Look at Seahawks Draft

                                          Seahawks first pick in the 2017 NFL Draft

 On Thursday night the beginning of the NFL college draft general manager John Schneider and Coach Pete Carroll decided to move down from the first round so for the Seahawks and the 12^th man the draft did not start until Friday when the draft went with the second and third round.

The brain trust of the Seahawks first decided to trade the 26^th pick in the first round to the Atlanta Falcons which wasn’t a big surprise since it was reported on Wednesday that likely that would happen. The Seahawks had the Falcons first round pick in the 31^st spot plus two more picks in this draft plus another in next year’s draft. The Seahawks though announced just before taking the pick that they were moving down to the second pick in the second round which was the 34^th overall pick. They made a trade with the San Francisco 49ers to move down and then on Friday they even made another trade moving down one sport to 35^th with the Jacksonville Jacquards’.  This even added another pick to give the Seahawks a total of eleven. At the beginning of Thursday they had seven draft picks going into the draft.

None of us really know any of the players unless you follow college football very strongly. All these draft picks at this point will add depth to the Seahawks roster. We won’t know how many will make the final roster when the season begins in September.

This is really no different than most seasons for the Seahawks. Usually you may have heard about the first three or four draft picks that are coming out unless they are a local product. In those cases you don’t really know how well they will perform in the NFL. For example many of us knew Jermaine Kearse who came out of Lakes High School in Lakewood and played for the University of Washington. He was not taken in the draft and was signed as a free agent at receiver. Though we knew him we had no idea whether he would make it in the NFL or not.  If so how much playing time and how long he will play. At this point he is still on the roster.

Most of the Seahawk roster we had no idea what they would do coming into the NFL. This includes quarterback Russell Wilson who was a third round picks, Richard Sherman a fifth round pick and Kam Chancellor. Even a first round pick like Earl Thomas we had no idea either and he has turned out to be one of the best safeties to ever play the game and certainly with the Seahawks going along with Kenny Easley who made the Hall-of-Fame last year.

The 2017 college draft for Seahawks primarily will be backups along with special teams. The first pick the Seahawks took with the 35^th overall pick is Malik McDowell out of Michigan State listed as a defensive tackle. According to the Seahawks he can play the outside end as well the tackle position.

The second pick in the second round for the Seahawks is Ethan Pocic who played his ball at Louisiana State. He played primarily center however with Justin Britt at the position he will likely play either tackle or guard. At this point we are not sure however the Seahawks will let us know before training camp starts.

The next two picks in the third round for the Seahawks were Shaquill Griffin a cornerback out of Central Florida. He will compete for the spot across from Richard Sherman and the other Delano Hill out of Michigan listed as a safety. He may compete at corner or play in the nickel defense. The Seahawks final pick in the third round was defensive tackle Nazair Jones out of North Carolina. He will be competing at one of the defensive tackles for the Seahawks.

On the final pick of the 3rd round the Seahawks picked wide receiver Amara Darboh another one out of Michigan. He is listed at 6’1 with speed. At this point he is the fifth receiver behind Doug Baldwin, Jermain Kearse, Tyler Lockette and Paul Richardson. His spot on the roster he will have to play good special teams.  

On Saturday the Seahawks had five draft picks. The first one in the fourth round was safety Tedric Thompson out of Colorado. He said that he is looking forward learning from Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas; also said that he enjoys playing special teams.

In the sixth round the Seahawks drafted safety Mike Tyson out of Cincinnati and offensive lineman Justin Senior from Mississippi State. In the seventh round they drafted wide receiver David Moore from East Central University and final selection running back Chris Carson out of Oklahoma State. The amount of wide receivers and running backs the Seahawks have hard to know what chances Moore and Carson have to make the team. Of course the Seahawks will go after some college free agents. Since they didn’t draft a quarterback the chances are good they will sign a college free agent and possibly a veteran quarterback to be a free agent.

This coming week see who the Seahawks will continue to sign and where the draft picks chances will be to make the team. Rookie practice should be coming up for these guys. Go Hawks!

The Mariners on a Roll

The Seattle Mariners are now on a three game winning streak beating the Tigers in Detroit twice after losing Felix and Haniger for three to four weeks along with a loss of 19-9.

The last two games were both close games. Friday’s game against the Indians in Cleveland the Mariners won 3-1. This now makes the Mariners record 11-13 which is a lot more reasonable that is for sure. The Mariners are showing that they can compete with those in the American League Central Division. We hope that they can do the same with the American League Western Division when they return home next week.

The Mariners got their three runs on a two-run homer by Robinson Cano and a solo homer by Ben Gamel. The Mariners defense in the outfield continues to shine. They have had instances where they have held the opposition to a single instead of a double. We are being showed a lot better defense over last year.

Ariel Miranda bounced back in this game giving up two hits and one run in five and a third inning. He was replaced by rookie lefty James Pazos who went two and a third innings giving up two hits and striking out four.  He gave up one of the hits with two outs in the eighth inning when Edwin Diaz came in for the second game in a row to close off the game. Diaz faces four hitters and striking out three of them. The one he did not strike out was a high pop up to Kyle Seager on a 3 and 1 pitch in the ninth inning for the second out in the game. It is nice to see Diaz get in some game action since prior to Thursday he hadn’t pitched a lot for a couple weeks.

Steve Cishek is now doing his pitching rehab with the Tacoma Rainiers. He will likely pitch at least a couple times with them before being called up to the Mariners.

Yovani Gallardo will go for the Mariners on late Saturday afternoon game in Detroit followed by Chase De Jong who has replaced Felix in the rotation for the time being. Servais felt that De Jong deserve the start since he went four innings last Saturday in relief giving up one hit and no runs. The Mariners lost the game to the A’s however De Jong gave the offense a chance to win.

Depending on how De Jong pitches I would not be surprised to see lefty Dillon Overton pitch a couple innings as well. He was brought back up by the Mariners on Wednesday after the blow out on Tuesday 19-9. The Mariners brought right handed reliever Chris Fien the same day and sent back Chris Heston and Evan Marshall to Tacoma after both pitched in the blow out game. Also Ben Gamel was brought up because Haniger and Felix were put on the DL.

The Mariners will start May by playing the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field. They will than go on the road for two in Philadelphia and four in Toronto. Hopefully Felix and Haniger will both be ready when the Mariners return home for the next home series against the Oakland A’s and the Chicago White Sox’s. Go M’s.

