Series Preview: M's vs Royals 4/14-4/15

The Kansas City Royals roll into the Emerald City for a brief two game set against our Seattle Mariners.


Expected Starters:

4/14 - Jarrod Washburn vs. Zack Greinke
4/15 - Miguel Batista vs. John Bale


Matchups to Watch:

Among Mariner hitters Raul Ibanez has found the most success against Greinke, hitting .500 (5/10) with 2 doubles and a triple. Bale pitched in Japan in two of the past three seasons and is unknown to most of the Mariner hitters, however Richie Sexson is 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Batista and Washburn haven't had too many problems throughout their careers with the players expected to be in Kansas City's lineup.

Keys to the Series: No time for me to get to the keys this time, but I may update them later. The next two series are short 2-gamers, so it's hardly worth the time.

I believe the Royals are playing decent baseball lately so this isn't exactly an easy series.

Series Preview: M's vs. Angels 4/11-4/13

The Los Angeles Angels roll into town as Seattle's primary competition for the AL West crown in the first of many important battles.

Probable Starters:
4/11 - Felix Hernandez vs. Jered Weaver
4/12 - Carlos Silva vs. Jon Garland
4/13 - Erik Bedard vs. Joe Saunders

Jon's Keys to the Series:

Keep up the good starts: Seattle's starting rotation as a whole has been doing very well this season. This is going to have to keep up as the Angels have a very potent lineup featuring the likes of Chone Figgins, Torii Hunter, Casey Kotchman and Mariner killers Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson. If the Mariner starters put up anything but their best efforts this lineup could really make them pay.

Take advantage of absent aces: Seattle has their two best pitchers throwing in this series while the Angels have their two best pitchers on the disabled list. Jered Weaver is the best pitcher that the Angels are throwing out there, so Seattle should definitely take advantage of Jon Garland and Joe Saunders. Garland and Saunders have had some very good starts already this season and Saunders hasn't given up a run, but both appear to be pitching above their capabilities. Seattle needs to take advantage of Los Angeles' missing aces and expose their starters for what they are.

No free passes: Walks are never a good thing to give out, especially to this lineup. Seattle pitchers cannot afford to walk guys like Figgins and Gary Matthews at the top of the lineup or their guys in the bottom third. If these guys are let on for free the big boppers in the middle of the order will undoubtedly make Seattle's pitchers pay. A solo home run hurts a lot less than one of the three run variety, so it's important to make these guys earn their way onto the basepaths.

Time for Wilkerson to wake up: Brad Wilkerson has been struggling mightily since joining the Mariners, but he could use this series to help get his season started. Wilkerson smashed six homers against the Halos last season, his most against any single franchise. He has especially done well against Garland and Saunders over the course of his career.

These games are important: Yes, it's only April, but these games count just as much as the ones in September. It's important to get off to a good start against the Angels as they're likely going to be Seattle's top competitor in the AL West this season. I think the AL West race could realistically come down to who wins the season series between these two teams.

This is going to be an exciting series and I can't wait to see how Felix does in his third start. Last year he hurt himself on his third start and it threw off his season, hopefully he can get through this one without a hitch and continue dominating. Go M's!

Series Preview: M's at Rays 4/8-4/10

posted by Jon

Seattle moves on from an embarrassing showing in Baltimore to take on the revamped Rays in Tampa Bay.

Projected Starters:
4/08 - Erik Bedard vs. Matt Garza
4/09 - Jarrod Washburn vs. Andy Sonnanstine
4/10 - Miguel Batista vs. Edwin Jackson

Note: In the previous Series Preview the starters were listed as Washburn-Batista-Hernandez-Bedard. As you probably know by now, Bedard had some hip inflamation and had his start pushed back to this series, resulting in a lineup shuffle that produced a Washburn-Batista-Hernandez-Silva pitching order in Baltimore. Look for another rotation shuffle after this series in order to separate the lefties Bedard and Washburn.

Keys to the Series:
Not a lot to this one, Seattle just needs to bounce back from an awful series against the Orioles. The rotation needs to keep doing what their doing and the relievers have to step it up to fill the giant void left by J.J. Putz.

I'd give you more, but I'm still not completely caught up with what's happening in Mariner-land after my long weekend away. Continue to help fill me in here.

Other Series Previews:
M's at Orioles 4/4-4/7
M's vs. Rangers 3/31-4/2
or view all

Series Preview: M's at Orioles 4/4-4/7

Seattle heads on their first roadtrip of the year to visit old friends George Sherrill and Adam Jones in Baltimore for a four game set.


Projected Starters:

4/4 - Jarrod Washburn vs. Adam Loewen
4/5 - Miguel Batista vs. Jeremy Guthrie
4/6 - Erik Bedard vs. Brian Burress
4/7 - Felix Hernandez vs. Daniel Cabrera

Note: There has been some talk that Seattle would skip Batista's start and keep him in the bullpen for the series, pushing Bedard's start up to Saturday. Multiple people have seemingly heard this, but I've yet to read a report to confirm it. Batista said post-game on Wednesday that he'd still be starting, so I have no reason to believe otherwise.


