Today's Fun Fact

by Jeff Sullivan on Feb 27, 2009 6:31 PM PST in Seattle Mariners Stats

Between Felix Hernandez and Brandon Morrow, the Mariners could have two of the top ten hardest-throwing starters in baseball this year.

Given those two, Mark Lowe, David Aardsma, and possibly Josh Fields later on, there's a good number of guys here who're going to be a nightmare to face when it's cold out.

Tweet Comment 16 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

As much a debacle as the Bedard traded ended up

Felix/Bedard/Morrow is potentially one of the most lethal rotation tops in the league. Particularly in Safeco.

I am excited for this season, not for what we are likely to do, but for what we COULD do.

by Andersean on Feb 27, 2009 6:44 PM PST reply actions

It is neat to root for a team with upside.

by Jed MC on Feb 27, 2009 7:13 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah if things break right we could actually be pretty great at preventing runs.

The pitching staff could be borderline amazing. The offense really prevents me from getting overly optimistic about this team. We could be pretty spoiled watching our pitching staff next year though which is pretty exciting.

by Edgar for Pres on Feb 27, 2009 7:22 PM PST up reply actions

What I hope is that.

Jarrod Washburn’s or even Silva’s numbers will look much better, thanks to the improved defense. Then, there will always be a team looking for pitching, like the Yankees maybe, and the M’s will be teetering on contention, since the AL West won’t be that good this year. Then they will trade Washburn for a solid hitter (maybe a Griffey injury will encourage this) and then free up a rotation spot for RRS. Just a hope.

by Fin on Feb 27, 2009 10:08 PM PST up reply actions

I'd rather go to the playoffs than trade Washburn

We all like RRS a lot but if your goal is to improve this team, going from Silva or Washburn to RRS won’t get it done.

by Edgar for Pres on Feb 28, 2009 11:36 AM PST up reply actions

There's a good argument to be made that RRS is better right now than Jarrod Washburn.

by Matthew on Mar 1, 2009 10:14 AM PST up reply actions

Or at least on par

by Jeff Sullivan on Mar 1, 2009 2:12 PM PST up reply actions

I was actually looking at some of Washburn's splits over the last three years

and was amazed to see how effective he is against left-handed hitters. This would explain, I think, why we see such a Jekyll/Hyde in Washburn against different teams; good against the Yankees, bad against the Angels.

For all the talking we do about platooning hitters to face LHP/RHP, I’m surprised there isn’t more discussion about staggering starts for teams likely to trot out x or y number of LHB.

by Andersean on Mar 1, 2009 4:35 PM PST up reply actions