Saturday, May 4, 2013 @ 7:56pm

King and Kuma on a roll for Mariners

It happens every year. At some point of the season I realize that I am taking Felix Hernandez for granted. Eight innings, five hits, no runs, no walks, seven strikeouts, making hitters look silly. Ho hum, that's what Felix does.

It didn't even hit me until Saturday morning when I was doing my reading. Spotlight on ESPN.com: "King For Another Day." CBSsports.com with "Mariners' Felix Hernandez off to historically dominant start." This kind of notice this early in the season is not usual for Felix, or any Mariner for that matter. Thank goodness for that, or I might have gone another start without remembering to appreciate how good he is rather than take it for granted.

After limiting the Blue Jays to one earned run over 15 innings, Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma rank third and fourth, respectively, in earned run average among American League starters. (AP)

Felix is off to a tremendous start.

Someone I am not taking for granted but someone who is being overlooked (or underlooked as Dustin Ackley put it in the pregame show) by the rest of the country is Hisashi Iwakuma. Another fine performance from him Saturday where he showed something I can't remember seeing from him any time before -- emotion on the hill.

A walk, a single and a ball lost in the sun by Ackley led to a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first. Two strikeouts later the Mariners were in the dugout up 1-0, but not before the normally-stoic-on-the-hill Iwakuma let out a little yell.

"Being able to come up with a good pitch in a tough situation was awesome," he said through interpreter Antony Suzuki after the game.

Iwakuma lowered his ERA to 1.61 with the win and has limited the opposition to one or fewer runs in five of his seven starts. Those are crazy numbers.

The combination of Felix and Iwakuma is one that has been as close to lights out as imaginable, with the two combining to hold Oakland to one earned run on April 1-2, Detroit to one earned run in 14 innings April 17-18, Houston to two earned runs in 11 innings April 22-23, Anaheim to one earned run in 14 innings April 27-28, and Toronto to one earned run in 15 innings on Friday and Saturday. Teams cannot be looking forward to facing the Mariners' 1-2 punch.

After Saturday's game I asked Iwakuma what it meant to him to follow Felix. Did he try to equal or better him? What impact did following the King have on him?

"Everything in general," he answered through Suzuki. "You see him pitch the day before I pitch and you try to imitate that. You see how he pitches his game. I don't have the same kind of stuff, but you try and analyze that and then take advantage of it and that's what I am trying to do. Just rolling with it."

And what a roll the duo is on.

Friday, May 3, 2013 @ 4:48pm

Video: Signs of life as M's begin road trip

By 710Sports.com staff

The Mariners are 5-2 since manager Eric Wedge called a team meeting following the series finale against Houston.

In the video above, Shannon Drayer talks about the effects of that meeting and Friday's series opener against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

First pitch for today's game against is 4:07. The game can be heard on 710 ESPN Seattle, and you can also follow along with our live gametracker.

Here is the Mariners' lineup:

Michael Saunders, CF
Kyle Seager, 3B
Kendrys Morales, DH
Michael Morse, RF
Jason Bay, LF
Justin Smoak, 1B
Dustin Ackley, 2B
Jesus Montero, C
Brendan Ryan, SS

Felix Hernandez, SP

Wednesday, May 1, 2013 @ 4:36pm

Pregame notes and lineup

By Shannon Drayer

Update: The Mariners have announced Iwakuma will stay on turn and start Saturday in Toronto. Joe Saunders will pitch on Sunday.

The Mariners did make a move after all. The most obvious one. Blake Beavan has been sent to Tacoma and Lucas Luetge recalled. The move will give Beavan the opportunity to work through his struggles and importantly, be ready should another starter be needed.

As for the pitching schedule moving forward, Eric Wedge said that the Hisashi Iwakuma portion of that is still a bit up in the air. He will pitch either Saturday or Sunday in Toronto. If Kuma is held back a day then Joe Saunders will pitch Saturday but as Wedge said today there is a chance he could stay on turn.

The lineup for tonight's game:

Saunders, 8
Seager, 5
Morales, DH
Morse, 9
Bay, 7
Smoak, 3
Ackley, 4
Montero, 2
Andino, 6

Tough lefty on the hill for Baltimore in Wei-Yin Chen and Wedge still going with Saunders and Seager at 1-2. Saunders has been hitting lefties but Seager has been struggling against them. Still, second for now is where I think you want to see him regardless of handedness of the pitcher. It is good to see some semblance of a regular lineup at the top.

