both will be sent back to Tacoma. Zunino was removed in Tacoma’s game Monday night when he was hit by a pitch. This likely was for precautionary reasons. If this is what happens on Wednesday Aoki will be back into the lineup and playing left field against right handers. Zunino and Iannetta who has been struggling with the bat will alternate behind the plate.

It is now five days until Ken Griffey Junior will be inducted along with Mike Piazza into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Junior got the most votes ever for a player and was three votes short of getting 100 percent which would have been the first time in Hall of Fame history. The three writers should be ashamed of themselves. They could have helped make history instead they choose not to do so.

Junior and Willie Mays who I loved watching as a kid are the greatest two centerfielders if not players in the history of baseball. I got the privilege of seeing more of Griffey then Mays because of television. I was only able to see Mays once a week on television at the very most. Since the Mariners were not yet around the weekly Saturday games showed a lot of the Giants. I am not sure who the best was between them but it was very close for sure. One was either 1a or the other 1b. If Mays not had to deal with the winds of Candlestick Park and Junior with injuries there is no doubt they would be number one and two in home runs ahead of Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron. Both had speed and power along with playing the best defense ever seen in centerfield. Junior chose not to steal a lot of bases though he could have if he wanted to. I believe that Mays stole more bases than Junior but he could have stolen more as well. Thank you both for allowing me to watch you play baseball in my lifetime. I hope that I will be able to see them shake hands on Sunday when Junior is inducted in. I won’t be able to be there for the ceremony however I was at the Hall of Fame five years ago visiting with my younger brother Jack.

We do hope the Mariners will be able to win the game on Sunday in Toronto on Sunday to honor Junior as well. Everyone in Seattle whether a big baseball fan or not I am sure will be thinking of you that day Junior. Thank you wants again for your great baseball and crashing into the fence on numerous times. The video showing you rounding third base and sliding into home with that signature smile of yours on the greatest hit in Mariner by Edgar Martinez. Go Griffey and the M’s.  

Mariners Play Badly

Actually to say the Seattle Mariners played badly on Sunday was an understatement. In his post-game press conference manager Scott Servais said it was the worst game they had played all season long.

I am not sure whether anyone played worse than Kyle Seager did as he had two errors early in the game and struck out twice with the bases loaded. His first two at bats were with the bases loaded and on the first one he actually hit a ball that looked like it could be a grand slam however it went foul before he struck out. If I recall he struck out at least a third time in the game. So this was a game that Seager will soon forget.

Mike Montgomery pitched five innings giving up four runs with three them earned. I am not sure he really deserved to be charged for three runs but you can’t blame the guy for pitching poorly because of the defense. Actually in the first inning he got out of it with the Mariners only giving up one run to the Astros and then in the second he gave up no runs despite continued problem with the defense.

Nathan Karns had a poor outing giving up four runs in his one inning of work after Tom Wilhelmsen came in after Montgomery. At that point the game likely was lost anyway. Benoit and Dave Rollins each followed off pitching an inning each without giving up a run.

The Mariners are now even on the season and they now go against the Chicago White Sox in a three game series before heading to Toronto for a weekend series against the Blue Jays. The first game the Mariners face White Sox ace Sale. So not a good way to start off the series however they will have their left handed platooned lineup in; we will probably see Franklin Gutierrez in right field as Nelson Cruz DH. With a tough lefthander Leonys Martin could have the day off. So we could see both Daniel Robertson and Shawn O’Malley in the lineup. Chris Iannetta will be back into the lineup after taking both Saturday and Sunday off.

The Mariners will need to play their A game to beat the White Sox. Actually nothing new because I see the only chance the Mariners have to win most games they have to be at their best especially against the teams ahead of them.

I have read some from some whether the Mariners should be buyers, sellers or holders. I would like them to be buyers when it comes to getting someone who will help them this year and at least next year. Being sellers would be to trade those who are not in the plans for next season. I don’t see them as holders because they do lack some places on the twenty-five roster.  I see being a buyer and seller in combination. For example if they can trade Adam Lind who will be a free agent at the end of the season and likely won’t be resigned by the Mariners along with Aoki who I don’t see either returning in a package deal. There could be a contending team that could use a first baseman or designated hitter along with an extra outfielder. In this case likely the Mariners would get prospects back in return. The only other player the Mariners could trade as a seller would be Seth Smith if the Mariners have no plans for him next year. The question here will they get any value for him. I would say most likely not so trading him not a good idea. Nelson Cruz why would they even think about trading him if the Mariners plan to compete next year; again he would only bring back some prospects. Chris Iannetta could be a choice to trade to a team that needs a catcher whether starting or backup. In this case likely only get prospects in return unless the Mariners do a package deal. The Mariners could trade Mike Zunino in a good package deal but I don’t see that happening.

