Opening Day is a mere 11 days away, and Eric Wedge appears to have taken a page from Jack Zduriencik’s playbook. In other words, very little regarding definitive roster decisions has slipped from the skipper’s lips these days. Here’s the roster speculation floating around the blogosphere at the moment:

• The battle for rotation spots #3-5 is heating up, with Erasmo Ramirez, Blake Beavan, Brandon Maurer, Jeremy Bonderman, and Jon Garland in the mix. Although no names have been selected so far, Shannon Drayer believes Maurer is making a convincing case for his time in the sun. Following Tuesday’s win over the defending San Francisco Giants, she quoted Eric Wedge: “We feel strongly he is going to be able to get major league outs […] It’s just a matter as we prep everything out decisions we have to make and we have to take everything into consideration. The experience level, what the other guys have done and match that up to what he he done.”
• Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker seems to have other thoughts. In a nutshell, his opinions leave Maurer out in the cold: “If Garland makes it, Maurer has no chance. The team would give the final spot to either Blake Beavan or Erasmo Ramirez. In fact, even if Garland doesn’t make it, I think the team would give the final two remaining spots to Beavan and Ramirez. Not to Maurer.”
• On Tuesday, Dustin Ackley batted eighth. Is this a sign of things to come? According to Greg Johns and Eric Wedge, it very well might be. “Wedge said afterward that Ackley could well wind up down in that area during the regular season given the addition of the middle-of-the-order veterans and improvement of some of the young core players,” Johns writes. He added that Franklin Gutierrez is likely for the leadoff spot, while Kyle Seager could take his place if Guti fails to stay healthy.
• The Mariners roster has been pruned to 37 after another round of cuts.

Players reassigned to minor league camp:
Logan Bawcom
Andrew Carraway
John Hicks
Jhonny Nunez
Ronny Paulino
James Paxton
Stefen Romero
Taijuan Walker
Mike Zunino

Players sent to Triple-A:
Vinnie Catricala
Bobby LaFromboise
Alex Liddi
Danny Hultzen
Yoervis Medina
Hector Noesi
Eric Thames
Carlos Triunfel

Players optioned to Double-A:
Francisco Martinez
Julio Morban

We’ve officially cleared the two-week mark until Mariners pitchers and catchers report to Peoria for spring training. If you haven’t already, stop by Mariners.com for the complete schedule and ticket information—with sunshine and Mariners baseball, could you ask for a better way to pass the rest of the offseason?

• Yesterday, San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Barry Zito became the 48th recipient of the Hutch Award, given by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to the MLB player who exemplifies the humanitarian efforts and character quality of Seattle Rainier Fred Hutchinson. Safeco Field opened its gates to Mariners media and fans for a lunch on the field, silent auction, and keynote address by former Seattle Mariner Lou Piniella.
• While Zito received his award, another pitcher made the trip to Safeco Field: veteran reliever Kip Wells. MLB.com reporter Evan Dellich tweeted that the former Padre arrived in Seattle to throw a bullpen session for the Mariners yesterday afternoon. In 2012, Wells posted a 4.58 ERA and 5.49 xFIP over 37.1 IP with San Diego.
• Kelly Shoppach, veteran catcher and a potential back-up backstop for Seattle, has stopped by the Mariners facilities as well. A deal depends on the results of his physical, which he was scheduled to take yesterday at Safeco Field. Shoppach split his playing time with the Red Sox and Mets in 2012, batting .233/.309/.425 in 76 games and 245 PA.
• According to Greg Johns, Shawn Kelley avoided arbitration with the M’s and signed a one-year contract for $935,000. Potential performance bonuses could boost this number to $1.1M if Kelley notches 150 days with the club.
• On Tuesday, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo released the Top 100 Prospects list for 2013, including five of the Mariners’ up-and-coming stars. Taijuan Walker ranked 5th, followed by Danny Hultzen (18th), Mike Zunino (23rd), Nick Franklin (47th), and James Paxton (61st). From Greg Johns:

“Based on a point system giving 100 for the No. 1 overall prospect, 99 for No. 2 and so on down the line, the Mariners received 351 points for their five prospects among the Top 100. The Cardinals were second in that scoring system with 340 points, followed by the Rays (310), Twins (295) and Marlins (281).”

