Seahawks Getting Near to Season Opener

Last Thursday I was on flight to St. Louis go to my nephew Ian’s wedding on Saturday. The weather was really hot with humidity. I felt that I was in a sauna. I tried to spend as much time indoors. It was OK being outside for a few minutes.  I was able to watch the Seahawks game against the Dallas Cowboys in the third quarter. The offense looked good during that period. We can hope that will translate into the regular season

There was a personal note in that game because my nephew Danny graduated from high school with running back Ezekiel Elliott of the Cowboys who spent three seasons with the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was sad that I did not get a chance to see him play in the game however I am sure during the regular season I will be able to do so.

The fourth pre-season game will be coming up in a couple days against the Oakland Raiders on Thursday. This will be a game where many of the backup players who are on the bubble will try to make the team. Patrick Lewis was the most noted player that was release on Tuesday. The job that Justin Britt has done at center and wanting to use Joe Hunt as the backup made Lewis expendable. I am sure he will find a home with another team. The flexibility of Britt this could put Hunt in some action and in the future be the Seahawks center.

Another position that the Seahawks will be looking at is the fifth wide receiver. Whoever gets the job likely will be the guy who can be a good special team’s player. He will probably not play a lot at the receiver except in those games where the Seahawks are way ahead or behind in the fourth quarter. The four receivers right now look to be Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Tyler Lockett and Paul Richardson. Both Lockett and Richardson will be big on special teams as well. Lockett will be on kickoffs and punt returns. Richardson will probably be on the kickoffs next to Lockett and be the backup for Lockett on punt returns. We will probably see Jimmy Graham playing some wide receiver well as tight end. Special plays will be made for Graham and Lockett. Graham the plays will be to take advantage of his height and Lockett his speed. The Seahawks will try to use Richardson in plays with his speed as well. These three guys will be used a lot on third downs.

Other players making the fifty-three man roster will have to do with special teams as well. This is especially true of those who maybe the last three to five roster spots. Some of those guys may not play in some games either since only forty-eight players is eligible to play on any given Sunday.

The other key back up players will be at cornerback where often the third guy plays in pass downs. Another thing will be who will be healthy on the defensive line and play as backups. Someone like Frank Clark and Cassius Marsh who can play outside linebacker well as defensive end on pass downs; they could be sharing playing time depending how well they are playing.  

Not sure who will start however it looks right now Thomas Rawls and Christine Michael will be the two primary running backs. Also Alex Collins will get some playing time and C.J. Prosise should be the third down back depending whether he can stay healthy or not. If not Collins could be the third down back. I like the look of the offense and we hope that they will start the season in good fashion instead of waiting until mid-season like last year when they started rolling. Go Seahawks!

Mariners Lose Four out of Five

While I was gone for five days to my nephew’s wedding in St. Louis the Seattle Mariners did not play very good ball. The only win was the game where Felix Hernandez outpitched Chris Sale 3-1. I did not hear or watch any of the games I just looked on line when I had the chance although it wasn’t much time for me.

What I amazed during the stretch which I guess I shouldn’t have been was how many transactions that Dipoto made. I am not sure why Wade LeBlanc was designated for assignment during that time. I know he was being used out of the bullpen instead of starting but what happens if one of the starters gets hurt. Also I don’t see the relievers brought in were much better than him. I am sure Dipoto was looking for someone to pitch in short relief compared to long relief. I hope though that LeBlanc will have a chance to comeback when the roster expands in a couple days. He may have to wait for a few days because of going through waivers. There is a possibility that someone will want to pick him up.

With Aoki being sent down for a few days it will be nice to see whether Shawn O’Malley can look like a regular player in left field. He could be a guy that plays regular but play several positions as well. The important thing is to see whether he can hit well in the lineup almost every day. Another one to see will be Heredia. Can he be one to platoon against left handed pitching or turn into an everyday player. He is athletic enough to play defensively late into games but his speed will help if he could do it on a regular basis. Important questions to happen or the Mariners will need to go out and get a corner outfielder. Another question is how soon Tyler O’Neil will be ready to play; would he best to start in a platoon situation or every day or start next season in triple-A.  