Continue being sellers the Mariners could trade Steve Cishek out of the bullpen or Wade Miley to a contending team that needs another starter. Again what will the Mariners get in return? Being a seller you get more during the off-season. I would see the Mariners going more for as a buyer because they will get more value that way instead of sellers. I am sure Dipoto is looking at teams below the Mariners especially to see what they have on their rosters to unload as sellers. Hard to say whether the Mariners will go for another starter in the rotation, a reliever or an outfielder. The next two weeks will be interesting leading into the trade dead line most on how they will do on the field in these two as well. Anyway let’s go M’s.

P.S. Just saw that the Cleveland Indians starting catcher is going on the DL and not expected to return anytime soon.  So maybe Dipoto is talking with them about one of the Mariner catchers. Not only Iannetta or Zunino they could discuss Jesus Sucre who the Mariners likely would not get much for though.

 

 

 

Mariner’s Second Half Begins

We know that starting Friday it is the unofficial second half of the baseball season because the Mariners have 73 games remaining instead of 81. What we now look as fans for the remaining of the season as though we are the general manager or manager.

Sometimes it is real easy as a fan what the team needs and we know that the Mariners management knows the same thing as well. Foremost the Mariners rotation needs to improve and we know that both Felix Hernandez and TaiJuan Walker should be back within a couple weeks. Friday night Felix is making a rehab assignment with the Triple A Tacoma Rainiers. The crowd has been announced as a sellout. The King is expected to throw seventy pitches or five innings and everything goes right he will start next Wednesday. James Paxton who is starting tonight for the Mariners will probably make his next start against the Blue Jays in Toronto next Friday. How the rest of the rotation will be announced since the Mariners have an off day on Monday July 25 and Thursday July 28. With three off-days between now and the end of the month it will be interesting how the Mariners starting rotation will go. Having the 25^th off most likely Felix will start his second outing on the 26^th followed by Paxton. My guess would be that TaiJuan Walker will make his first start off disabled list on the following weekend against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field.

Now we look at the Mariners going forward for these seventy-three games. I am sure over the four day break Dipoto and Servais discussed what will happen. I am sure Servais has gone over in his head what changes he may make in his manager style now that he was managed over a half of a season.  First thing will be the starting rotation followed by the bullpen. The Mariners having one of the top offenses in the American League there probably will not be a lot of changes happening in the lineup. It will be interesting to see how much Leonys Martin and Ketel Marte will be at the top or the bottom of the lineup. The most important thing is make sure they are getting on base in front of Seth Smith or Franklin Gutierrez, Cano, Cruz and Seager. It would be nice to get another athletic outfielder to play either left or right field to be in the mix as well. Having a legitimate leadoff batter for the Mariners would be great or going with Martin or Marte. In either case I see Smith or Gutierrez hitting second in the batting order though I like Marte in that spot.

Another question will be in the regular lineup whether Adam Lind and Dae-Ho Lee will be back to platooning all the time at first base or will Nelson Cruz play more right field and that they share first base and designated hitter against right handers. Also I see a couple other possibilities if the Mariners don’t go out and get another outfielder. One would be that Aoki is brought back up which would not surprise me though could be in a couple weeks. Another would be that Daniel Robertson and Shawn O’Malley share left field. It is hard to know how much offense will come out of them however the defense would be better and the Mariners would have more speed. In this case they are at the top or bottom of the order. The ideal would be that Martin would be on fire and leading off though either of them could lead off or bat second. Nothing in the regular lineup would have to be different than left field.

Besides Felix and Walker coming back into the rotation  we hope to see more consistency from Paxton, Miley and Iwakuma. We may see Montgomery or LeBlanc in the starting rotation before Walker returns. Not sure what happens with LeBlanc if he is not in the starting rotation while we know Montgomery will go back into the bullpen. Also this will depend on Paxton and Miley’s performances before the return of Walker. The Mariners need either or both do well in the second half of the season. LeBlanc if still around could take one of their places too.