Keys to the Series:


Pick your battles: The Baltimore Orioles are one of the worst teams in the league, but they do have some very good hitters in their lineup. Seattle starters, especially Washburn and Batista, would be wise to pick their battles while going through the lineup by pitching around certain hitters. Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis, two top-tier players at their respective positions, are the hitters to avoid. I'm not saying that the Seattle pitchers should intentionally walk these guys, but there is no need to throw a 3-1 fastball down the middle. Once you pass these hitters their other "impact bats" appear easily beatable. Melvin Mora, Kevin Millar, Aubrey Huff and Roberto Hernandez round out the rest of the top and heart of the lineup. All of these guys may have been once considered among the best earlier in their careers, but they pose little threat at this point of their careers compared to other team's power hitters.

Be patient: Seattle had been stressing patience at the plate during Spring Training, and so far it has been paying off. During the opening series Seattle hitters appeared to be taking more pitches, working the counts better and drawing more walks than they did last season. Seattle's willingness to wait back and take pitches could prove to be big in this series against Baltimore's young starters, Daniel Cabrera in particular. Despite being loaded with upside, Cabrera is coming off of back-to-back 100 walk seasons.

Score early: Obviously this could be a key to every series, but Seattle struggled with getting runs on the board in the first two ballgames against Texas. While Baltimore's pitching staff is downright awful, it is always important to score early to set the tone and give your starter some confidence. The bigger the lead, the deeper into the ballgame the starter might be able to go, which would save Seattle's paper-thin bullpen.

Relax a little: Now that the pressure of Opening Day and the home town fans has lifted, I think we could see a big series from both Richie Sexson and Brad Wilkerson. Both of these guys wanted so badly to impress the Seattle faithful, and probably put too much pressure on themselves to succeed, Sexson probably more than Wilkerson.

It's pretty cut and dry; Seattle is the better team. Bedard and Hernandez should be able to cruise through this lineup if they show even a glimpse of their good stuff. I was really looking forward to watching Bedard strikeout former Mariner outfield prospect Adam Jones, but unfortunately I'll be out of town this weekend and unable to watch the games. Enjoy the series!

Series Preview: M's vs. Rangers, 3/31-4/2

The Texas Rangers come to Safeco Field for Seattle's home opener.

Projected Starters:

3/31 - Erik Bedard vs. Kevin Millwood

4/01 - Felix Hernandez vs. Vicente Padilla

4/02 - Carlos Silva vs. Jason Jennings

Keys to the Series:

Scoring off the starters: Millwood, Padilla and Jennings have all had flashes of brilliance at some point in their careers, but they have struggled in recent years and it is important for Seattle to score on them early in the games. Texas' bullpen is much more talented than their rotation, featuring former Japanese closer Kazuo Fukumori, one of the best setup men in the league in Joaquin Benoit, former Seattle closer "Everyday" Eddie Guardado, a young up-and-coming closer in C.J. Wilson and some capable arms in middle relief.

Neutralizing Texas' offense: While Bedard and Hernadez are one of the top 1-2 punches in the league, shutting down Texas' starting lineup is no easy task. 1-5 they'll be starting Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley and Hank Blalock, a combination that will surely be one of the more productive 1-5s in the game by the end of the season. Hamilton, Bradley and Blalock are all 30 home run threats if they stay healthy, while Young is usually among the league leaders in hits and Kinsler is quickly becoming one of the best offensive second basemen in the league.

Saving the bullpen: Seattle's decision to go six in the bullpen rather than seven, paired with their decision to send rubber-armed reliever R.A. Dickey to AAA makes it more important than ever for Seattle's starters to go deep into the ballgames. Last season the bullpen was overworked early in the year causing most our relievers to fade during the final months. Ideally Seattle should want Bedard, Hernandez and Silva to get through six innings in their first starts of the season.

Getting off on the right foot: It's the first series of the year, and it's important for our players to get their seasons started on a positive note. Bedard and Ichiro Suzuki will look to rebound from a tough Spring Training, while Richie Sexson and Jose Lopez will look to rebound from awful 2007 campaigns. Raul Ibanez got off to a rough start last year before rebounding in the second half. If he can get off to a good start it will be a big help to the offense. Health early in the season will be important as well. Bedard has been somewhat injury prone throughout his career, Sexson was battling bursitis during Spring Training, Mark Lowe is coming off a major arm injury. Seattle has one of the top training staffs in all of baseball and injuries are rarely an issue. Let's keep it that way.

It's Opening Day! There are few regular season games as exciting as this one and I hope you can all watch it. Go Mariners!