 

NFL College Draft Begins Thursday

 The college draft for the NFL starts Thursday night in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The way draft works now the first night will be only the first round. Friday night will be the second and the third round while the rest of the draft fourth through the seventh will take place on Saturday.

I am not a big fan of watching the draft except possibly early with big time quarterbacks being taken like last year. This year there will be no quarterbacks taken early.

I usually will listen to some of the draft on the radio depending what I have planned for the weekend. This year I have something happening all day Saturday so I will read to see who the Seattle Seahawks will draft.

The Seahawks have the number 26 overall pick however they may drop down. There is talk that they may trade with Atlanta and swap the 26^th for the Falcons 31^st. If so they may get the Falcons fourth round pick with it. It was reported on Wednesday however nothing has taken place as of yet.

The Seahawks made the trade of Marshawn Lynch on Wednesday to the Oakland Raiders. The Seahawks will swap draft picks with the Raiders however the pick will be in next year’s draft. I am sure what pick it will be may depend on how Marshawn does in the upcoming season.

Besides the Seahawks get in this draft I am always interested in where the Washington Huskies players will land along with other local players. The Huskies could have four players going in the first round. The very least would be three. Wide receiver John Ross who is the fastest runner on the planet may go somewhere in the middle of the first round. The team that Ross goes to will depend on whether they need receiver or a punt/kick-off returner; I believe he will start his career out on the special teams. Depending on the team he could be one of the starting wide receivers. They can use him as a deep threat as well.

The Huskies have three defensive backs that will go in the early rounds of the draft. Safety Budda Baker and cornerback Kevin King are likely first round picks. The Seahawks could take either one in the draft if they are available. I know the Seahawks are looking for a long term replacements for Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas so Baker could be the answer. Starting out most likely he would be in the nickel defense for the Seahawks. King on the other hand could be another shut down corner the Seahawks could use across from Richard Sherman. Although there were talks about trading Sherman it most likely not to happen. I am sure glad of that and to be honest tired of all the about trading Sherman. Like usual the sport writers and those on sports radio have nothing better to do during the off-season than to rub stories down our throats. Repeating the same thing over and over again like it is the first time we have heard it is tiresome as far as I am concerned. In fact so much that I turned the radio off when hearing about Sherman and not reading anything on him in the paper or on line. Also the reason I haven’t said much about him either.

The third defensive back who will be drafted is Sidney Jones. He was expected to be a first round pick as well before being injured after the Huskies season was over. I expect though he still go in the second or third round unless someone decides to gamble on him and pick him early any way. He would be another good pick up for the Seahawks as well.

Besides the secondary the Seahawks could look at drafting an offensive lineman in the first round. There has been speculation on different guys which I won’t get into because I am sure most of you have already heard about them if you follow the Seahawks closely.

In the mid to later rounds the Seahawks will probably go for more defensive players.  I would not be surprised if they go for a defensive line or linebacker. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett are both over thirty so a good lineman would be nice. Also Coach Carroll said when the season was over they would like to get a linebacker that could replace or compete with K.J. Wright and Bobby Wagner. Although it may sound to think about replacing them a team has to look at it even if it is a few years down the road. Wright is 27 years old while Wagner is 26 so they do have a few years remaining but a plan has to be in action.

Outside of offensive line most likely no other offensive players will be taken unless the Seahawks see a good player available especially a quarterback that could backup Russell Wilson and play some if Wilson gets hurt again like last year. The Seahawks most likely bring in a veteran quarterback to compete for the backup spot. Trevone Boykin who was last year’s backup got into some trouble during the off-season so depending on how things go his future is in doubt.

The Seahawks signed running back Eddy Lacy to compete for playing time with Thomas Rawls. Both players were out with injuries last season though Rawls did get in some action near the end of the season. C.J. Prosise who the drafted last year was expected to be the third down back didn’t play a lot last season either because of injuries did look good in flashes. He could be the third down back projected again if he can stay healthy or get into some further action as well. Alex Collins another running back the Seahawks drafted last year showed some good signs playing at the end of the season so he could be competing for playing time too. The Seahawks most likely won’t draft a running back unless the best player available however may sign one or two in college free agency.

The wide receiver position the Seahawks probably won’t draft unless the best play available at the time. They will likely sign one or two of them in college free agency as well.

Anyway it will be interesting to see once again what the Seahawks will do once again. Go Hawks.

Marines Lose Two Players and More

Where do we start with losing two players in the first game in Detroit on Tuesday night or losing another game? Not a good sign either way that is for sure.

We will start with the game in itself. The Mariners lost the game 19-9. Not much more we can say about that however the worst part of it Felix Hernandez had to leave the game after two innings because of a dead arm. At least that is the story after the game. In the third inning the Mariners lost outfielder Mitch Haniger trying to dive back to first base. He had to leave the game because of his strained oblique muscle. He said after the game he had problems with it for a couple days and was working on it in a preventive way. He was hoping that working on the injury at that time would not get him into trouble however it didn’t happen. The sad part besides the injury Haniger was playing the best baseball of anyone on the team.

Felix and Haniger both flew back to Seattle to see the team doctor. Sometime Wednesday the team and we will know how bad it will be for both of them; we know that Haniger will go on the disabled list however with Felix it hard to know. He could miss one turn in the rotation or be out for some time as well.

Only positive of the pitching was the Mariners only used four relief pitchers in the game. The negative was three of the four got shelled. Chris Heston came in to pitch first to replace Felix since he is the long reliever. He replaced Chase De Jong who pitched well on Saturday going four innings and giving up only one hit along with no runs. He looks like the guy who could come up to replace Felix. Heston if he could have resembled De Jong in any manner the Mariners could have won the game however he gave up five runs on seven hits including two home runs in two innings. He was replaced by Evan Marshall who came up last week in place of Dan Altavilla who was sent down to Tacoma to work on his slider and spotting his fast ball. He didn’t do any better than Heston giving up seven runs on seven hits and three walks in two innings. Two of the hits were doubles.

Rookie lefty James Pazos came in for Marshall and pitched one inning. At that point the score was 16-7. He was the only good pitcher on Tuesday night going one inning giving up one hit and a walk with no runs scored. He was followed up by Evan Scribner who pitched the eighth inning. He gave up three runs on four hits including a home run and a double. Scribner who pitched well last September after coming off the disabled list and not pitching up to that point; he has done poorly most of April so far. I wonder if he has injury himself.