We can hope questions can be answered for the Mariners while at the same time stay in the race. I expect the next ten games will go forward to answers these questions. The Mariners will need to go 6-4 or even during this stretch at least otherwise if they lose more games than win they will be out of the race. There are a total of thirty-one games remaining going into Tuesday night’s game against the Rangers for the season. Regardless of what happens we do know that the team is going in the right direction.

Pitching is still the big question going into these thirty-one games. How will the starters do and the relievers as well. Can the starters go at least six innings each time out? We see that Felix has rebounded back to his old self however Iwakuma will be able to bounce back after a few bad outings and will James Paxton be the third starter for the Mariners. Tuesday night we will have more answers concerning Paxton.  We have to see whether TaiJuan Walker start pitching deep into games or struggle through only five innings. It is important that Miranda can pitch through six innings as well. Whatever answers the Mariners get I see that they will probably go out and get another starter during the off-season. We hope the pitcher will be better than Wade Miley who the Mariners got last off-season but traded to the Orioles. Right now the Mariners don’t look like they have any potential starters in triple-A. Any starters in the minors are probably not going to be ready until 2018 at least.

While I was gone the bullpen made some changes as well. The Mariners brought up another hard throwing right handed pitcher from double-A in Dan Altavilla. He throws around one hundred miles per hours as well like Edwin Diaz. The Mariners look like they will use him as a setup man to Diaz in the same way as Caminero. Both of these guys can be used in the eighth inning and possibly close when Diaz has pitched too many games in a row. Depending where he is used Steve Cishek could still pitch in the ninth inning in place of Diaz too. This does give some flexibility for the bullpen. The future does look bright for the bullpen right now but as we know that could change in a hurry. We just hope that neither Diaz nor Altavilla get into arm trouble. Anyway the future looks bright for the bullpen in the late innings. We can hope that the Mariners can find good pitchers to keep going in the sixth and seventh innings as well.

The Mariners will be facing Cole Hamels on Tuesday night so that will make it tough on the offense but we hope that Paxton can keep it close and the Mariners bullpen will give them a chance to win. So we can say Go M’s.

   

Tanaka Shuts Out Mariners

The Seattle was shutout by the Tanaka and the New York Yankees on Wednesday night 5-0. It was the second straight loss for the Mariners both to the New York Yankees.

Now the Mariners will be going to Chicago to have a four game series against the White Sox before going to Texas to face the Rangers. This away series will be important for the Mariners to stay in the race for the Playoffs. In fact if the Mariners can do a great job against both teams this will help them get closer to the lead in the division as well.

The Mariners offense will need to come back alive after taking two days off along with the starting rotation doing their job. I am sure the bullpen is fine as long as they are not overworked. James Paxton is expected to pitch for the Mariners on Thursday. It will be real nice if he can recover and have an outing like he did in last time out or at the minimum something close. It is very important that starters go at least six innings giving up no more than two or three runs. It will be nice for the offense to average five runs during this road trip.

Besides the good pitching by Tanaka going seven innings gave up six hits, one walk and struck out five Mariners Gary Sanchez homered again for the Yankees. He seems to be a guy who is going to give teams trouble and he the catcher for the Yankees too.

The Yankees are now a younger team having no ARod any longer and first baseman/designated hitter Mark Teixeira will retire at the end of the year. The Yankees most likely go on the free agent market to fill holes make them a stronger team next season.

It is important that the Mariners offense will come back into action the Mariners will need them to do so. Kyle Seager missed the game because of a slight injury hopefully he will not be out for very long. Also Nelson Cruz is hurt a little as well and the Mariners need him along with Seager and Cano to continue getting the job done to get into the playoffs. The Mariners will need other players to step up on the offensive side of the ball as well.

