Opening Day Tweet Up

It has been a while…

First off I would like to apologize to all of my regular readers for my lack of articles lately. I’ve been swamped with school, sports, and everything else that has been thrown my way. But opening day is almost here—the best day of the year!

This offseason, a few other Tweeps and I have been discussing the idea of an opening day tweet up. We want to have all the Mariners fans on twitter, well as many as possible, meet up during the game. After lots of discussing, we have decided on “The Pen” or formerly known as “The Bullpen Market". The following map gives you a brief overview of where it is and how to find it.

It is by sections 151 and 152 and it is right next to the bullpen. We will be meeting between the top and the bottom of the third inning. It will be a fun way to interact with other Tweeps and meet each other! For those of you with Four Square, it would be fun for everyone to check in at once. 

Another thing we want to do as a part of the Twitter filled opening day is have a list or chart of where everyone will be sitting. This way we can know who will be around us, and all the fun things like that.

I will be keeping a running tab on where everyone will be sitting on the page above titled “Opening Day Seating.” The people you should contact on where you will be sitting are:

•  Myself- You can contact me on Twitter @Mike_Schwartze on Facebook under Mikey Schwartze or email me at mikey6@comcast.net
• Peter Mag: Peter can be contacted on Twitter @realpetermag and on Facebook 
• Austin Williams: Austin can be contacted on Twitter @austin329 or on Facebook  

Another way to inform us of where you will be sitting is to simply comment on the “Opening Day Seating” page. I hope you all like the idea and will help us make it the best it can possibly be.

We will also be using the hash tag of #HOPEning during the event. (Watch for the #WeWantaWS to be thrown out there as well.) So let us get ready for opening day, as I know we have all been anxiously waiting! 

If you have any questions, ask away!

Mariners Make Their First Cuts

The Mariners made their first cuts of the spring today as it was announced earlier today. Six players have been sent down to minor league camp. Alex Liddi, Mauricio Robles, and Carlos Peguero were optioned to AAA Tacoma. Of that group, Robles is the only one that has played at the AAA level. Johermyn Chavez was optioned to AA Jackson. He finished the year at High A and he will really start to see some tougher pitching at the AA level. The players listed above are all on the 40 man roster.

The other two players are not on the 40 man roster and were re-assigned to minor league camp. The two players are James Paxton and Yusmeiro Petit.

Paxton, drafted in the 4^th round of the 2010 draft, was just recently signed after a very long holdout. He is a great addition to the farm system and its great news the Mariners we able to sign him. After he was signed, he was immediately sent to major league camp. The 6’4” 220lb left-handed pitcher should start the year at Low A. He has the potential to be a frontline starter but it will be interesting to see how he does after the long holdout.

Yusmeiro Petit spent all of 2010 at AAA Tacoma but has had some major league appearances with the Marlins and Diamondbacks prior to being signed by the Mariners in 2010. The 6’1” 255lb right-handed pitcher has served mostly as a reliever but has made some occasional starts.

Top Arms on Display in Peoria

The Mariners defeated the A’s today moving them up to .500 this spring. Today’s matchup featured some of the top arms in the Mariners system.

Starting the game was Cy Young winner, Felix Hernandez. Hernandez was making his first start of the spring and things went pretty well. He went 2.2 innings allowing 5 hits, 1 earned run, one walk, and striking out three. Manager Eric Wedge planned to have Felix go three innings but when allowing a few base runners in the third, the Mariners sent Justin Miller in to keep Felix’s pitch count reasonable. He threw 53 pitches and got the win and Wedge said things went just as planned.

After fans got a chance to see the team’s current ace, they had the opportunity to see a possible future ace. Michael Pineda began the fourth inning and ended up going two innings. He allowed one hit and two walks and struck out one while not giving up a single run. Pineda has pitched 4 scoreless innings this spring and has looked good. If he keeps this up, he will really pressure the staff in their decision of where he will begin the year.

Errorless Streak Comes to an End

The Mariners’ errorless streak has come to an end today. Since the charity game on February 27^th against the San Diego Padres, the Mariners had yet to record an error. The first error came in the bottom of the 6^th inning today as Matt Mangini botched a grounder at third.

The Mariners had gone 41 and 2/3 innings with out an error. That’s pretty impressive considering its spring training. Guys are typically a little rusty and we see A LOT of different players playing in the field. Let us hope the solid defense continues through out spring training and the regular season!

Make sure you check out the “Mariners Scores” tab at the top of the page and check out all the scores and notable performances.

Suprising Power in Peoria

Adam Kennedy

Yesterday I posted an article talking about some raw, young power on display in Peoria. I talked about the first three Mariners homeruns which were by Greg Halman, Carlos Peguero, and Johermyn Chavez. Today, there were 2 more Mariners’ homeruns, but this time it was by players you wouldn’t expect. Both were by non-roster invitees.

The first homerun was hit by Adam Kennedy in the second inning. Kennedy doesn’t produce much power at all. It was even more surprising that Kennedy was the starting 1^st baseman. Kennedy hit only 3 homeruns last year and his career high is 13 back in 2003 with the Angels. We won’t expect much power out of Kennedy this season assuming he makes the team. His homerun came off of LHP Matt Harrison.

The second homerun was by catcher Steven Baron. The 20 year old, right handed catcher is not known for his offense at all. He was drafted in the 1^st round of the 2009 draft at pick 33. He was paid much more than the recommended amount for that slot and he has disappointed people thus far. Baron was drafted for his defense and the club knew he would be a project offensively. Last year he posted very poor stats: a .222 AVG with 4 homeruns in 376 plate appearances. His solo homerun came off of right handed pitcher Neil Ramirez in the 8^th inning. It’s good to see him show some power even if it’s only spring training. The #1 rated defensive catching prospect in the Mariners’ system could ride his glove to the big leagues if the offense improves.