NorthWest Sports Blog brings you daily features on Oregon, Washington State, and BC amateur and pro sports teams.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners’ blogger Jeff Budke talks about the Seattle Mariners tough game 2 loss to the Astros on Monday night. The good. Oliver Perez hasn’t given up a run since April 9, which has been his only allowed run in 2013. He has 10 K’s in 10 innings and deserves respect solidifying the bullpen after the M’s lost Stephen Pryor to the DL. The bad. After Kendrys Morales gave hope in the 8th, the Mariners went down quickly.
NWSB insider and Mariners blogger Jeff Budke brings us his take on the biggest surprises of the Mariners minor league rosters to kick off 2013. Topping the list is the delegation of Mike Zunino to Triple A Tacoma, and the separation of Seattle’s “big 3″ pitching prospects. Jeremy Bonderman earns applause for his decision to stick things out in the minors. Keep your eye on Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, and Danny Hultzen in 2013 as well.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners’ blogger Jeff Budke talks about whether or not we’ve seen the biggest offseason acquisition by the Mariners Jack Z in the Jason Bay signing. Sure, Bay could produce quite well without the pressure of New York and a gigantic contract to live up to, but are fans expecting Bay’s bat to clearly out produce a player like Eric Thames or Casper Wells at this point in his career?
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Danny Ferguson is back this week to analyze the trade between the M’s and the O’s involving Trayvon Robinson & Robert Andino. He points out the good thing about Andino is that he can play multiple positions, he seems comfortable starting as well as working off the bench. His career batting average is .235, which is decent for a backup infielder role.
New NWSB Insider & Seattle Mariners blogger Jeff Budke weighs in on the M’s 2013 options in the outfield. Jeff is all in for Eric Thames. Thames only played in 40 games (the same number as Guti) for the M’s in 2013 after a midseason trade from Toronto, but he made his presence felt. Despite a .220 batting average, Thames showed some pop with a .439 slugging percentage. Mike Carp, Casper Wells, and Trayvon Robinson are in the mix too.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Jonathan Irwin reports on the third game of the series versus the White Sox. The Headline: in a rain shortened contest, Chicago has the final say as the M’s get swept. A timely home run was all the ChiSox needed to sink the Mariners in this seven inning game, wasting a strong start from Kevin Millwood. Mariner’s outfielder Michael Saunders sat out his second game in a row.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Jared Galde tells us a little bit about the feelings he’s feeling for the 2012 M’s. He doesn’t have delusions that we somehow have Ken Griffey Jr. in his prime, Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner and the gang in ’95 or even close to that level of talent but the 2012 Mariners are officially rolling. Stephen Pryor, Felix Hernandez, Michael Saunders and newcomer Eric Thames are contributing bigtime.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Q brings us the video today from last nights Mariners vs. Rays game where Eric Thames delivered his first walk-off hit in his career. M’s catcher John Jaso gave him the shaving cream pie during our live interview. “MY Mouth was OPEN!” Will go down as one of the best Mariners quotes ever.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Jonathan Irwin reports on the second game of the series versus the Tampa Bay Rays. The Headline: Eric Thames seals the deal with a walkoff single, propels M’s to another big home win. Thames wasn’t the only hero, as Millwood pitched a gem. The win propels the Mariners to 8-1 in their last nine home games. Kevin Millwood pitched an absolute gem, and that shouldn’t remain buried.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Clinton Bell weighs in with another M’s Week That Was. Intended to be a fun column, with lots of laughs and other good stuff. Normally it will be a top 10 list, a la David Letterman style. The week started off with a sweep. The Mariners did find a way to win two in LA. Jason Vargas was back to his winning ways. Remember when the M’s traded for Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi?
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Clinton Bell weighs in with another M’s Week That Was. Intended to be a fun column, with lots of laughs and other good stuff. Normally it will be a top 10 list, a la David Letterman style. The week started off with a sweep, and ended with a loss in New York. Felix Hernandez was once again brilliant, same with Iwukuma on his first win. Eric Thames homers off old team in first game with Mariners.
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Britton Ransford weighs in with another M’s article on the recent winning streak and the 2012 MLB trade deadline. With regards to Ichiro, it was a trade that had to be done and the Mariners did it at the right time. These wins are great. The early season was sour. Other than Chone Figgins finally being benched, there wasn’t much to be excited about. Let the fun continue!
