It's Opening Day! Well at least it is in Seattle. The Mariners come home today to start a three game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. There are plenty of reasons to be excited for this one.
1. The M's are 5-2 and leading the AL West. Granted it's only a week of baseball and there is plenty left to play, the M's have looked good of late. The bullpen which was a serious question mark heading into the season looks serviceable and the M's are getting great production from their offensive lineup.
2. Ichiro is back! Starting on Wednesday Ichiro will be back into the starting lineup. Anytime you can add 200 hits and 100 runs to the top of the lineup is a good thing.
3. The return of Griffey. The kid comes home! Today will be very nostalgic for me as the player I idolized as a young child comes home. Not to mention, my seats are on the first base line, prime Griffey territory. I only hope that with the return of Ichiro comes the full-time Griffey DH.
But with the good comes the bad, let's highlight some of the things to watch for in this series.
1. The Angels: It doesn't matter if the Angels are starting off slow. The last two years they have owned the Mariners. In that time they have gone 27-11 against the M's. Not to mention their 3-3 record is deceiving after playing a tough series against Boston. The Mariners need to clean house inside the division. They already swept Oakland, now it's time to take care of the Angels.
2. Starting pitching: The M's are trotting their 3-4-5 starters out for this series. With so much uncertainty surrounding Carlos Silva and Jarrod Washburn it'll be interesting to see if they can turn it around. There is already so much animosity in Seattle over Silva. The man is paid a lot of money to perform...something he has done little of while in Seattle. Silva will need to keep the ball down in this game and mix up his pitches. The Angels will crush Silva's fastball if he throws it as much as he did against the Twins.
Washburn was impressive in his debut against the Minnesota Twins, but let's face it. The Angels are NOT the Twins. This second game will be the telling tale of Washburn's season. Washburn will need to throw strikes and effectively change his speed to keep the Angels honest.
So let's get to it already! It's 11:30 on Opening Day and I'm still at work but will soon be out of here. I can't wait! Go M's!!!
Showing posts with label Carlos Silva. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carlos Silva. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Washburn looks Sharp as M's split with the Twinks
The Mariners take the fourth and final game of the series against the Twins today.
Sounded like Washburn was fairly lights out, going 8 and giving up 5 hits and no runs. He also retired the first 8 batters he faced. All I see when I read into his line is his trade value going up. He does pitch pretty well in the Metrodome, so we'll see how he does when gets back into the friendly confines of Safeco Field. Its good to see them go into Minnesota and split a four game series.
We also had Morrow step right back up and get his first save after a tough game two days ago. I think he's going to be a bit of a roller coaster this year, but its going to be a great ride.
Beltre went 2 for 2 with two walks. Both Noah and I are thinking he's going to have a great season. Its his contract year, so expect him to turn out a pretty productive season. He won the NL MVP during his last contract year, so who knows (just to be clear, I don't think he'll get the MVP this year, but I would bet he puts up some decent numbers, just the same).
I gotta say though, looking ahead at the schedule, looks like Silva is going to be pitching the home opener, if it all lines up correctly, which sucks for me and anyone else going to the game. Not sure who I would rather not watch, Silva or Washburn. Silva may have lost some weight, but the guy's still chubby. Not CC Sabathia chubby (holy cow by the way, that guy is a tank) but still chubby. And Washburn, by all accounts, is just a jerk. He might become my new Willie Bloomquist honestly. However, if he keeps throwing 8 scoreless innings a start, that probably won't be the case.
That's a good question to throw out there. If you had to keep one, between Silva and Wash, who would you keep and why?
Sounded like Washburn was fairly lights out, going 8 and giving up 5 hits and no runs. He also retired the first 8 batters he faced. All I see when I read into his line is his trade value going up. He does pitch pretty well in the Metrodome, so we'll see how he does when gets back into the friendly confines of Safeco Field. Its good to see them go into Minnesota and split a four game series.
We also had Morrow step right back up and get his first save after a tough game two days ago. I think he's going to be a bit of a roller coaster this year, but its going to be a great ride.
Beltre went 2 for 2 with two walks. Both Noah and I are thinking he's going to have a great season. Its his contract year, so expect him to turn out a pretty productive season. He won the NL MVP during his last contract year, so who knows (just to be clear, I don't think he'll get the MVP this year, but I would bet he puts up some decent numbers, just the same).
I gotta say though, looking ahead at the schedule, looks like Silva is going to be pitching the home opener, if it all lines up correctly, which sucks for me and anyone else going to the game. Not sure who I would rather not watch, Silva or Washburn. Silva may have lost some weight, but the guy's still chubby. Not CC Sabathia chubby (holy cow by the way, that guy is a tank) but still chubby. And Washburn, by all accounts, is just a jerk. He might become my new Willie Bloomquist honestly. However, if he keeps throwing 8 scoreless innings a start, that probably won't be the case.
That's a good question to throw out there. If you had to keep one, between Silva and Wash, who would you keep and why?
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