• Single-game tickets for the Mariners’ 2013 season will go on sale March 16 at 10am. Interleague match-ups include the Padres, Cubs, and Brewers. You can find the promotional calendar here, and sign up for an exclusive pre-sale opportunity on Mariners.com.

With a hearty congratulations to the 2012 World Series champion San Francisco Giants, the offseason is now officially underway.

• After taking home a 2012 Fielding Bible Award for best defensive shortstop, Brendan Ryan was snubbed a Gold Glove award by Baltimore’s J.J. Hardy. Dustin Ackley, who was nominated at second base, was beat out by Robinson Cano.
• As reported by MLB Trade Rumors, Brandon League has signed a $22.5M extension with the Dodgers through 2015, effectively preventing any chance of a return to the Pacific Northwest.
• Submissions are now being accepted for the 2013 MLB Fan Cave. If you love (Mariners) baseball, are 21 or older, and want to spend an entire MLB season watching every game, interviewing players, and hosting celebrities in NYC’s elaborate baseball-themed haven, fill out an application here.
• According to the Mariners’ official Twitter account, the free agent pool now includes Kevin Millwood, Oliver Perez, and George Sherrill.

Felix Hernandez has long since tossed his final pitch of the Mariners’ first perfect game, but the blogosphere is still humming with tributes, stories, and analyses of his career-high performance.

At long last, era of missing no-hitters comes to an end — Larry Stone has devoted 27 years of his life to baseball. With decades of near-misses and endless jokes of his power to jinx games, he finally found the perfect opportunity in yesterday’s game.

Perfection! — Mike Curto reflects on Felix’s journey to the majors, including a minor league match-up with Matt Cain in 2005.

A dash to greatness: How not to cover a perfect game — I wasn’t the only one who nearly skipped Felix’s perfect game. The Seattle Times columnist Jerry Brewer recounts his eventful dash to the park.

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Kind of Good, Perfect Day — Speaking of my frenetic journey to Safeco, here is the full story in all its gory detail.

Three Minutes of Seattle Mariners History — Like the majority of Mariners fans yesterday, Megan Sheer was stuck at work during Felix’s historical performance.

Like You Imagined When You Were Young — Mandy may have missed Philip Humber’s perfecto back in April, but she was present (in heart, though not in person) for an even more memorable game.

Tossing a Reverie — Alex Akita tugs on our heartstrings with his reflections on high school, the nostalgic era of great Mariners baseball, and the impressive career of Felix Hernandez.

Which Recent Perfect Game Was The Hardest? — Dave Cameron tackles the six most recent perfectos in MLB history, from Mark Buehrle’s no-no in 2009 to Felix’s game yesterday afternoon. Of those six, half have been thrown against the Rays.

On Felix, His Almost-Really-Perfect Perfecto, and His Place in History —Over at The Platoon Advantage, Bill Parker credits Eric Thames for making the first out of the game and extolls Felix as one of the best in MLB. Don’t forget it, Seattle.

Felix Hernandez, John Jaso Outwit the Rays — Everything you wanted to know about Felix’s stuff yesterday: his pitch selection, location, and success rate divided in sets of three innings.

Felix’s Fastball Fittingly Fleet — In the 6th and 7th innings, Felix hurled his two fastest pitches of the season to Sean Rodriguez and Matt Joyce.

27 Perfect Things About Felix Hernandez’s Perfect Game — Among many other things, Jonah Keri explains the ranking of this game according to Game Score, the reason why Tampa Bay has the worst luck in perfect games, and the likelihood of seeing three perfectos in a single season. If you read any article on this list, make it this one.

How did you celebrate Felix’s perfect game? If you attended, watched, listened, or even just tweeted about it, share your story with us in the comments.

