I am still new to baseball, and I admit that I do not always know what I am talking about. This has not necessarily stopped me from trying though as even if I am wrong, someone will normally correct me and I learn from it. This weeks topic might not be a favorite with Mariner’s fans. I choose to talk about Ichiro, but not in a positive way.
Ichiro was before my time. I have read about his greatness as a Mariner in the past, but I do not have what I believe is irrational devotion to him. It appears that there are more Ichiro fans at the game than Mariners fans. Ichiro might have been great in the past, but from what I am seeing, he no longer is. I honestly believe that we are hurting ourselves with keeping Ichiro on the team. Last I checked, we have 7 outfielder on the roster. This is to support actually having useful outfielders, and keep Ichiro on the roster. This is hurting the rest of the team. This has forced us to go with a 4 man pitching rotation for example. I understand injuries might have played into this decision, but we need to stop this nonsense. Ichiro’s time is behind him.
(Disclosure, I tend to write scores as home team-away team. I think this has to do with doing score cards at games. This sometimes confuses people, and most sties always use higher score-lower score. I apologize for any confusion.)
The Updates:
Zorstique’s Mariners Update of the Day – 4/16/2018:
This last weekend was the first time we made it to Mariners games. I was busy getting pressure washed by pure chlorine opening week. The weekend did not disappoint though, as the Mariners won 2 of 3 against the mighty A’s. The Mariners have only had 5 series thus far, but have not lost a single one yet (We still have a game to make up on the Twins that could change things.) Although we were not able to pull of the sweep yesterday with Felix on the mound, Saturday was an epic game. I am pretty sure every starting Mariner got at least one hit, and most of the starting A’s did as well. I think there were close to 30 combined hits, but the Mariners came up on top, 10-8. It was also a 3 hit day for our favorite 3rd baseman, Kyle Seager including a double and a home run. Segura, Haniger, Vogelbach (Mariners) and Canha, Davis, and Piscotty (A’s) also brought home runs to the game. Up next is the Astros, which will be a big test for the 8-5 Mariners.
Zorstique’s Mariners Update of the Day – 4/17/2018:
*Full disclosure, I did not watch any part of this game. I fell asleep before it started, and this is based on a recap I read*
Interestingly enough, James Paxton entered last night with no wins on the season. He has had a difficult start in 2018. This all changed when the defending champions Astros came to town. Facing off against Keuchel (an incredible ground ball pitcher) the Mariners took down the Astros, 2-1. Paxton gave up a home run to the first guy he faced, Springer. He only gave up two more hits, and no runs after he settled in. A home run from the Boomstick himself, and an RBI double from Gordon sealed the deal. Although Diaz walked Correa, 2 strike outs in the 9th ended the game early for the Mariners. We still have a tough test, as the Astros will remain in town for 3 more games.
Zorstique’s Mariners Update of the Day – 4/18/2018:
Again I did not watch last nights game. Technically I got back in time to watch it, but I was not interested in sports last night. However for some reason Miranda was pitching last night. I have never been a fan of Miranda. Some pitchers are known for being strike out pitchers, some are known as ground ball pitchers. Miranda is different. He is known for giving up home runs. In fact he gave up the 2nd most last year. Apparently he only gave up one run last night (and it was not even a home run), but the bull pen failed him as the Mariners lost 1-4. We still have two more games against the Astros, so we can still pull off a tie or win this series like we have on every series thus far.
Zorstique’s Mariners Update of the Day- 4/19/2018:
Ben Gamel is back, and Miranda was optioned back where he belongs. He did not have a welcome back night, as he was hit-less although he did pick up a walk. Cano was the whole offense again, as he brought in the solo RBI for the second night in a row. Not a home run again, just a single RBI. The Mariners lost 1-7 against the defending champions, and are now down 2-1 in the series. The game was a close one and tied 1-1 until the 7th inning. Mike Leake was doing fine until he gave up a 2 RBI single. Vincent was sent in to help out, and he did not save the day. Although he did strike out one, he gave up another 4 runs. Pazos did end the inning, but the Mariners were not able to recover, and the rest of the game was fairly uneventful coming close to shutting down the side each inning.
Zorstique’s Mariners Update of the Day – 4/20/2018:
Altuve won. The Mariners lost game 4 against the Astros 2-9. This means the Mariners lost the series 1-3, and is the first series loss of the year. Unfortunately I “watched” it via ESPN gamecast, so I did not get to see a rare triple play the Mariners accomplished. To date I have never seen a triple play live, only in highlights. I hope to change that some day. Up next is Rangers, and hopefully we are back to winning series.