If you read my last post you saw that Smoak has put up encouraging numbers the last eight games, hitting .357/.454/.571/1.025. He has, however, been struggling mightily against lefties, hitting .129/.206/.129!/.335. It will be a good sign if he can get anything going against lefties.

Speaking of extreme splits, Brandon Maurer has an ugly left/right split with southpaws hitting .358 against him. Wedge feels that this is a sequencing problem more than anything and said it will be a focus of his work this week.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013 @ 1:45am

Moves the Mariners could make

By Shannon Drayer

Tuesday night's 7-2 loss was frustrating. Not because the youngster, Brandon Maurer, went out and came dangerously close to a repeat of his second big-league start in which he failed to get out of the first inning, but because I got that old and unwelcome feeling that a four-run deficit in the first inning was insurmountable. It shouldn't be, but this club is not clicking on all cylinders, and unlike last year, I think help is available on some fronts.

The page on the calendar has flipped. We are now one month into the season. While the "it's early" card has not been played much this year, in my mind it is no longer early. For some it may still be somewhat early but on a team that is made up mostly of young players who were given a full year look the previous season and guys with very established track records, I think at this point you should have a good idea of where this team is at and whether or not you can expect improvement from individual players.

In other words, I don't think it's too early to make moves.

Help is needed on the bench, which is not the strength I think a lot of us figured it would be coming out of spring training. Help is needed in the pen. Then there is the question of what's best for the development of some of the younger players on the roster.

A move I would make right away would be to get a true long-relief/swingman in the pen. Blake Beavan did not exactly put out the fire, coming in for Maurer Tuesday night and extending the Mariners' deficit from four runs to seven. More importantly, he is not finding answers in the pen. He is nearly moving in the wrong direction. His ERA is now at 8.27. His tempo is off, his delivery inconsistent and for some reason Tuesday night he wouldn't throw his four-seamer. If the Mariners want to see him start again at some point he needs to be starting now. In Tacoma.

Shortstops Robert Andino and Brendan Ryan are hitting a combined .169 through the first month of the season. (AP)

I will take my chances on losing a Double-A outfielder or any minor-league infielder on the 40-man not named Carlos Triunfel with Nick Franklin and Brad Miller on the horizon. Perhaps Erasmo Ramirez can be put on the 60-day disabled list. I would find a way to get Beavan down and get someone, perhaps Brian Sweeney, up. He has got plenty of experience, can easily pitch the swing role and can handle not pitching for longer periods of time. Easy fix there.

A tougher fix is what to do at shortstop. The combination of Brendan Ryan and Robert Andino obviously is not getting it done offensively. Franklin is absolutely tearing it up, hitting .410 at Triple-A right now. Is it too soon to call him up after a rough first season in Tacoma and just 17 games this year? That's for the Mariners to decide. I trust them in knowing where he is in his development beyond the numbers, but if they do not believe he is ready then I have to believe that it wouldn't hurt to take a look at Triunfel.

What about first base? A bunch of you were calling for Justin Smoak to be sent down in the comment section of my last post. I am going to guess that you are overlooking the fact that he has hit .357/.454/.571/1.025 in his last eight games. Small sample size, but clearly progress.

Not progressing much would be Jesus Montero and this is a situation I don't quite understand. Coming into the season we knew that in order to get at-bats he would have to catch because Kendrys Morales was going to be the primary DH. Montero struggled early and Eric Wedge said that Kelly Shoppach would get more time behind the plate.

In my mind, if Montero isn't getting consistent at-bats he shouldn't be here. Whether he is your future catcher, future DH or future currency in the form of trade, he needs to be playing. He has played in just 17 games so far and is projected to get 352 at-bats. That is not helping his value by any means and he has come nowhere near to looking like the hitter many thought he could be, the hitter that earned him high rankings as a prospect.

Who would replace Montero? With Mike Zunino not ready, I would make a move to get Jesus Sucre on the 40-man and up to Seattle. I wouldn't expect much from him offensively but he would be the backup so this is not a huge deal. He is a decent defender and handles pitchers well.

Other moves would appear to be a little further off. As I have been saying for some time now, keep an eye on Stefen Romero. Just nine games into his first season at Triple-A he is hitting well and most interestingly is now playing left field after playing mostly second while in the organization. Will we see him in the outfield mid-season?

What about Danny Hultzen? He was pitching well before being sidelined with the rotator cuff strain. How quickly can he bounce back?

There is little question in my mind that we should see some moves. As I said at the top of this post, it is no longer early or too soon to make the call that help is needed. If a move can benefit the big club or help a struggling player in the long run, it is time to make those moves.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013 @ 12:16am

Mariners starting to turn things around

So I think it is safe to say we have seen some signs of life on this homestand.

