Cactus League Game 15, M’s at Angels
This is what we’re sending against Ervin Santana today.
SS Jack Wilson
2B Ryan
DH Bradley
RF Langerhans
1B Tuiasosopo
LF Gross
CF Saunders
3B Josh Wilson
C Moore
P Vargas
Thrilling.
The news today is that Franklin Gutierrez now has a diagnosis on the stomach problems that have been bothering him, which is that he has a slow digestive tract, a gastrointestinal traffic jam, if you will. They’ve put him on a new diet and are giving him medications now so that it should be pretty much a non-issue for him playing from here out. Good news for all of us, because the issues that had been bothering him contributed to him hitting just .230/.269/.332 in the second half, a significant drop off from the level of production we thought we might be getting after 2009. The system doesn’t have any strong center field prospects right now, so the better shape Death to Flying Things is in, the better shape the team will be in.
The other news is that two more minor leaguers got picked off, Blake Beavan being optioned to Tacoma and Yoervis Medina to High Desert. Beavan, at the moment, is tied with Pineda and Robertson for the third most innings in camp. He’s only struck out three in seven innings, but given his stuff and how he profiles, this probably isn’t too surprising. The first two outings had him give up two runs in three innings on three hits, and this last one he went to three only allowing one run. Medina only worked one inning and that was nearly two weeks ago. Given that he had no chance to make the club, I don’t quite know why he wasn’t sent down in the first round of cuts. More interesting to me is that they’re opting to send him to High Desert in his second season in the U.S., after he split time between Everett and Clinton last year. This makes sense because he spent the four-year maximum in the VSL and the team would probably like to do anything that they can to speed up his timetable, but man, ouch.
Games are now at 1:05 pm because Arizona doesn’t do that whole Daylight Savings Time thing.
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11 Responses to “Cactus League Game 15, M’s at Angels”
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If Spring Training performance is any indication, I think it’s pretty clear Langerhans is hitting himself into a lock for 4th outfielder.
The Herald had a feature on Langerhans a few days ago and how the elbow surgery he had in the offseason was more serious than they thought it was going to be.
Milton Bradley tried to steal home? Boy I wish there was video…
Hmm, for some reason I’m wishing I could see Griffey’s reaction to the Gutierrez diagnosis.
Why do we seemingly play Kazmar in every game? I’d rather see Kennedy…barring that, nearly ANYONE else.
They must have something they want to see wrt Kazmar. It’s not like these games matter – although, after last year, even spring training wins are welcome!
Glad to see Saunders get a couple hits for once. 😉 Are they seriously reworking his swing, or is that just media over-hype? Given the potential problems several people have identified with his “old” swing, it’d make some sense.
With Guti describing problems after eating ice cream before bed, I guessed he was lactose intolerant.
Mariners don’t need Kennady. Josh Wilson can play short, second and third. Langerhans can play first, all outfield spots and Tui can first, second and third also some outfield. Bench should be Wilson, Tui, Saunders( intill Bradley is traded) Langerhans and Gimenez.
I really don’t want to see Tui in a Mariners uniform this season – and Kennedy is a better player than either Tui or Paperboy.
I don’t think a guy’s flexibility is a particularly valuable commodity if he plays a bunch of positions badly.
I totally agree regarding Langerhans; although it might end up being at the expense of Saunders.
I honestly don’t see what Matt Tuiasosopo would bring that Adam Kennedy wouldn’t bring and then some.
Tui is going to be limited to playing 3B, LF, and 1B as he should, and Kennedy can play each of those positions as well as providing a left-handed platoon with Brendon Ryan at 2B while Matt isn’t going to offer any platoon advantage to the switch hitting Figgins, Bradley and Smoak.
You could argue power, but so far Tuiasosopo’s spring numbers have *never* translated to performance during the regular season. It’s not like he’s going to need major-league bench experiance, so let him get utility at-bats in Tacoma.
Vote common sense in 2011, vote Kennedy.
(This ad was paid for by Adam’s United for the proliferation of Adamhood)
I see we’re back to turning banjo hitting middle infielders into backup first basemen. Apparently we didn’t get enough of this with Miguel Cairo.
This should end well.