Final score: Diamondbacks 7, Mariners 1

I could not bring myself to write a recap this weekend. My favorite team, the San Francisco Giants, came into town for the first time in three years, and I wanted to sit in the stands, wear black and orange, and not worry about how I would soften the blow for Mariners fans when Tim Lincecum pitched 8 innings of shutout ball.

Of course, I was the one who needed consolation when the Mariners rallied with a 445-foot homer by Jesus Montero and a standout performance from King Felix. To my SF-inclined heart, Seattle picked the wrong time to snap its 6-game losing streak—but after a brief surge of success this weekend, it managed to fall right back into old habits.

Tonight, five of six runners were stranded in scoring position. The bullpen, whose last run was allowed on June 10, delivered a fastball to Aaron Hill, who lopped it over the left field fence for a home run and the cycle. Hector Noesi took a step back after his last one-run start, giving up 9 hits, 6 runs, and 2 walks in 6 innings for his 8th loss of the season.

In fact, everything the Mariners managed to do was overshadowed by the Diamondbacks. For the 2 hits and 1 run relinquished by Seattle relievers, Arizona’s ‘pen refused to allow even one baserunner. The Mariners put up one double, a lone RBI by Casper Wells; the Diamondbacks put up 3 doubles, and a triple, and a home run. You see where this is going.

The bright spot in this game was the emergence of lefty reliever Oliver Perez, who made his debut with the Mariners after 22 appearances with the Tacoma Rainiers. In 1.1 IP, he closed the game with a single hit, walk, and strikeout.

Tomorrow, the Mariners return to Chase Field for Round #2 against RHP Daniel Hudson. Even with the 9 hits managed by the Mariners tonight, Erasmo Ramirez may be better off packing his own run support before he arrives at the park.

Next game: @ D-backs | June 19 | 6:40pm

Everyone’s favorite interleague rival is coming to town: the San Diego Padres. As with most teams that face the Mariners, if not all, this is a one-sided contest. The Padres are scraping the bottom of the National League, the Mariners are struggling to keep third place in a locked and loaded AL West, and neither team has any bone to pick with the other. But just for the sake of spicing up interleague play, sure—let’s beat the Padres.

Current record: 20-41

Last game: vs. Brewers. This rubber match had the makings of a win. Will Venable struck a home run to left-center field in the first at-bat of the game, and the Friars preserved a 2-0 lead through 5 innings. Even after Anthony Bass handed a 3-run shot to Martin Maldonado, San Diego rallied in the 9th with another 3 runs, coming one called strikeout short of tying the Brewers.

This month, the Padres are 3-for-9, narrowly escaping sweeps by the D-backs, Giants, and Brewers. Tonight’s game marks their first interleague match-up of the season.

Last series against Seattle: July 1 – 3, 2011. Assisted by the offensive prowess of Adam Kennedy and Jack Cust (don’t laugh), Jason Vargas put up a 6-0 complete game shutout against Dustin Moseley and the Pads. San Diego responded with a 1-0 shutout of their own the next night, but lost the series finale to Blake Beavan, Justin Smoak, and Dustin Ackley.

Over the last five years, the Mariners have played two series against San Diego each summer for a record of 16-8. At Petco Park, they are 9-3, and 7-5 at Safeco.

Pitching matchups: Tuesday — Felix Hernandez vs. LHP Clayton Richard. I feel confident in placing almost any given pitcher against King Felix, and Richard’s numbers only boost my confidence. He faltered in his last start against the Giants, going 5.2 innings for 10 hits, 6 runs, and a lone strikeout. On the season, he is 2-7 with a 4.11 SIERA, 2.05 K/BB, and 4.49 FIP.

Wednesday — Hector Noesi vs. RHP Jason Marquis. Marquis is currently riding a streak of five losses, his last against the Royals on April 29. The last time he faced the Mariners was in Twins uniform on May 5, when he allowed 4 hits, 2 runs, and a season-high 6 walks in 6 IP. After his first start for the Padres last week, Marquis holds a SIERA of 4.66, K/BB of 1.20, and FIP of 6.75.