So will any of those three Heston, Marshall or Scribner last beyond today? We know that at least one pitcher will be recalled on Wednesday if not more along with a regular player.  We will have to see how the rest of the roster will react with the loss of Felix and Haniger. This will show how tough they are and how they will show on the final five games on the road. Hopefully no other injuries will occur. Go M’s.

In other local sport news the Seahawks will be in the college draft starting on Thursday. There is a report that the Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons may swap first round picks. The Seahawks have the 26^th pick while the Falcons have the 31^st pick. The Seahawks will get Falcons fourth round pick as well. I am not too surprised by this since the record has been since general manager John Schneider and Coach Pete Carroll have been on the scene they haven’t stayed pat too often in the first round. Also they like picking up extra draft picks as well.  What will the Seahawks do with their first round pick? Anyone’s guess? Go for an offensive lineman or a corner back?  Whatever happens in the first round the rest of the draft the Seahawks likely will go for players on the defense. I am sure they will throw in a receiver or tight end in somewhere as well. Go Hawks.

Mariners Take One in Oakland Other Notes

 

 The Seattle Mariners finally won a game in Oakland against the A’s. The final score was 11-1 on Sunday after losing the previous three games. Taylor Motter who will go back to being the utility player hit a grand slam for Mariners and then Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer to put the game out of the reach. It would have been nice if the Mariners offense could have saved a few runs for another game.

Saturday the Mariners had a chance to win the game. Chase De Jong who the Mariners brought up to replace Dan Altavilla temporarily pitched four innings in place of starter Ariel Miranda who was struggling early in the game. De Jong came in the fourth inning to replace Miranda. He only gave up one hit and then was sent back down on Sunday. Chris Heston was brought up for the Mariners to have another fresh arm to pitch long relief. The Mariners do have an off day on Monday before starting a three game series on Tuesday in Detroit against the Tigers. The Mariners are expected to add Steve Cishek in the next few days for the bullpen. At that point Heston probably be sent back to Tacoma.

The biggest news of the day that came as a surprise to everyone was the designated for assignment of center fielder Leonys Martin. The Mariners can’t directly send Martin down to the minor leagues so the reason for the dfa. If he is not picked up on waivers or traded the Mariners than can send him to Tacoma to get his hitting back on track.  He has a contract for over $4 million so likely another team will not pick him up for the full amount. If the Mariners do trade him than likely they will probably have to pay a partial of the contract. There are several teams that do need an outfielder but not at that amount.

Yovani Gallardo had his best game pitching for the Mariners. He pitched six and one-third innings give up only four hits. Gallardo has had some good years pitching in the major leagues especially for the Milwaukee Brewers however he had a bad season last year and for the reason why the Baltimore Orioles were willing to trade him.  In the other games for the Mariners he did pitch well at times just had a bad inning. The Mariners are hoping this will start to better things for Gallardo.

In regards to Miranda he had a poor game hitting his spots and why he lasted only three games. The Mariners are hoping working with him he will be straighten back for them.

Now the Mariners need to see if there are any other measures they must do to get going on the road. Now they are 2-9 in road games while being 6-3 at home. They are tied with the Los Angles Angels in last place with a record of 8-12.

The Mariners will start Felix Hernandez in the first game against the Tigers followed by James Paxton and Iwakuma. Felix did struggle in his last outing though the Mariners lost. Paxton had his worst outing pitching against the A’s in the opening game in Oakland. Iwakuma pitched Ok however the Mariners lost his game too.

The Mariners figure to have Jean Segura back on Tuesday to play shortstop. I am sure he will go back to being the lead-off batter since Mitch Haniger has done such a good job batting second in the order.  Jarrod Dyson who likely will play a lot in center field for the time being will go back to the bottom of the batting order.  Taylor Motter who did an excellent job for Segura will play a lot at different positions. He will probably play some left field along with first base depending on whether Danny Valencia can start hitting or not. In the move with Martin the Mariners brought up first baseman Daniel Vogelbach. The Mariners likely will platoon Vogelbach with Valencia or Motter.  According to manager Scott Servais we will see a lot of Motter in the lineup. Also Guillermo Heredia who played a lot against the Oakland A’s will play a lot in left or center field. Against tough lefties especially Heredia could play center with Motter in left. He will play left field when Dyson is in the lineup and Motter isn’t in left.

Kyle Seager missed the last two games because of a sore hip. He is expected back in the lineup on Tuesday however if he isn’t ready to go we will likely see Motter at third base. Michael Freeman who played third base the last two days will probably be sent back to Tacoma with Segura added back to the roster. We hope that Segura will hit like he did before going on the disabled list. He played the weekend of AA Arkansas while on a rehab assignment.

At this point there hasn’t been any news about utility player Shawn O’Malley. He can come off the list anytime however likely will do a rehab assignment himself. When that will happen is anyone’s guess since Dipoto or Servais hasn’t mentioned it. Also there is no news about reliever Shae Simmons when he will come off the disabled list either. He most likely goes on a rehab assignment as well. Both O’Malley and Simmons could be assigned to Tacoma after the rehab assignment as well. So more questions are ready to be answered for the Mariners however the best answer is for the Mariners to start winning on the road. If the problem continues more transactions will probably happen. In the meantime go M’s.                 

Mariners Lose Two in Oakland So Far

The Seattle Mariners are starting off their second road trip like they did starting the season where they won only one game.

 

The Mariners are playing a four game series in Oakland before going to Detroit and Cleveland for three each before coming home. The Mariners have lost the two games in Oakland with two remaining. The two games were different from each other. The Mariners lost the first game 9-6 on Thursday where James Paxton had his first poor outing. The difference in the game happened in the seventh inning when Dan Altavilla gave up a three run homer. On Friday the Mariners announced that they were sending Altavilla down to triple A Tacoma to get things straightened out with his slider and fastball. I would not be surprised if he is back up again in the near future if he is able to correct them. In the meantime the Mariners recalled pitcher Chase De Jong from Tacoma to take his place. Most likely De Jong will only be up for a few days. He has been used as a starter in Tacoma and was supposed to start Friday’s game when he was summoned to Seattle. Most likely he will be used either in long relief or clean-up at the end of the game if he pitches at all for the Mariners. Steve Cishek currently is doing a rehab assignment with Tacoma. The Mariners are expected to activate him in a few days and then De Jong will return to Tacoma.