The second question is the bullpen and that relies a lot on the starting rotation as well. The bullpen should be fine three of the guys in the rotation are going at least six innings on a consistent basis. At this point Nathan Karns will be the primary guy coming out of the bullpen first and be able to go a couple innings. This will be Montgomery’s job to if and when he returns to the bullpen.

The back of the bullpen is the big question at this point. Will the Mariners stick with Steve Cishek as the closer the rest of the season or will Dipoto go and trade for a closer. If this is the case than I see Cishek moving to pitching either the seventh or eighth inning; in this case Edwin Diaz will be the main guy in either of those innings. I don’t see much of Benoit pitching in the second half of the season if he is still on the staff by August. Nick Vincent should be a big player when he comes off of the disabled list. This would be the same for Charlie Furbush who right now is on rehab assignment. Depending of the hitters I would not be surprised if Vincent and Furbush share the seventh inning.  Cishek and Diaz the eighth inning and the closer the ninth; either could close when the closer would need a rest. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple weeks and the rest of the season. Go M’s.

Seahawks Defensive Live

Now that we are getting close to the beginning training camp and the pre-season I figure to talk about the defensive line.

We know it begins with Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril who start out on the end positions. A big question will the Seahawks pay Bennett more money after last season though he still has more left on this contract. Being Seahawk fans I am sure we all hope so and that he will continue playing at the high level he has been over the last couple season or so.

Though he starts on the outside Bennett usually moves in on the passing down and Frank Clark comes in on the end position. Now that Bruce Irvin has moved onto the Oakland Raiders would not be surprised if Clark takes his spot on passing downs. In this case Bennett may play more at the defensive end then in past years. Also this will depend if Chris Clemons makes the roster or one of the other defensive ends on the roster improves.

Now that   Brandon Mebane has left in free agency the Seahawks second pick in the college draft Quinton Jefferson likely will take his spot as the starting right defensive tackle teaming up with Ahtyba Rubin who is returning to play at left defensive tackle. Jefferson is not your typical rookie defensive tackle at the age of twenty-three along with having a family so he will be hungry coming in to become that starting right tackle. His strength is like Mebane in stopping the run.

Other players who are going to make the team on the defensive line are Tavaris Barnes at defensive end, Cassius Marsh at defensive end however could be playing linebacker in the same way as Frank Clark, rookie David Perkins at defensive end, Ryan Robinson at DE, Christian French at DE, Brandin Bryant a rookie at defensive tackle who is a rookie who may get a shot at full back as well, Justin Hamilton at DT, Jordan Hill at Dt, and veteran Sealver Siliga at DT. Hard to know who the backups will be and who will be released or put on the practice squad. The Seahawks could bring in some others to compete as well. All we do know that the starters will be really good and we hope that the backup will be good too. It is important that none of the starters get hurt.

Next look will be at the linebackers who have some change over last season though two of the key starters are still around. Go Seahawks.  

Coming Up This Week

With the Mariners having the all-star break I will be writing some about what they should be doing going into the trading deadline at the end of July and about the Seahawks as well since their training camp will be coming up soon. Also the Huskies and the Cougars will be starting camp as well heading into the college season. So we can see the next several weeks Washington sports will be busy. We hope that the Mariners can be relevant still so we don’t tune them out and go totally into football. I do know that there are some who are into football all the time but I am one who likes to see both football and baseball. Since the Sonics left the NBA is not the same in Seattle though the Portland Trail Blazers announced that Kevin Calabro will be their new television announcer. The games will be on Comcast Cable however I am not sure whether I will watch them either since I think the games will cost extra to see. I believe the games will be broadcasted locally on the radio by KJR-Am as well. It will be interesting to see how many people in the area will actually listen or watch the Trail Blazer games. In my case since I haven’t really watched the NBA since the Sonics left I don’t know very many players except the big names whose names are always plastered away. I am not sure whether I will watch the games in the Olympics either. 

So here we go with baseball and football for a while. Let’s go M’s and Seahawks.  Also the Huskies and if we have to the Cougars.   

Another Blown Game

I could easily say the Mariners had another blow save however they have had a lot more blow games over the season. In fact most of the losses in the last month or so have been blown games.