Who had Joe Saunders becoming the first Mariner to throw a complete game this year? Anybody? How about Jason Bay coming up with his first three-hit game since 2011? No? Michael Saunders coming off the DL to hit his first career leadoff home run? How about the 6-7-8-9 of Justin Smoak, Bay, Robert Andino and Brendan Ryan being the most productive part of the lineup, going 7-for-15 with two runs scored and three driven in? Anyone?

The bottom four in the M's lineup Monday went 7-for-15 with three RBIs, one coming via a Brendan Ryan single. (AP)

Oh yes, wait, I almost forgot. How about the umpire nailing Orioles starting pitcher Zach Britton in the shoulder throwing the ball back? Okay, now.

Baseball!

Or maybe something more. Maybe Joe Saunders was on with his sinker, generating 17 groundouts. Maybe the work Bay has been putting in has helped him find the swing he has been looking for. Maybe the Michael Saunders home run helped the offense take a breath and keep them from pressing. Maybe the bottom-of-the-order bats are coming around. Maybe things aren't as bleak as they looked a week ago.

We saw good pitching, good defense and better hitting against a good team Monday night at Safeco Field. Perhaps more importantly, they saw it. Bay pointed out in the clubhouse after the game that while momentum in baseball is nothing more than that day's starting pitcher, there is without a doubt a difference in that clubhouse as the team starts to win more games.

"The feel is a lot different than when we left Houston," he said. "It was a very blah road trip, very uninspiring. We come here and beat Anaheim, win this game and the feel is definitely different."

Michael Saunders spoke of growing confidence in the clubhouse in his on-field interview with me. on Sunday Michael Morse said he believed the team was poised to have a strong May. Individual performances – Joe Saunders' complete game Monday night and Morse's home run Sunday against the Angels – are in large part helping inspire this confidence, but we are seeing the small victories that no doubt are contributing as well.

I am not ready to say they have completely turned things around. It is just three games, but they have something to build on and that is something they didn't seem to have a week ago. At the very least, they have put the brakes on what looked to be a disastrous slide.

Sunday, April 28, 2013 @ 2:25pm

Why eight for Felix, Hultzen update and a little fun

Good to be back after a couple of days off. Sorry I missed last night's game; it was definitely one of Felix's better starts against the Angels, a team that has given him trouble in the past. Why didn't he go the distance in this game? He admitted to being a bit tired after his eight innings pitched and put up no fight when taken out of the game. No reason for concern over that, according to Eric Wedge.

"When I went to tell him he was done he acknowledged the fact that he was," Wedge said. "It was good to get him out of there, we didn't have the same issues that we had in the previous start."

Felix experienced some back stiffness in that start in Houston, something he has been dealing with on and off with for some time now. While in past years Felix would often put up a fight when the skipper came to take the ball from him during games, he hasn't done that in well over a year. While complete games are no doubt a huge reward for him, staying healthy for the entire season is a bigger one, and Felix realizes that.

"He's a good communicator," Wedge said. "Sometimes I go down there and I am in between and I am going to see how he reacts. Other times I go down there with my mind made up and still listen, but more times than not we are on the same page. I think he has a good understanding. There are real reasons if I am taking him out of the game."

Of course, a trusted closer in Tom Wilhemsen down in the pen makes the move easier for Wedge to make. I was wondering if this has helped save Felix any innings in the early season but not really. Felix has just thrown 2 1/3 fewer innings through six starts this season than last. His numbers this April are slightly better than last April, striking out two more and walking five fewer. A fairly typical April for Felix. So far so good.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Danny Hultzen, who was in the clubhouse this morning getting checked out by the trainers. Hultzen was scratched from his start Thursday after not being able to get loose in his warmup. He was diagnosed with a left rotator cuff strain and tendinitis and shut down. Frustrating, yes, but Hultzen was encouraged by what he had been told.

"There's a lot of tendinitis and inflammation but they said it is not worrisome. Just a couple of weeks of rest and then get after it after that," he said.

Hultzen said that he had felt a little stiffness before Thursday's attempted outing but nothing that he couldn't get past. That day, however, as he was doing his long toss, pitching coach Dwight Bernard noticed that he didn't look right and came out to ask if everything was okay.

"I didn't really want to say anything but he shut me down," said Hultzen, who admitted that obviously it was a good decision. "It's a tough one. You need to know the difference between hurting and being injured. All pitchers, their arm doesn't feel good all the time but they need to know the difference between when to say something and when to just go through it. This was one of the times when I should say something."

