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.