I mentioned on social media after Thursday’s blown game against the Kansas City Royals that the Mariners lost because they did not play their A game. In this game which was a walk-off double that gave the Royals 4-3 win. The Royals should have had only one runner on base because Cishek hit a batter making two batters on base. So a hit like that could have made it a tie instead. Of course we never know what could have happened either without the additional runner on base. We will never know because the Royals could have scored another run as well with batter on second.

It was a tough game because James Paxton pitched a really good game for eight innings. I believe he should have been left in the game to finish it off. He deserved the chance to finish the game however the manager decided to take him out. Sometimes I think the manager over does things sometimes. I would call it over managing. Although Cishek’s job is to be the closer I believe the manager like in this game should leave the starter in the game. Just because almost every manager would do the same thing doesn’t mean you have to. I am sure if Felix Hernandez was in the same situation he probably would have been left in to finish the game.

Back to the Mariners playing their A game; we saw in the series against the Baltimore Orioles how effective they are when playing their A game but I see if they are not doing so in most circumstances they will lose. The Mariners are one of those teams when they are playing A minus or less likely they will lose.  There are times playing A minus or less they will win games but in most cases this will not happen. The main reason they play so many one run games. In fact they have played more one run games than any team in the majors so less than A game they are showing that the chances are pretty highly that they will lose. They have on occasion won one of the games like when Adam Lind hit a walk-off home run. The only other times I see them winning without the A game is when the offense has scored a lot of runs and the pitching along with defense has been below par. An example of that would be if they won 10-5.

On Thursday night the Mariners showed without solid defense they will lose again despite great pitching. Early in the season they were winning because the offense and defense were working together even if the pitching was not at full par but the defense has not been that way for some time. Right now they are ranked with the worst defense in the major leagues.

I heard before the game the Royals have the third best hitting team in the American League but dead last in scoring runs so they showed Thursday night if the other team gives them additional at bats they will take advantage of the situation. Right now the Mariners have to work on the defense along with running the bases. We have seen over the season that they get in trouble giving outs away on the base paths too. A team like the Mariners one or two mistakes will cost them the game a lot of the time. Again they must play at the highest level to win. The Mariners do not have the talent to overcome mistakes though I believe most teams don’t.

Iwakuma will be pitching for the Mariners on Friday night. He needs to pitch near what Paxton did on Thursday night and no mistakes by the defense or offense. This all comes down to it that the Mariners have to get at least another player or two to be a good team. Go M’s.

Seahawks Offensive Line

With training camp less than three weeks before starting the biggest question on the team for the Seahawks is the offensive line. The look of the line will be different this coming season. At this point the starting lineup will look totally different than last season.

Shortly after the college draft Coach Pete Carroll said that Gary Gilliam who started at right tackle last year would move over to left tackle after the departure of Russell Okung who signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos. Justin Britt who was top selection played right tackle as a rookie in 2014 and shifted to left guard in 2015 would be make another change to center.  Sort of wonder if this work out for him or be sent back to left guard. Another option would be that he backup at all three positions.

The Seahawks number one pick in this year’s draft Germain Ifedi who most thought would be playing right tackle will start out at right guard. J’Marcus Webb is expected to be the right tackle for the Seahawks. Each position on the offensive line will have competition and has added depth the big question still is whether they will be able to block successfully especially on passing downs so Russell Wilson will not be sacked so often. I don’t think anyone has a question on how they will block on running plays. So how they will do depends on getting good experience during spring training.    

Mariners Struggle to Score Runs

The Seattle Mariners Monday afternoon against the Houston Astros had trouble scoring runs throughout the game though they had a few opportunities to do so. Once instance they had the bases loaded with no one out but Dae-Ho Lee hit the ball straight to pitcher McCullers who threw it home and got Lee without any problem at all. The Mariners still had two runners on base however Adam Lind was not able to drive them home either.

I expect the problem with the offense after having such a great game on Sunday against the Orioles was that they had to play a day game after flying all the way to Houston. You have to figure not only a flight that probably takes about four or five hours to get there the two hour time change makes a difference to.

