Seattle Mariners Fan

Posts Tagged ‘Field’

Coors Field has been rejuvenating for Mariners (or is it playing Rockies?)

May 20th, 2012 |

Author: admin

(Photo by Getty Images)

The Rockies look like a lost team right now, one struggling to score runs and not capable of overcoming poor outings by their starters.

Kind of like the Mariners on this road trip, right up until they stepped into Coors Field. They turned in another strong effort Saturday in their 10-3 win. Jason Vargas wasn’t quite as sharp as Kevin Millwood, but he was plenty good enough, and was one pitch away from getting out of the seventh unscathed. The Rockies wound up scoring three that inning — the only inning out of 18 in the first two games in which they’ve scored.

Millwood is simply masterful at Coors Field

May 19th, 2012 |

Author: admin

(Kevin Millwood after his diving attempt to catch a bunt in the ninth inning. Photo by Getty Images).

It was hard to see this one coming. Sure, Kevin Millwood had the only Mariners’ win on this road trip, but he had been pretty undistinguished prior to beating the Yankees, and Coors Field is not an easy place to pitch — even for someone who got some experience doing so as a member of the Rockies last year.

All Millwood did was turn in the best effort by a Mariner pitcher this year, and his best outing in many a season. It was his first shutout in nine years, in fact, since he blanked the Padres on three hits while with the Phillies on Aug. 1, 2003.

Alex Liddi in left field for Mariners, Kyle Seager bats cleanup as Jesus Montero sits

May 18th, 2012 |

Author: admin

The Mariners have wanted to get Alex Liddi in more games and today, with Mike Carp nursing a stiff shoulder, they have the Italian-born Liddi starting his first professional game as a left fielder.

Liddi actually slipped into left field for an inning last night in a late-game defensive shift, but didn’t get any fielding opportunities. He said he’s excited about the opportunity, but also eager to get his first chance or two out of the way.

“Of course, to read balls is a different perspective from the infield,” he said.

Liddi last played the outfield back home in Italy. But never as a pro.

“You’ve got to break him in at some point in time,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “No time like the present.”

Wedge said Liddi has looked good in drills but “there’s nothing like game speed and game reaction.”

The toughest thing he’ll face? Wedge said usually it’s going straight back or straight in on balls because of the quick decision-making required.

Kyle Seager is today’s cleanup hitter as Jesus Montero gets a much-needed day off after last night’s hitting and fielding adventures. The toll of catching more regularly appears to be catching up to Montero’s bat as well, now just 3-for-21 on the trip and hitless in the last eight at-bats.

The middle of the order is killing the Mariners, as we saw last night when Dustin Ackley and Michael Saunders kept getting on in the first two spots, but had nobody to drive them home. Ichiro got one run in on a groundout, but that’s not really what the Mariners were looking for when they had Ubaldo Jimenez on the ropes early. Instead, Jimenez somehow made it through six innings.

Of bigger concern with Montero is his catching when used too often. The team has decided to fly Miguel Olivo into Colorado so Wedge can see firsthand how he looks, then send him out to Class AAA for a rehabilitation assignment. Wedge has taken extra time allowing Olivo to come back this year, compared to last spring when he needed only a month to return from a much more serious groin strain.

Wedge admitted this morning that he rushed Olivo back too quickly last season and feels it impacted his on-field performance. In hindsight, he added, he should have given Olivo another two-to-four weeks. So, now, given a do-over, he’s taking his time because based off what he’s seen, he’ll need Olivo around for the long haul to “protect” Montero so he isn’t pushed too hard — as he looks to have been in Olivo’s absence.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the team is flying Olivo in to Colorado to have a one-on-one chat with Montero and maybe some others. The team has dropped five of six and isn’t scoring many runs. We’re at a dangerous point in the season where the M’s are now seven games under .500 and in danger of reverting back to the 95-to-100-loss mode of the past few seasons.

There is a decided lack of veteran leadership in that clubhouse right now among position players, with Chone Figgins relegated to backup duty and not really positioned to have all that much clout. Brendan Ryan is hitting .137 and has never really been the type to offer up a stabilizing presence in the traditional sense. Olivo, when he returns, will be the one everyday player who can help speak to others when needed and offer a calming influence. You can’t have pitchers do that with position guys and pitchers are really the only off-field veteran influence on this team.

But for now, this team is floundering, just fired and missed badly with its one Felix Hernandez bullet, and is in danger of another of those prolonged losing streaks. The pitching has faltered noticeably as well and you have to wonder whether the catching situation has something to do with that.

Wedge spoke today about some of Olivo’s intangibles of being able to get behind the plate five or six days in a row. Montero, as we’ve seen, isn’t at that stage of his career yet and the results — as the “sample size” grows — are starting to show up.

“I wanted to push him through Felix last night and you see what you see,” Wedge said. “And it’s OK. He’s processing a lot right now. And he’s not complaining about it. He’s a good listener. He still has a lot of work to do, but he knows it.

“To ultimately be the catcher that we want him to be and we feel like he’s capable of being, we’ve got to handle him carefully here. And he needs amental day as much as he needs a physical day.”