 

Friday’s game Iwakuma pitched for the Mariners for five and a third inning. Though he pitched a better game than his last outing he was recorded with the loss. He gave up two home runs in the game. In his history I see that most of the runs that Iwakuma gives up are the home run variety.

The Mariners one run came in the third inning off of a triple. I am sure everyone can guess who got the triple in the game. No other than right fielder Mitch Haniger who continues to be the Mariners best player so far and I am not sure what else we can say about him.

 

The Mariners chore players in the middle of the lineup have been Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager however Mitch Haniger along with Taylor Motter are giving consideration to be added on along with Jean Segura when he comes off the disabled list. Nice to have a good set of players to depend on and now the Mariners need to get Leonys Martin to get out of his offensive slump along with Danny Valencia and Mike Zunino.

 

Speaking of Zunino he has had a few times hitting doubles however he hasn’t hit any home runs as of yet. On Friday night he was supposed to have started the game however the Mariners replaced him with backup catcher Carlos Ruiz. There was no known reason why Ruiz replaced Zunino because he is healthy. The Mariners do play a Saturday afternoon game so the coaching staff may have decided to have him start on Saturday instead. I am sure we will know more especially when the Mariners announce their starting lineup for the game.

 

Coming off his best outing of the season Ariel Miranda will start Saturday’s game. The Mariners will need another good game pitched by Miranda to stop this two game losing streak. On Sunday Gallardo is expected to start once again for the Mariners. Felix then will start the first game in Detroit. We hope that the Mariners can turn things around Saturday. Go M’s.

Mariners Overcome Slow Start Wednesday

King Felix had a slow start to Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Miami Marlins at Safeco Field. He gave up a couple runs in the first inning however he could have given more away.  The Mariners did get a run themselves that inning and then scored two runs in the second to take the lead temporarily at that point. The Marlins scored another run in the third inning to tie the game however the Mariners scored another run in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good. The biggest inning was the fourth inning which was lead off by Zunino being hit by a pitch. Each inning for the Mariners seemed long so Felix had a lot of rest between innings. It may have been part of the reason he struggled all day. He lasted just over six inning and giving up four runs. He may have given up more runs in the process to since he did struggle however got out without a lot of damage.

Wednesday’s game was the worst that Felix pitched so far this year however the Mariners were able to score eight of their ten runs while he was pitching.  Most often the Mariners struggle to score runs when Felix is on the mound however they are usually in games where he pitches his best games. This was his worst outing so far this season. We hope that he rebounds in his next outing.

Again Mitch Haniger had a great game getting three hits in four at bats plus a walk. He scored three of the Mariner runs well as driving in four. At this point he is playing the best ball of the Mariner regulars.  Another one who had a good game was Kyle Seager who drove in four runs on two hits. Both Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz had two hits in the game. Cano scored two times while Cruz scored once.

The Mariners showed in this game once again that they can score runs without hitting a home run. This time they had four doubles each by Zunino, Cruz, Seager and Haniger. Though they had no stolen bases they still showed speed on the base paths.

Fans were able to give a good applause to Ichiro in his last at-bat in Safeco Field by hitting a home run in the top of the ninth inning for the Marlins last run score. Most likely it will be Ichiro’s last time at least this year unless the Marlins and the Mariners face each other in the World Series. Odds against it but you never know.

James Paxton will face the A’s tonight in Oakland. A good way to start the road trip for the Mariners starting off with Paxton; hopefully this will be a better road trip than the one starting the season where the Mariners went 1-6. 

This new road trip will be for ten games. After facing the A’s in Oakland for four games the Mariners will play three against the Detroit Tiger and the Cleveland Indians. Last year the Mariners played well in Oakland so it would be nice if they could go 3-1. If they are able to split the games in Detroit and Cleveland the Mariners will come home with a road record of 6-4. Also would leave them with an even record of 13-13 for the month of April.

The Mariners next home stand will be May 2 thru 7 playing three against both the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers. This road trip and next home stand will tell us more on how the Mariners will do for the time ahead. Go M’s.

Mariners Almost No-Hit

The Seattle Mariners were shut-out by the Miami Marlins in the second game of the series on Tuesday night. Lefthander Chen pitched seven innings giving up no runs however walked two batters. He left the game because he had thrown one hundred pitches. Later in the season he likely would have pitched a complete game unless he had given up the one hit.

Mitch Haniger who has lived up to his billing before spring training got the only hit of the game for the Mariners a double in the bottom of the ninth inning. Haniger has been the best player for the Mariners since Jean Segura went on the disabled list.

Gallardo who started for the Mariners gave up four runs in six innings including a two-run homer by Bourn in the third inning.  The Marlins got a run in both the first and second inning before Bourn’s homer. They scored their final run in the top of the ninth inning. It will be interesting to see how many more starts Gallardo will have for the Mariners before they bring in another starter to pitch. At least on the bright spot the other four starters have been pitching fairly well though Iwakuma had a bad outing on Sunday.

Ariel Miranda who pitched well against the Marlins in the Mariners win on Monday looks like he will be staying in the rotation for the time being. If he continues pitching the way he is when Drew Smyly returns sometime in June the Mariners may leave him in the rotations. A lot depends on Gallardo or who replaces him.  Having a third lefty in the starting rotation may be OK with the Mariners too. This could depend on who the Mariners face as well. For example if Miranda and Smyly were both in the rotation the Mariners most likely would not want both facing the same time. In that instance either Miranda or Smyly could go to the bullpen temporarily and a right hander replaces them.  We won’t worry about until the time comes.

According to manager Scott Servais when Segura returns from the disabled list at the end of the week that Taylor Motter will still see a lot of action for the Mariners. Most likely we will see him playing outfield and first base. He will face left handers in the outfield and could play first base against right handers. Valencia who has started most games has been having trouble hitting in April though he has been doing better lately. He has been a better hitter against left handers than right handers. Defensively I would say that Valencia and Motter are equal at first base. 

When Segura returns from the disabled list most likely Michael Freeman will be sent back to Tacoma unless Servais and Dipoto feel that they can go with seven pitchers in the bullpen.

The Mariners play an afternoon on Wednesday before going to Oakland to take on the A’s in a four game series. King Felix will be starting Wednesday’s game. Also nice that James Paxton will start the first game of the road trip on Thursday. He has been pitching so outstanding and was named American League player of the week. The last time a Mariner had a left handed pitcher being named player of the week was almost twenty years ago. Go M’s.

