It’s the weekend! For some of you. All through high school I worked at the movie theatre on Pac Highway by the airport where I was ominously told on the day of my hiring “we work while others play.” So, if you’re heading to work to prop up other people’s playtimes, know that I am rooting for you. *shakes pom poms*
In Mariners news...
- The Yankees released Wade LeBlanc the other day, and Jerry has pounced:
Reliever Wade LeBlanc, who was released by the #Yankees on Friday at his request, has agreed to a big-league deal with the #Mariners, source says. Jerry Dipoto adds a reliever after losing David Phelps for the season with Tommy John surgery.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) March 24, 2018
- The Mariners made a couple of moves, reassigning Christian Bergman to minor league camp and releasing Gordon Beckham. Beckham was a camp standout, but the Mariners are going to let him pursue opportunities elsewhere:
Beckham has played very well this spring, but he may have had an opt-out or the Mariners decided to release him to see if there is a better situation to make a team.
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 23, 2018
- Ichiro took a pitch off the helmet in yesterday’s minors game, but he appears to be okay. He was even well enough to joke around, faking amnesia with Canó and Cruz. Ha! Ha Ha! I am laughing a genuine, carefree laugh!
- In one of those minors games, Cruz apparently hit a ball so far it maybe still hasn’t landed. Ryon Healy’s reaction:
Last thing Healy said to an unidentified Ranger was “you’ve never hit a ball that far in your life,” and then he strolled over to the other field and took Sadzeck deep oppo on a 2-0 fastball. So I imagine he’s feeling pretty good.
— Scott Lucas (@scottrlucas) March 23, 2018
- Meanwhile, Fangraphs continues to be so low on Ryon Healy as to be subterranean.
- Hisashi Iwakuma might be the Mariners’ secret weapon in 2018.
- Speaking of Kuma, he threw a bullpen yesterday and then excitedly posted it to his Instagram story. Even if you don’t do Insta, you should check in on our Rock Bear every so often, as his Instagram feed is a constant fount of goodness and light, and we could all use more of that in our lives.
Around the league...
- It’s bad news for the Giants, who look to be without both Jeff Samardzija and Madison Bumgarner to start the season. Yesterday Shark caught a case of the sog which turned out to be a strained pec, and today MadBum took a comebacker today that apparently fractured his pinky finger—sorry, sorry, his fifth metacarpal. Samardzija looks to be out a month or so—that’s the same injury that felled our Big Maple in early August last year—but Bumgarner, who will have surgery tomorrow, is four to six weeks before he can even start rehab. So if the Mariners are looking to pluck someone from the FA pitching pile to replace Phelps, they’d better deflate the tires on the Giants’ Mystery Machine first.
- Speaking of the sog, Cleveland pitcher Ryan Merritt has it.
- Old friend alert: The Athletic ($) suggests Dominic Leone could be closing for the Cardinals sooner rather than later.
- Newly acquired Rangers reliever Tim Lincecum won’t be ready for Opening Day after a blister issue.
- The A’s continue to be Very Good, will host César Chávez day.
- Stephen Wright gets a fifteen-game suspension for his domestic violence incident. Wright will begin the season on the DL, and his suspension will start once he’s activated. MLB also announced that they cleared Miguel Sanó of harassment allegations, citing “insufficient evidence.” For background on the Sanó situation, check out Brandon Warne’s article here. Meanwhile, a bunch of minor leaguers got half-season suspensions and bans for pot.
Site note:
You may have noticed that comments aren’t turning teal at 10 recs anymore. At the suggestion of one of our commenters (The 1981 Seattle Mariners), to honor Edgar in his final year of HOF eligibility, comments will teal at #11. So be generous with those recs.
Kate’s pick:
The Oregon State women’s basketball team knocked off #2 seed Baylor last night in a thrilling upset. In the past week, they became both the first team to ever beat Tennessee in Knoxville during the tourney AND snapped Baylor’s 30-game win streak. Pretty, pretty good. And their bench has jokes:
the oregon state bench held up a 10 after a big shot hahahaha pic.twitter.com/1e350XOIet
— Whitney Medworth (@its_whitney) March 24, 2018