First the birds, then the NL...

So I haven't written a post in a bloody fort night. Since the last time I wrote a blog article I have beaten the monster of all video game conferences, in E3, and I have also gotten engaged to my lovely fiance Natasha, so its been a wild couple of weeks. But the baseball season keeps chugging along, so lets get into this.

The M's seem to be on a bit of an upswing as of late. Winners of 7 of their last 10, they currently sit one game under .500, and 5 games out behind the Rangers. Looks like Beltre is figuring some things out at the plate along with Lopez, Branyan is still sitting balls into Lake Washington, and some kid who was a throw-in player in the JJ Putz deal refuses to let any one score when he's on the bump. Justin, err, Jason Vargas is currently a 2-0 pitcher, with a 1.93 ERA. and looking more and more like a solid number 4-5 starter. A very pleasant surprise, and he goes tonight against Baltimore, who he only gave up 2 runs against last time he faced them on June 3rd, in a 3-2 win, in which he got a no decision.

Looking ahead on the calender, after we finish the series in Baltimore, we then stroll into Colorado for three and then San Diego (I believe it means 'A Whale's Vagina' in German) for three. The M's have always seemed to play very well against the NL, going 116-96 leading up to this year, so if history tells us anything, it says we might be able to make some headway and be in the black, record wise, when we get home. For our next homestand, we get AZ, San Diego, and then off to Dodger land for the start of the following road trip.

If this team wants to make the playoffs, it needs to rip through this road trip, stay hot, and get home with some confidence and momentum. I personally think anything less then 5-4 record is a disappointment, with 6-3 being the goal. The three teams we are facing are a combined 19 games under .500, so its time to make a move. Either that, or go 3-6, and Bedard, Branyan, and Washburn better not be on the flight home. Instead, they should be flying out to their new teams because they just got traded. We are starting to get down to the nitty gritty here for this team. They are making a case that with the correct guys producing, they can win games. But if I were the GM, I would be expecting them to tear through the NL in this next month. June is going to be make or break, and I really don't think it could have lined up any better for us, given our history. 15 games this month against teams we have always done pretty well against in the past can't hurt a club looking to climb back into it. So here's to hoping!

Garbs

PS. As Noah mentioned in an earlier blog post, today is the first day of the MLB Draft. Strausberg is off to the Nats, he'll to warrant 40-50 million before throwing a major league pitch, and we could have had him if the A's wouldn't have purposely thrown the last series of the year, last Sept (my conspiracy theory, not proven). Instead, we get Dustin Ackley, who I'm happy with. Sounds like a decent amount of talent with some good upside, so we'll see I guess. I'll tell you what though, if Strausberg ends up being a bust for the Nationals (which crazier things have happened), that's it for that franchise. They need a shot in the arm, and this could be it, but if not, that's a mighty big motza ball to have to cover for a team that wins approx 60 games a year and has about 4 people watch their games.

Opening Day!

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!!!

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?