It’s three months into the season and the Seattle Mariners have found themselves sitting on a 27-29 record. They have, of course, struggled with injuries to key players, including Ichiro Suzuki, Kenji Johjima, Ryan Rowland-Smith and Shawn Kelley.
The latter two should be regrouping with the Mariners fairly shortly, while Johjima is going to be out for about four more weeks.
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In Rowland-Smith’s and injured RHP Carlos Silva’s absences, the Mariners have been using southpaws Chris Jakubauskas and Jason Vargas to fill their lengthy openings in the rotations. Jaukubaus has recently been shifted over to the bullpen to make room for Garret Olson to join the five-man staff.
When Kelley was placed on the disabled list, he left with a 1-1 line while owning a 1.54 ERA. Right-handed relief pitcher Olson then joined the club after a stint with the Tacoma Rainiers.
A Brandon Morrrow injury earlier on resulted in a call-up for Sean White, a reliever who has made a name for himself by now boasting a 1.65 ERA.
Once all the injuries end, the Mariners actually have one of the statistically better pitching systems in the majors. The rotation has been shaky but is now coming into place.
Rotation
Felix Hernandez 5-3; 3.22; ERA; 79 SO
Erik Bedard 4-2; 2.37 ERA; 61 SO
Jason Vargas 2-0; 1.93 ERA; 19 SO
Jarrod Washburn 3-4; 3.22 ERA; 44 SO
Ryan Rowland-Smith 0-0; 0.00 ERA; 1 SO
Bullpen’s “Big Three”
Shawn Kelley 1-1; 1.54 ERA; 11 SO
Sean White 1-0; 1.65 ERA; 11 SO
David Aardsma 2-2; 2.05 ERA; 27 SO
Now when you include former All-Star Chad Cordero to the mix, then there's the possibility to create a four-man bullpen that occasionally allows Mark Lowe and Brandon Morrow to receive some playing time.
The future of the Mariner’s bullpen is still only partially here. The other two would be Phillipe Aumont and Joshua Fields, Seattle’s 2007 and 2008 first-round draft picks.
Reach Ben Brown at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