I will be off for a family wedding over the next few days. I hope that I will have a little free time to see how the Mariners do along with the Seahawks tomorrow night  and give my analyze. Everyone have a great weekend. I will be reporting back next Tuesday if not before then.

Seahawks Third Pre-Season Game

The Seahawks now go for the third pre-season game this coming Thursday. Most writers that follow the NFL feel this is the most important of the four pre-season games. This is when the starters go into the second half of the game so we may see Russell Wilson play through the third quarter or at least a couple series depending on how things are going. Last week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings which was a loss of 18-12 was a bit sluggish especially with the first string that did not score a point in the game.

The second game we can forget about if the first string offense can score at least a couple touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys this Thursday. I haven’t heard yet whether Thomas Rawls will see his first action in a game or not. The good thing though is that Christine Michael has looked good in the first two games so we should feel fine right there. I am more concerned about the offensive line especially against the pass. Offensive line coach Tom Cable says that we may not know who the five starters will be until game one of the regular season. Some of the players are penciled in but where they play is another story. He doesn’t seem to concern at this time however I remember last year it took half the season for the offense to gel and I don’t think we can afford that this year.

The running game seems to be fine but it is the passing game that I have concern with. Not the receivers but that Wilson will have the time to get the ball to the receivers. So far the Seahawks have not had to worry about Wilson getting hurt however you never know when the luck will run dry. If he missed a couple games the team could survive but what if he is taken out for most of the season. This will mean the team will have to depend on an inexperienced quarterback.

The experience the Seahawks have on defense I have little worry about them as long as they do have a pass rush that will get the defense off the field. Another reason concern about the offense is that they are able to stay on the field enough that the defense is not too tired. Anyway look forward to a good game on Thursday. Go Seahawks!

 

 

 

Game # 2

Thursday night the Seattle Seahawks take on the Minnesota Vikings in pre-season game number two. The game plan I expect won’t be much different than game number one other than who may start at some positions. For example, Thomas Rawls may be at running back instead of Christine Michael who will get in some playing time once again along with other running backs. Because of injuries the running back position is open right now. Things could change depending on when the running backs are available.

Russell Wilson is expected to start once again and likely will play longer than in game number one. We expect the same out of the offensive line. Who is starting could depend on injuries and other factors as well when it comes to the offensive line. At this point hard to know who will play where on the offensive line?

Jimmy Graham we know will not be playing. According to Coach Carroll he may miss the first game of the regular season as well; at this point only time will tell when he sees his first action.

Russell Wilson believes this team has more talent than the one that won the Super Bowl in 2013. It will be interesting to see how things will work out. I am sure we will see some younger players taking over spots on special teams and backup roles. This would especially true on the defensive side of the ball at defensive back and defensive line. I see more playing time with guys like Frank Clark who is going into his 2^nd year with the team. He will see time mostly at defensive end but may see some at the outside linebacker they call Sam. Another one at the same positions would be Cassius Marsh. He will be in his third season with the Seahawks. He looks better each time out. The Seahawks will show versatility at several positions especially with the backups.

I look forward to more consistency between Wilson and the wide receivers along with tight ends and running backs when it comes to the passing game. I hope this week the team gets into a lot of third down situations that they can work on either passing or running the ball. I thought there was a lack of consistency the first half of last season. It would be nice to see the Seahawks have a 6-2 record in the first half at the very least. They always do better in the second half of the season but it would be nice to be in position to get home field advantage in the playoffs. Go M’s.

Mariners Take Two out of Three

Although I did not like the way things went on Friday night for the Mariners against the A’s at least they bounced back to beat them on Saturday night and on Sunday.

On Friday night I thought the starting pitcher should have been taken out of the game after the fifth inning or at the very least when he gave a hit instead of waiting until he gave up three runs after the Mariners were in a tie.

Saturday Iwakuma pitched for the Mariners and he did OK for at least him. The bullpen again did an outstanding job allowing the Mariners to win a close game.