In other local sports news the Seattle Seahawks had voluntary work outs this week.  Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor were among the Seahawk’s top five defensive players who decided not attend. I am sure there will be more talk about Sherman whether he will be traded or not. Actually I am tired of the whole thing myself. In a couple weeks the Seahawks will have monitory work outs and we will have to see whether Sherman will attend them or not. Next week starting on April 27^th will be the college draft. Go Hawks!

 

 

Mariners Sweep Rangers

Having gone 2-8 in their first ten games there was not a better time for the Mariners to sweep the Rangers.

The first two games of the series was great pitching by King Felix and James Paxton. The third game on Sunday was started by Iwakuma however he didn’t pitched so well himself giving up six runs in six innings fortunately the hitting and defense picked the team up.

Sunday’s game was very much different than the twelve games the Mariners had played this season. This game the Mariners had to come back a couple times to win the game in the ninth inning. Rookie right field Mitch Haniger had to be the player of the game by far. He had a home run his fourth of the season early in the game and then later on made an outstanding catch stealing a home run that likely would have given the Rangers the victory. In the ninth inning closer Edwin Diaz gave up a home run with the tie score. Haniger came up to bat with the bases loaded and had the patience to walk again to tie the game again. Two batters later Nelson Cruz hit an infield hit toward the shortstop however was not able to get an out that allowed the winning run.

This week the Mariners will be playing three games at home against the Miami Marlins before going back on the road. It will be interesting to find out Monday night how much Sunday’s game will play a role in this series. The Mariners are now 5-8 on the series and have moved ahead of the Rangers in the standings.  This game could make the whole difference in the season. The Mariners will have Ariel Miranda going Monday for the Mariners followed by Gallardo and finish up with Felix Hernandez on Wednesday afternoon game. We know that Miranda and Gallardo both have struggled at times so far. These two games could turn out similar to Sunday’s game. Other than closer Edwin Diaz who gave up the tying home run in the ninth inning the bullpen pitched a good game. In fact since manager Scott Servais said early in the week that they will go with matchups the bullpen has done a good job. Edwin Diaz will continue as closer for the time being.

In other news Tony Zych made his Mariner debut on Sunday and Steve Cishek is going out on a rehab assignment to the Mariners double-A team in Arkansas. He may be back with the Mariners when they go on the road. Jean Segura could be back at shortstop on Friday. Taylor Motter has done a fine job as his replacement. It will be interesting to see how much playing time he will continue when Segura returns. First baseman Danny Valencia is starting to heat up however Motter could play some time there well as in the outfield. I would not be surprised if Motter may play some left field against left handed pitchers while Heredia is in at center field. This will depend on whether Leonys Martin’s bat heats up or stays cold. One thing we do know Mitch Haniger will stay in the lineup as long as he continues to play the way he has. Go M’s.

Paxton Blanks Rangers

Can James Paxton pitch better than he did Saturday night? I am sure he can however the rest of the major leagues are not sure whether they want to find out or not. He gave up two hits and was pitching a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

Texas pitcher Cashner was matching with Paxton until the sixth inning when the Mariners exploded for five runs that included a three-run homer by shortstop Taylor Motter who is filling in for Jean Segura who is on the disabled list. Segura may come back this coming Friday. I am sure that we will see Motter playing a lot still. He is showing power off his bat. Not only he has hit home runs he has hit some doubles as well.

The other player who has been hitting well is right fielder Mitch Haniger. He got a couple more hits on Saturday and is batting .292 along with three home runs.

Haniger and Segura the Mariners traded for with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the last off-season for pitcher TaiJuan Walker and shortstop Detel Marte who currently is playing in triple A. So far the trade with the Diamondbacks has favored the Mariners. Not only because of the production out of Haniger and Segura had every year Walker and Paxton’s names come together. Now that Walker’s not on the Mariners Paxton’s name is the only one mentioned. This could have taken pressure off of Paxton and why he is pitching so well. In three games starting so far Paxton hasn’t given up a run as of yet. Whether he or Felix is the ace for the Mariners doesn’t really matter. In fact you could say the Mariners have two aces at this time.

Paxton pitched eight innings giving up the two runs along with nine strike outs. Also he only gave up one walk in the game. It is hard to get more domineering than that in a game. If this game had been pitched in May or later I am sure that Paxton would have pitched a complete game.

According to manager Scott Servais the bullpen right now will have to do with matchups instead of who is pitching what inning except that Edwin Diaz will be the closer in the ninth inning. Since this game was not a closing situation Nick Vincent pitched the ninth inning for the Mariners. When it comes to matchups Vincent certainly did the job he struck out all three batters he faced on thirteen pitches.

Sunday Iwakuma will be facing the Rangers to see if the Mariners can sweep them. If they are able to the Mariners record will go to 5-8. What makes this an interesting game is that Iwakuma a far different pitcher than Paxton. Iwakuma’s fast ball may hit 90 on a good day while Paxton’s will reach the upper 90’s along with that Paxton is a lefty and Iwakuma is a righty. It will be interesting to see how the Rangers will adjust to the situation.

Monday the Mariners will start a three game series at home against the Miami Marlins. The Mariners will see Ichiro in action. It has been a while since the Mariners have faced Ichiro. Monday Ariel Miranda will face the Marlins followed by Gallardo and Felix Hernandez. Both Miranda and Gallardo have had their moments. They have both pitched well along with poorly. In his last outing Gallardo pitching against the Houston Astros had a 5-0 lead going into the fifth inning however could not sustain his pitching. The Astros were able to recover to win the final game of their three game series against the Mariners in Seattle winning 10-5. The worst pitching performance of the season so far by the bullpen; major reason that manager Servais has decided to go with matchups.

The Mariners hitting still needs to improve however Saturday did show some light. It would be nice to see if the Mariners could put together some scoring over a number of innings instead of five in one inning. We will take what we can at this point. Go M’s.

 

 

Felix Looking Good

The King is still on his throne these days. The Texas Rangers were not able to beat him on Friday as the Mariners and Felix won 2-1. Felix pitched seven and a third innings for the Mariners giving up six hits and striking out three. Not his normal strike outs for a game however he allowed a lot of grounders by Ranger hitters and did not walk a batter. The Mariners bullpen finished off with lefty specialist Marc Rzepczynski getting two left handed hitters in the eighth inning and Edwin Diaz closing out the ninth inning. Diaz was back to being dominating though he did give up one hit.