Wade Miley had a really good outing Monday having a poor one previously after coming off the disabled list. He gave up a home run to George Springer in the first inning and did well until the fifth inning when the Astros scored another run.  Tom Wilhelmsen replaced him with one out in the seventh inning. He went a total of one inning giving up just one hit on sixteen pitches. Dave Rollins the lefty replaced him the eight with two men out.  He did walk two guys but was able to get out of the inning. This was unusual because Rollins only walked one batter while in Tacoma. It doesn’t really seem the Mariners use there lefties in situations like a lot of other teams do. Neither Montgomery nor Nuno seem really the type though Rollins is more the pitcher the Mariners can use in those situations. The Mariners should do more situational pitching especially in either the seventh or eighth inning.

We hope that Miley can pitch more like he did on Monday in the next couple starts around the all-star break and when Felix comes back. This would allow the Mariners to do a trade or two before the end of July. The Mariners need to look at picking up a talented and athletic outfield along with a solid relief pitcher or starting pitcher. Whatever the case the Mariners need to add a couple more pieces to this roster to make a good run to the playoffs;  they could trade one of the starters along with D.J. Peterson who just got elevated to triple A and doing a fine job. They could throw Aoki into the mix to if someone is looking for an extra outfielder. The Mariners do have a few other prospects down in the minors to trade as well. Peterson just doesn’t look to have a spot on the Mariners roster. Adam Lind will be a free agent at the end of the season and likely the Mariners will not resign him. Most likely Dae-Ho Lee will continue to be on the Mariner roster for another year at least. Peterson is a right handed hitter like Lee so the Mariners do not need both of them. The best would find another left handed first baseman during the off season. Of course the Mariners could look at trading Lind as well. Lee has shown that he can play almost every day and can hit right handers as well as lefties.  We will have to see what Dipoto has under his sleeves in the next few weeks. I am sure he will make a move and he has support of the ownership. Go M’s.   

Mariners Three Down and One To Go

The Baltimore Orioles came into Seattle on a good seven game winning however the Mariner players had other ideas and now have won three games and look to get a sweep.

Saturday night with the return of Mike Zunino in his first game starting after coming up to replace Steve Clevenger who got a broken hand and will be out for a couple months. General manager Jerry Dipoto said that Zunino would be around as long as he can contribute in hitting. Everyone knows how good a catcher he is just needs to be able to hit at a decent clip.  Saturday night was a good start where he hit two home runs that helped the Mariners win 12-9. The Mariners had three other homers besides the two by Zunino. He will be starting again on Monday night in the first game the Mariners play in Houston. The Mariners will have a better idea of how things will go with Zunino when heading into the all-star break that is next week after the Mariners go against the Astros and then the Kansas City Royals over the weekend. After the four day break the Mariners will come home to face the Astros once again.

Mike Zunino was able to show everyone the promise he had in 2014. If he does well during this stretch the Mariners will have two good capable catchers on their roster. I am sure they will look to use them both about half of the time. If Zunino has to be sent back down to get more development in Tacoma Iannetta will be back to being the primary catcher and whoever comes up will be in the same role as Clevenger. The Mariners hope that Zunino will be back where he was in 2014 and why he was drafted as the third overall pick in the amateur draft.

Scott Servais and Jerry Dipoto wanted to wait a game to put Zunino into a game because he knows James Paxton who started while Iannetta knew Wade LeBlanc more who started and won on Friday night.

This series against the Orioles is showing us how the Mariners can do when both the offense and the pitching can work together. This is especially true of the starting pitching where they have been able to go six innings or more most of the time though James Paxton went five and two thirds inning. He left the game with the bases loaded however Tom Wilhelmsen was able to get the last out.

Nathan Karns pitched the final three innings getting the save. He pitched well again coming out of the bullpen though he did give up a two run home run to Chris Davis which was his twenty-first of the season. I figure if you can stop the rest of the Orioles lineup besides Davis you are doing well. Karns looks like he has made the transition to the bullpen pretty well. He is valuable for the Mariner in the same fashion as Mike Montgomery another former starter who can go one to three innings in an outing. Both of them can save the rest of the relievers from being over worked. Everyone in the bullpen will be ready to go Sunday except for Karns. We will have to see if he can bounce back on Monday in Houston or wait until Tuesday. Whatever the case he is valuable in the bullpen though I am sure he liked to pitch in the rotation. Iwakuma will be pitching for the Sunday against the Orioles. So we do hope for nice sweep in the series. Go M’s.