On Sunday the Mariners won the game fairly handy winning 8-4. Wade LeBlanc pitched at least the minimum I am sure the coaching staff wanted him to do going six innings. He gave up three runs on two home runs. Davis the left fielder for the A’s hit his thirtieth home of the season with a runner on base. At the time it did not seem like a big deal in the sixth inning because the Mariners were still leading 7-3.

Speaking of the sixth inning with the Mariners leading 4-1 Kyle Seager hit a double with the bases loaded to drive in three runs to make it 7-1 and put the game almost out of reach. He had another double to that drove in a run so he had a total of four runs batted in.

The Mariners had four other players that drove in a run a piece that helped in making the difference in the game. Left fielder Aoki drove in a run as well as Robinson Cano, Shawn O’Malley and Adam Lind. Actually Adam Lind’s was on a home run that he hit in the second inning to score the Mariners first run. The A’s actually tied the score in the bottom of the second off the bat of third baseman Healy.

Reliever Storen was the only one out of the bullpen to give up a run on a homer by right fielder Eibner. All four runs the A’s scored were on home runs. Fortunately only one had a runner on base.

Again reliever Caminero came into the eighth inning. He did give up two hits however was able to shut the door with two strike outs. Nick Vincent finished off in the ninth inning giving up just one hit but no runs. No save in the game since the Mariners had a four run lead.

Monday night the Mariners are in Anaheim to start a four game series against the Angels. King Felix goes for the Mariners in the opening game of the series. The Mariners should be in pretty good shape if Felix can pitch again like he did against the Detroit Tigers and Justin Verlander. The Angels are on a ten game losing streak so they are in a good position for the Mariners to continue on winning. The Mariners are now eight games above .500 with a record of 62-54. The Mariners are expecting James Paxton ready to go on Tuesday against the Angels. If need be they could move him back a day or two as well.

How the Mariners have been playing as of yet with a good job by the starting rotation, lights out by the bullpen and timely hitting they should continue winning at a good pace. So we should sit back and enjoy what we are seeing right now. Go M’s.  

 

Seahawks Get Excited

I have to say that I did not watch all the game of the Seahawks pre-season opener because I watched some of the Olympics however I did see the two minute drill, the Hail Mary and the two point conversion for the Seahawks to win 17-16.

When the Seahawk players, coaching staff and everyone else on the sidelines ran onto the field as soon as the two point conversion was made you would have thought the Seahawks had won the Super Bowl. You see that in baseball a lot but I have seldom seen it in football especially during the pre-season. I am sure we will all remember this moment if the Seahawks do go all the way and win the Super Bowl.

Other than those playing in the game it was a meaningless pre-season in many ways. Tanner McEvoy and Troymaine Pope may never play a down in a regular season game for the Seahawks but I can guarantee they will never forget those two plays. Trevone Boykin showed that he should be the backup for Russell Wilson. He has been compared to Wilson and I have to say those last four plays he made he has to be like Wilson. It will be interesting to see what the Seahawks do more in the next pre-season game. Can they give us more surprises next Thursday against Minnesota? The following week I won’t be around to see the Dallas game. This game should have us all pumped up for the season for sure. I am sure people in Kansas City are shaking their heads. Other than the fans in the stands those watching on TV may have moved onto other things.

Christine Michael showed the coaching staff that he may deserve some playing time during the season whether he becomes the starter or Rawls. One thing for sure if he continues to perform during pre-season like he did Saturday we will see him a lot during the game against Miami. Other than the backups it is hard to tell anything from the players except that Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett are both ready to go. Other than the interception Russell Wilson looks good as well. The next few weeks we will see how the offensive line will go. Not too worried about the defense. It will be interesting to find out who the backups will be at cornerback and the defensive line though.

The important thing to me and I am sure Coach Carroll to is that the offense is ready to roll against the Miami Dolphins in game one. So I say now Go Hawks!