Thursday — Kevin Millwood vs. RHP Edinson Volquez. In 13 starts, Volquez has accumulated a SIERA OF 4.51, a K/BB of 1.49, and an FIP of 4.30. He made his last appearance against Milwaukee on Friday, unraveling over 5 innings with 6 hits, 6 earned runs, 4 walks, and a whopping 3 homers in just 24 batters.

Expected result: Whenever I prepare for a series against a “lesser” team like the Padres, it seems simple enough to predict a sweep. You look at the numbers, you weigh your options, and you lean heavily on Felix Hernandez. Of course, the Mariners always have a few surprises up their sleeves—whether they’re pounding the Rangers 21-7 or falling apart against the Athletics 4-0.

While interleague play doesn’t concern me as much as inter-division games, my concerns heading into these games will be the return of Kevin Millwood and King Felix. Millwood left Friday’s game with a right groin strain, and Felix hasn’t made a start in over a week due to a sore back.

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Over the next two weeks, the Mariners will take on the entire NL West, from a homestand featuring the Dodgers, Padres, and Giants to an away series in Arizona. The only ones not invited are the Rockies, who will probably wait a few more years after Seattle’s sweep at Coors Field last month.

Current record: 37-21

Last game: vs. Phillies. Tonight, the Dodgers completed a 4-game sweep of last-place Philadelphia. Leading 4-3 through 8 innings, they surged ahead with a 4-run blast in the 9th on a pair of hits from Andre Ethier and Jerry Hairston and a fielding error by Mike Fontenot.

Currently, the Dodgers sit in first place in the NL West, just four games ahead of the rival San Francisco Giants.

Last series against Seattle: June 26 – 28, 2009. Following an 8-2 beating by Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers, King Felix took a 9-strikeout, 1-run game through 8 innings. As a mark of how far removed we are from this particular set of Mariners, Ken Griffey Jr. hit a 2-run home run to push Seattle to a 5-1 win.

Seattle is 2-1 on LA in the past five years, meeting them just once in 2009. The Dodgers have not set foot in Safeco since 2000, when, like each of the four series played between the two in that span, they lost 1-2.

Pitching matchups: Friday — Kevin Millwood vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi. After nine starts with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate, Nathan was called up on May 29. In two major league starts, he accumulated 9 hits, 5 runs, and 8 strikeouts in 9.2 IP.

Saturday — Jason Vargas vs. LHP Clayton Kershaw. The two faced each other on June 26, 2009; Kershaw went 6 innings for 8 strikeouts, 5 hits, and 2 runs, while Vargas lasted just 4.2 innings with 2 strikeouts, 9 hits, and 5 runs. This year, Kershaw has a 3.33 SIERA and 1.01 FIP in 12 starts, with a complete game shutout against the Cardinals under his belt.

Sunday — TBA vs. LHP Chad Billingsley. Billingsley made his last start against Philadelphia on Tuesday, lasting 7 innings for 6 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. He carries a 3.73 SIERA and 1.40 FIP in 12 starts.

Expected result: After the 21-7 smackdown against Texas, the Mariners’ offense has continued to look recharged. Even with a 3-3 split in June, they put up 55 hits and 33 runs on this road trip. Without a pitcher listed for Sunday’s matchup, it’s a little difficult to know how the series will end, but the momentum should carry them through the weekend… and the next 6 games of this month’s homestand.

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For up-to-date news and opinions on the Dodgers, stop by Foul Territory.

Tonight marks the beginning of interleague play, as the Mariners head to Coors Field for a rare series against the Colorado Rockies.

Kevin Millwood is slated to start today against RHP Alex White. Tomorrow, Jason Vargas takes on LHP Christian Friedrich, and on Sunday, Blake Beavan will face RHP Jeremy Guthrie.