It was no doubt tough to take himself out as he had been pitching very well. Hultzen appears to have put his command issues behind him, having walked just six batters in his first four outings.

"I think that the second go-around and going through the full season I am a lot more comfortable in knowing what is going on a little bit and that's helped out a lot," he said of the improvement he has shown.

Hultzen is to be shut down for a couple of weeks but will then need to build back up a bit as he can condition but not throw. Hopefully this is just a minor roadblock because as I said, he had been pitching well and had the look of a pitcher that was getting closer to the big leagues.

As Hultzen was talking to the media, Brandon Maurer and Carter Capps were waiting nearby to talk with their former Jackson teammate. The three are still very close and had a lot to talk about. First and foremost Capps and Maurer wanted to know how he checked out from his training room session. Then Capps had something he wanted to show Hultzen: A small case of flies. The three are fishing enthusiasts and Capps is learning to fly fish and no, he does not cast side arm. It was fun to watch the three interact and hopefully something we will see on a regular basis in the near future.

Last bit of fun: Have you caught Charlie Furbush's Bullpen Banter on the Sunday Magazine Show? He is a rather charismatic host to say the least, and gets a great interview out of Capps. Learn why Capps knows so much about pickles, what nicknames he would prefer and what pet he is hoping to acquire soon.

Thursday, April 25, 2013 @ 7:32pm

Video: What Brendan Ryan must do during demotion

By 710Sports.com staff

The Mariners benched shortstop Brendan Ryan and his .143 batting average in favor of Robert Andino Wednesday, a move Shannon Drayer thinks is only temporary.

The video above includes Drayer's thoughts on Ryan's demotion as well as injury updates on outfielders Franklin Gutierrez and Michael Saunders. You can hear Ryan talk about his demotion in this audio link.

First pitch for tonight's game against the Angels is 7:10. The game can be heard on 710 ESPN Seattle, and you can also follow along with our live gametracker.

Here is the Mariners' lineup:

Endy Chavez, CF
Kyle Seager, 3B
Kendrys Morales, DH
Justin Smoak, 1B
Dustin Ackley, 2B
Kelly Shoppach, C
Carlos Peguero, RF
Jason Bay, LF
Robert Andino, SS

Brandon Maurer, SP

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 @ 4:05pm

Pitching joins hitting as a problem for Mariners

Again, quick getaway thoughts as there is no Wi-Fi on the plane, so it is now or never from the bus.

Obviously the Mariners are fighting battles on multiple fronts right now. Eric Wedge made a move with Brendan Ryan this morning and pointed to the veterans as being a group that needed to pick things up. He probably should add the pitching to that group.

Joe Saunders allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits over five innings of work in Wednesday's loss to Houston. (AP)

Saunders isn't the lone culprit, however, as the team ranked 11th in the league in pitching heading into Wednesday. The pitching woes have been overshadowed by the hitting, but they are there and quite frankly strange to see. If nothing else there has been decent pitching in years past. Even if the hitting comes around a little bit it will not be enough if the pitching does not improve.

Back to the Brendan Ryan/Robert Andino move. There was plenty of displeasure about the move expressed on Twitter and in the blogs. Why would you replace a defensively superior shortstop with an average shortstop who is only hitting marginally better? I think you had to get Ryan out of there regardless of who replaced him. The defense is not enough when you are hitting .143 and showing no signs of pulling out of it. At this point he is not going to turn it around offensively playing every day.

So Andino gets a look and I suspect it may be a short look. As I noted in my previous post, neither he nor Ryan have options remaining and to bring someone in, someone will have to go out. If you are looking at sitting Ryan for a significant amount of time then the position is essentially open. Andino is here so he played today. Wedge said he will be given an opportunity but he has not exactly put up the best at-bats. I doubt Wedge will have much patience for this if it continues.

Carlos Triunfel is off to a good start in Tacoma. I said earlier that it is important that the Mariners do not rush prospects to fill needs at the big-league level, but would Triunfel be rushed at this point? He has spent seven seasons in the minors and played more than a full season at Tacoma. From what I am told he made great strides defensively. The opportunity to play him every day is there, and if he can't handle that he could fill the utility role having played multiple positions coming up. Andino would have to be DFA'd but there is a good chance he would clear.

I don't know what the plan is but I suspect that since Andino is on the roster he is being given a look. He is not the priority long term, however, so there is a chance we could see a change in the near future.

Wheels up. Talk to you from Seattle.