Mariners Preview: Pitching and the People that do it

Pitch Recognition

As I'm sure you recently saw, the MLB season is kind of underway technically sort of.  Yes, the Mariners are still in Spring Training, but they weren't for a few days there!  Those games in Japan technically counted, so there's that.  Of course, they also didn't really count, cause they were against the Athletics and they barely exist.

What was I writing about?  Oh yes, the Mariners.  As previously posted, the Mariners have hitters, some of which even hit nowadays.  The pitching, however, is quite a bit more anonymous.  Nobody gets overly excited about Kevin Millwood since 2005 and I doubt many people even know that Lucas Luetge isn't a name I just made up.  However, there is definitely a bit more worth looking at then those two random names I picked out of a hat.  For the sake of the reader, I will not be mentioning Felix Hernandez much, as he would probably just be every single positive category.  Let's mix it up, everybody!

Player I am Most Optimistic About: Erasmo Ramirez is a tiny man (for a professional athlete) and really shouldn't be all that good.  Hell, with all the hype about the Walker/Paxton/Hultzen triumvirate, which is awesome and will win every World Series, Ramirez is kind of an afterthought.  Of course, when you really look at it, this is a 21 year old who really wasn't a part of the 2012 or even 2013 plans who now will be on the opening day roster.  Sure it's Spring Training, but giving up one run in seven innings is mighty impressive, and I have yet to hear a single negative about this guy.

Player I am Most Pessimistic About:  Jason Vargas will never be a particularly exciting pitcher.  He strikes out about five and a half every nine innings, which is painfully average, and even looks fairly forgettable.  Of course, he is also the Mariners number two man now, thanks to the loss of Fister (you barely even know 'er) and Pineda (you barely even know 'ah?).  There seems to be an expectation that Vargas will be an above average arm that keeps the staff calm in between Felix's starts, but there just isn't evidence that shows that.  The guy has a career xFIP of 4.76, which is decidedly awful, and he took a big step back last year in everything but the public's opinion of him.  Furthermore, this spring he has been the worst pitcher not to be released entirely, giving up twelve runs in eight innings.  I just don't expect much of anything beyond a new Kevin Millwood, which is ok if we didn't also have old Kevin Millwood.

Player I am Most Excited to Watch Play:  I'm going to cheat here and say two different players, though in reality its just Felix.  However, beyond the King I am pretty pumped to see what we have in Hector Noesi.  Projected to be a middle of the road starter, he may well be the guy who can make or break the Pineda trade.  If things go as they are now, with Pineda overweight, inefficient, and hurt all in one spring while Montero and Noesi have both looked solid, we got an absolute steal, something I would have never expected.  However, if Noesi just becomes some Tom Gorzelanny type and Montero becomes nothing but a solid DH, we could look like idiots.  While Noesi himself isn't all that interesting to watch pitch, despite his awesome spring, his impact on the franchise could be big.

Expectation for the Team:  75-85.  I honestly think our offense won't be half bad, if and only if Wedge realizes that Olivo, Figgins, and Peguero should never play.  However, if we play them everyday or close to it like seems to be the goal of the Mariners, expect us to drop down to around 65 or 70 wins at best: having the worst catcher, third baseman, and left fielder in MLB start for you really brings a team down.  The pitching is mostly solid placeholders right now beyond Felix and (arguably) Noesi, so I don't see a lot to get excited about, though it will be good.  Erasmo Ramirez seems like a guy that just defies expectations all the time, and guys like Tom Wilhelmsen are fun and effective despite really having no future with the team.  Honestly, this year could matter less for our record: its all about waiting for Paxton/Walker/Hultzen come September and watching Ackley/Montero develop.  Hell, it'll be fun to see if a guy like Alex Liddi or even Vinny Catricala gets a chance this season too.  While the Mariners suck, there is a lot of looking up to do in the future.