Current record: 15-22

Last game: vs. Diamondbacks. Following a one-run lead through 7 innings, Colorado fell apart in the last two frames, walking in two runs for Arizona (including the tying run), and surrendering a 2-RBI homer to Justin Upton in the 9th.

In the past week, the Rockies have been swept by the Dodgers, split a series against the Giants, and split another against the D-backs.

Last series against Seattle: June 12 – 14, 2009. Colorado finished a 3-game sweep with a 7-1 blowout against Vargas, who lasted 4.2 innings on 12 hits, 7 earned runs, and 2 walks.

The Mariners and the Rockies have met just three times in the last decade for a 3-6 record—0-3 in Colorado, and 3-3 in Seattle.

Toughest player: Carlos Gonzalez. Batting .307/.383/.540, Gonzalez leads the team in home runs (7), RBI (30), and stolen bases (6). Tonight, he will try to extend a 5-game hitting streak.

Weakest link: Wilin Rosario. He is currently nursing a .220/.266/.559 line in 21 games and 64 PA, with a 4.7% walk rate and 28.1% strikeout rate. Over the last week, Rosario made 5 starts and went 3-for-13 with two hits and a walk.

Expected result: Instead of focusing on the Mariners’ four-game losing streak and the chances of them successfully bouncing back against a team they never face, let’s talk about Kevin Millwood. One thing I love about interleague play is watching pitchers hit. Sure, it’s generally a wasted spot in the lineup, but there’s little more entertaining than seeing your starting pitcher take a few hacks at the dirt—or, even better, find a gap for a base hit. In his last season with Colorado, Millwood batted .158/.200/.474 in 23 PA with 2 home runs.

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Credit: Dan/Flickr

On the heels of a bitter loss to the Hanshin Tigers, the Mariners will battle the Yomiuri Giants, rivals of the Tigers and the most successful team in Nippon Professional Baseball.

The Giants have played the most international openers of any Japanese team, going 2-7 in their record against the Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, and Athletics. They have not won a game against an MLB team since 2000.

Here are a few more facts about the most hated and most loved team in Japan:

In 1935, they were named the “Tokyo Giants” by San Francisco’s Lefty O’Doul.

Considering that the Yomiuri Giants borrowed their cap insignia, uniforms, and team colors from their MLB counterparts, it only makes sense that an esteemed San Francisco Giant would name them. In 1947, however, the national Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun bought the team, and they have remained the Yomiuri Giants ever since.

The Giants are to NPB as the Yankees are to MLB.

The favorites, the privileged, the wealthy. In 78 years, they’ve collected 21 Japan Series titles and 33 Central League Pennants. Giants fans make up 37% of all NPB fans, according to a survey from Yomiuri Shimbun (circa 2005). They are still the only Japanese team to have all 130 regular season games televised.

» Continue reading “Five Facts About The Yomiuri Giants”

Mariners: 5, Giants: 7

The world-beating Mariners haven’t shown much vulnerability. They have scored runs upon runs and their pitching has done well enough to win a good majority of their ballgames so far. After this game, half of the Mariners’ losses have come at the hands of the San Francisco Giants, who are having as successful a Spring Training as the Mariners are. The Mariners just can’t topple the Giants – it’s a good thing they play in the A.L. West and only have to face the lowly Rangers and Angels.

This game started off in a very disappointing and frustrating fashion. Erasmo Ramirez, renowned strike-thrower of the Mariners, started off the game by… throwing a ball. Gregor Blanco lined the next pitch to Mike Wilson in right field, who added to the frustration by fumbling the ball and allowing Blanco to reach second. Ramirez proceeded to then strike Freddy Sanchez out and induce a Brandon Belt fly ball, but Casper Wells frustratingly took his time in getting the ball back in, allowing Blanco to tag up and advance to third. A Brett Pill double drove in the Giants’ first run.

Ramirez ended up going 4 innings, giving up 4 hits and only that one run. He struck out two and lived up to his reputation, throwing 34 strikes and only 16 balls.

» Continue reading “Mariners Postgame Recap: Kryptonite”