The Rangers were not accustomed to seeing Felix throwing a lot of fastballs like he did in this game. Usually Felix has thrown a lot of change-ups in the past. Now the Mariners want him throwing more fastballs. He is showing that can be effective for him especially if the fast ball is moving a lot when he spots it. So far he seems to be doing a good job with his pitches. As long as he is successful this is what we will see out of Felix.

Saturday night the Mariners will have James Paxton taking the mound. He has now switch places with Iwakuma so two right handers go back to back or two lefties. Paxton started the season pitching after Iwakuma and before Miranda who is a lefty like him. Paxton throwing as hard as he does this should make Iwakuma more effective because he doesn’t throw the ball hard as Paxton. In his last outing Paxton faced a lot of right handers. We will have to see if the Rangers will do the same. The Mariners have a great chance in winning if Paxton pitches the same way he has in his first two outings. He has been domineering so far and could be a Cy Young candidate. Felix continues his pitching maybe he and Paxton can fight for the award. That would be sweet wouldn’t it?

If the Mariners can take Saturday’s game to the Rangers and win that will give them their first series win of the season and go for a sweep with Iwakuma on the mound on Easter Sunday.

Now we have to see if the Mariners bats can come back alive. We know that in Felix’s history he hasn’t gotten a lot of support for runs. The importance is that the top of the lineup starts hitting. The Mariners are hoping that shortstop Jean Segura who was doing an excellent job before getting hurt will be back next Friday. In the meantime Taylor Motter will be the shortstop. Go M’s.

 

New Series for Mariners

                                            Unfailing of Griffey's Statue

We all know that the series against the Houston Astros didn’t end well. The Mariners were up early 5-0 and then ended losing 10-5. It all unraveled in the fourth inning when Gallardo starting walking batters. Most of us knew all he had to do is be aggressive and throw the ball over the plate which he couldn’t do. When he left the game the Mariners were still ahead 5-4 so all they need was the bullpen to do their job which they couldn’t do obviously.

The road series where the Mariners went 1-6 the problem had to do with the hitting until the last game against the Angels where the Mariners were leading 9-3 heading into the ninth inning but Casey Fien and closer Edwin Diaz had a hard time finishing off the game. The Angels scored seven runs in the ninth to beat the Mariners. This started to be the downfall for the bullpen. Fien has been out righted to Tacoma and the Mariners brought up another right handed reliever Evan Marshall who they picked up on waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks.  There could be some additional changes to the bullpen especially with Tony Zych ready to come off the disabled list. General Manager Jerry Dipoto is well aware that the bullpen must do a better job really soon along with the hitters especially guys like Leonys Martin who is having a hard time getting any kind of a hit. Martin continues to struggle he may be replaced by Guillermo Heredia. Most likely Heredia will go into left field and Jarrod Dyson will shift over to center field. Actually news just came down that Zych has been activated and that Dillon Overton has been optioned to Tacoma. It looks like the Mariners don’t feel in need of a long reliever unless someone like Zych will be used in that slot. The way that Gallardo pitched against the Astros the Mariners will need some long relief. None of the relievers on the Mariners staff are shown to be any guys that might go more than two innings in a game. Also Heredia is in the starting lineup leading off playing in left field while Dyson is in center. The Mariners are facing lefty Martin Perez. Not a big surprise.

Friday night is a big night. Not only is Felix starting the unfailing of Ken Griffey Jr’s statue. Over forty-three thousand fans will get a replica of the statue which means almost everyone who comes into the game. Since the game will likely be a sell-out it would be nice if Felix can pitch well along with the offense coming alive. The Texas Rangers who the Mariners are facing have been struggling as well. They are a couple wins ahead of the Mariners at 4-5 primarily because they won their last two games. We hope that the Mariners can win at least two of the three games starting off with Friday’s game. If the Mariners can do that against the Rangers well as Miami Marlins than the Mariners record will be 6-10 going out on the next road trip. Not a great record that is for sure however still better than 2-8 where they are right now. We have to keep the faith that the Mariners can change the course they are on right now. Go M’s.

 

Segura Put On Disabled List

The Seattle Mariners new shortstop Jean Segura was put on the disabled list for ten days when he got injured in the home opener at Safeco Field on Monday April 10 when he was put out trying to get back to first base. According to Manager Servais after the game he injured his hamstring earlier however was aggravated at the time.

The first seven games on the road before the Mariners came home to play the Astros on Monday Segura looked like the best player on the roster for those who play in the field. He was playing solid defense well as hitting the baseball with an average around .333. The Mariners will miss him for those ten games at the very least. Before going on the disabled list Servais didn’t think the injury was bad as it turns out to be. The positive side it is earlier in the season however injuries like a hamstring can go on for a while. We all hope that it is not the case for Segura.

Taylor Motter who started the season as the Mariners utility player primarily playing some first base after pinch running for Valencia late in game will take over playing shortstop. Motter started his career as a shortstop and the Mariner coaching staff thought he was the best player to backup Segura well as playing all the other infield positions and the outfield as well.

The Mariners brought up Mike Freeman to take the spot of Segura. He will be the utility player now until Segura returns.  Shawn O’Malley would have been a good choice to replace Segura however he is still on the disabled list. When he is ready to go likely he will do some playing at Tacoma to get back into shape.

Depending on the pitching in the bullpen when Segura returns he could take the roster spot in place of one of the relief pitchers. The Mariners though have three relief pitchers on the disabled list as well. The first one returning to the roster could be Tony Zych who right now is pitching for the Rainiers.

It is hard to tell whether the Mariners would have Zych replace one of the short relievers or the long reliever. The Mariners are going with three lefties in the bullpen. Dillon Overton is the long reliever while James Pazos and Marc Rzepczynski are the short lefty specialists. If and when Zych comes up hard to know at this point who he would replace; it would likely be either Overton or Pazos since Rzepczynski has a spot insured pretty much unless he pitched awful. The Mariners signed him to a guaranteed two-year contract.

News just came in that the Mariners brought up right handed reliever Evan Marshall who they recently picked up off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks and sent down right hander Casey Fien to Tacoma. Not a big surprise that Fien was sent down. Depending on how he does this could open the spot for another reliever or when Segura is reactivated.

With Segura on the disabled list now left fielder Jarrod Dyson is taking the role of the leadoff batter and Motter will be at the bottom of the order. Motter looks like he is hitting well so he could move up in the order if he continues doing so.

The Mariners end the three game series on Wednesday against the Houston Astros. Right now the series is tied at 1-1. Gallardo will be starting the final game of the series. The Mariners have Thursday off before taking on the Texas Ranger for a three game series in Seattle. Felix Hernandez is expected to start the game on Friday for the Mariners. We hope that he is more recovered from his groin injury that he had in the season opener in Houston. The importance not only that the Mariners take the last game of the series against the Astros that they can take at least two games against the Rangers; the Rangers have been struggling starting the season in the same way the Mariners have. The Mariners will finish the home stand off next Monday through Wednesday against the Miami Marlins. It will be nice to see the return of Ichiro next week. Go M’s.

Paxton Shuts Out Astros

The Mariner’s started their opening game of the season at Safeco Field on Monday beating the Houston Astros 6-0. This now makes their record 2-6 on the season.

James Paxton had another above average game pitching for the Mariners going seven innings. He gave up only four hits and struck out eight batters while walking two. After Sunday’s game where the Angels scored seven runs in the ninth inning to win 10-9 Paxton showed that he may be the ace of the starting rotation; this is a kind of game that an ace does his job. When a team is struggling the Mariners have starting off the season the ace comes in and shuts down the other ball club. Most likely we won’t know this until May. Of course all depends on how Felix pitches as well. In fact Felix has done a good job in his two first outings but being the ace may not be in the cards for him any longer. Of course it would be nice if the Mariners could have two aces on the ball club.

Iwakuma pitched a good game on Sunday before the bullpen didn’t do the job in the ninth inning. Actually the bullpen had done a good job in the previous six games. The reason the Mariners had only won one game before Sunday because the offense wasn’t doing well at all. These last two games show us that the offense may be in gear once again. Nelson Cruz got a couple hits on Monday to help the Mariners score their runs. Also Kyle Seager had a single and a sacrifice fly to help score a run to.

The Mariners lost shortstop Jean Segura early in the game because of a hamstring pull. He left the game after being out on a throw to first base. According to manager Servais he hurt the hamstring a little earlier. Right now Segura is day to day. A lot will depend how he looks when he comes to the park on Tuesday. Servais said on post-game remarks that he will talk with Dipoto about adding another infielder and go with one less pitcher. I see this as a good idea. The Mariners can always bring up another pitcher if the bullpen gets overused. I wouldn’t be surprised if this will happen over the course of the season. The work of the starting rotation right now looks like they are going six plus innings so that is a good sign. As long as they can continue on that path then the bullpen should be fine.

It was really nice to see the Mariners play at home in the opener in the manner we were expecting at the beginning of last week.  The Astros haven’t done that much in hitting besides home runs they are struggling right now. The Angels who swept the Mariners in Anaheim are in first place. They have a good offense however will their pitching be able to keep up. This should be an interesting season and the Mariners should be in the hunt despite the awful first week of the season. We will know a lot more when their nine-game home stand ends next Wednesday. Go M’s.

Mariner Continue Slide

 

 What can we say about the seven game road trip where the Mariners went 1-6. Sunday was most brutal having a 9-3 lead going into the ninth inning and the Angels coming back to score seven runs to win 10-9.

What made it frustrating was the Mariners pitching including the bullpen had done a good job going into this game. The offense had trouble in the previous six games and this one looked like the Mariners would win pretty handily before the ninth inning. The ninth inning started with Casey Fien giving up a home run to Albert Pujols.  At this point that was OK however Fien continued to have trouble that closer Edwin Diaz came in the game with the bases loaded.

The problem happened that Diaz had trouble getting outs himself. He was unable to use his slider affective and the Angels were able to hit his fastball. A major problem was that Diaz wasn’t expected to pitch in the game with such a big lead and I am not sure if he had enough warm up time either.

In the previous six games the Mariners bullpen was effective though there was a little trouble before with Nick Vincent and Fien.

The Mariners are expecting to have Tony Zych coming off the disabled list. He did get a little action with Tacoma though they had rainouts in their first two games against Sacramento on the road. I would not be surprised if Zych takes the spot of Fien on the roster. Most likely Zych will pitch in the sixth or seven inning most of the time unless there is a big lead like Sunday in Anaheim. We hope to that Diaz won’t struggle in another game like that for a little while.

The important thing is that the Mariner players keep a good attitude on their shoulders.  We hope that the offense on Sunday will continue and the bullpen especially will correct themselves. The starting pitching had done a pretty good job in all seven games. The Mariners could have won at least three of the games in these seven. We have to keep the faith that they will start winning on a regular basis.

The Mariners start playing a three game series against the Houston in Seattle. We hope that the Mariners could win at least two of the games before facing the Texas Rangers and the Miami Marlins.  Go M’s.

Speed Helps

Thursday night the Seattle Mariners got their first win of the season over the Houston Astros to salvage something out of the series.  The positive side was that they were in every game though the offense struggled through the series. I guess you can give the Astros pitching some credit though we probably agree that the Mariner offense was poor throughout the series.

Thursday night going into the ninth inning the game was tied 2-2. Another tight game we saw hoping that the Mariners would finally come away with a victory. The Mariners Valencia was able to get a walk and catcher Ruiz was hit by a pitch. In both cases they were replaced by pinch runners. Taylor Motter pinched run for Valencia which will be happening a lot this season when he isn’t starting a game. Guillermo Heredia pinched run for Ruiz. The speed that both runners have they both scored easily on hits. It is something that the Mariners did not have much of last season except near the end of the year. With so many games that the Mariners will have close this will help them out dearly.

In this series against the Astros we have seen the speed work well defensively in the outfield most of all. Jarrod Dyson made several catches that last year would have dropped in for hits. These catches have not been fantastic in the most part they have looked more like routine. Whether this is true or not it certainly has helped out the defense.

The series in Houston showed us that the Mariners will be scoring more runs by small ball instead of home runs. Minute Maid Park in Houston is a home run park which we saw the Astros demonstrate. The Mariners on the other hand did not. Mitch Haniger who showed us his hitting in the series hit his first home run of the season in Houston in game four. We did not see a home run out of Nelson Cruz or Kyle Seager or Robinson Cano. We did see some hits out of Cano who hits well in Minute Maid Park. In fact he hit better there than any visitor did last year. He hit a nice double on Thursday that helped the Mariners score one of their first two runs along with Haniger’s homer.

We hope the signs show that the Mariners will get out of their hitting funk in Anaheim against the Angels over this weekend. Yovani Gallardo will make his Mariner debut against the Angels. We hope that he follows suite with the other four starters than what he accomplished during spring training. It is important that he doesn’t struggle in the first inning especially facing Mike Trout who has been giving Mariner pitching a handful. Trout last year was almost the whole offense for the Angels against the Mariners.

I can see the Mariners winning two out of the three games this weekend especially if the pitching continues to hold up and the offense can come alive to some extent. At least they have the speed on the base paths to make a difference in close games. Go M’s.  

 

Mariners Come Up Short Again

 The Mariners fell short in game number 2 because of the offense once again. Of course the pitching was good enough to win as well. Although he gave up two home runs Iwakuma the Astros only had four hits total against him in six innings. He could have pitched better however the Mariners offense isn’t making it easy to win anyway. At least this time they got seven hits in the game. On another positive note the Texas Rangers have lost both of their games as well.

The Mariners offense needs to relax and not think about playing against the Astros. At least the last two games of the series they will face the Astros three and four starters. Going for the Mariners Wednesday night will be James Paxton. Though he is in the lineup as the third starter he is more like a number one or two starter so this is real good for the Mariners.

Outside of home runs in the series the Astros haven’t done much against Hernandez and Iwakuma. Over the season the Mariners should do well if the hitting can come alive. We know that the offense can score five runs a game so they could have won both games if that had happened.

Kyle Seager always starts out slow in April and so far he has one hit. This doesn’t mean much in the first two games but if continues to struggle like he has in other April’s I would look to move him down in the lineup until he gets hot like we know he will. I would switch him to either six or seven in the lineup.

Leonys Martin and Mike Zunino both struck out twice on Tuesday night. Martin left four runners on base while Zunino left three. I am sure that both will be in the lineup again Wednesday night however I would have Heredia and Ruiz playing on Thursday if both of them struggle again.

At this point I like the top three of the rotation for the Mariners. I haven’t made up my mind yet about Gallardo and Miranda although both could have good upside as well as downside. If one of the two does well than I will be pleased. I have mentioned before that I do not really like the five-man rotation. I prefer four-man rotation like they used to back in the seventies and before. The fifth men in the rotation almost always have a losing record. I am sure the Mariners would have made the playoffs last year with a four-man rotation. If a team is on a long road trip than I can understand adding in a fifth starter; they could throw in the long reliever to start a game. I am sure guys like Felix and Paxton can pitch on three-day rest instead of four. Anyway best of luck to the Mariners in the final two games against Houston. We hope that the bats can come alive on Wednesday.

Mariners Shut Out in Opening Game

I am sure all Mariner fans were disappointed because they lost on opening day. King Felix was only about to go five innings because he came down with a groin injury. He expects that he will be able to return for his next start.

In the five innings that he pitched he gave up five hits and two home runs. The first homer was to the leadoff batter Springer. Felix considered it the worst pitch he threw all night. The second homer was to Correa that was considered a good pitch. On the radio post-game show analyst and former Mariner Mike Blowers said that the only other right handed hitter he thought could hit the ball that way in his time was Edgar Martinez. You sometimes have to give the batter credit too. The positive side Felix did not walk a batter in the game either.

The Mariners did get shut out in the game 3-0. The other run given up by the Mariners was by Nick Vincent who struggled somewhat in the game. The Astros starter Keuchel gave up only two hits in seven innings to the Mariners. He was outstanding though he walked two and struck out four. Shortstop Jean Segura got two of the three hits by the Mariners in his Mariner debut including the lead-off hit in the game. He was able to get to second base but was stranded there. The third hit was by Robinson Cano.

Again the Mariners were unable to give Felix running support. We hope that the Mariners will be able to get untracked tonight against the Astros. It would be nice to split the first two games of the series by scoring more runs Tuesday night while Iwakuma goes for the Mariner. It will be more difficult for the Mariners to do something in the series if they lose again Tuesday although a lot easier to hit against the Astros third and fourth starters.

In other local sports Gonzaga lost to North Carolina in the final game of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament 71-65. What made it difficult was that they went like eleven minutes without scoring a point. We will have to see if they can return to the finals again next season. I was very impressed in freshman center Zach Collins who moves very well for a big man and can pass the ball good too. Thank you the Bulldogs to making the people of Washington State proud. We hope in the future the Huskies and Cougars can match up with you.

 

Monday is Here and So is Mariners Opening Day

The Seattle Mariners open 2017 season today Monday April 3 in Houston, Texas against the Astros. They will play a four game series before going to Anaheim to play a three game series against the Angels before starting a home series next Monday against the Astros.

It will not only be important the Mariners start off well in the series against the Astros however that Felix Hernandez pitches a good game to. It would be nice if he can pitch six or seven innings in the game as well. If he can give up no more than three runs in the game the Mariners will have a good chance to win the game.

Another good thing would be if the Mariners can split the series against the Astros at the very least and win two out of three against the Angels. The Mariners have played well against the Angels in most recent years.  

It is critical that the Mariners get off to a good start since the first series on the road and then at home are sixteen games. Thirteen of those games are against division foes. Besides the Astros and Angels they play three against the Rangers.  In between the Astros and Rangers at home they play inter-league series against the Miami Marlins.

At some point during those sixteen games I expect that the Mariners will make some changes in the bullpen and the roster. They are starting with eight relievers in the bullpen along with their five starters and three bench players. Good chance they will do some maneuvering on the roster depending on how they are playing.

 Tony Zych is going to start the season doing a rehab assignment for the Tacoma Rainiers. Depending how the bullpen is going will decide whether he will be called up or not. The Mariners have Steve Cishek and Shae Simmons on the disabled list. They both may do rehab assignments depending on the bullpen as well.

Shawn O’Malley may go on a rehab assignment in a few days or be activated on the roster. This will depend on whether the Mariners want to stay with an eight man bullpen or go back to seven.  Most likely there can be a shift between the bench and the bullpen over the season. The Mariners have three bench players in catcher Carlos Ruiz, utility player Taylor Motter and outfielder Guillermo Heredia right now. Again the change may depend how healthy the players stay and how the regulars are playing especially at first base and the outfield. Go M’s.