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Triunfel should be up soon as well.
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Brendan Ryan is absolutely pathetic at the plate. I was surprised that M's put up 6 runs with him and Andino in the lineup.
[h1]Michael Saunders makes it fun to watch Mariners again[/h1] end HEADLINE SUB HEADLINE
As the Seattle Mariners approach the quarter mark of the 2013 season, we can deduce this much about their everyday lineup: It’s better, and way more fun to watch, when Michael Saunders is batting leadoff.
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JOHN MCGRATH; Staff writer
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JOHN MCGRATH The News Tribune
Published: May 13, 2013 at 12:05 a.m. PDT Updated: May 13, 2013 at 12:14 a.m. PDT
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#story_social_connections end SOCIAL BUTTONS FEATURED ASSET Michael Saunders finished the 2012 season for the Mariners with a career-high 31 doubles, 19 home runs, 57 RBI and 21 stolen bases. (GENE J. PUSKAR/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) end FEATURED ASSET STORY BODY
As the Seattle Mariners approach the quarter mark of the 2013 season, we can deduce this much about their everyday lineup: It’s better, and way more fun to watch, when Michael Saunders is batting leadoff.
Saunders had only a supporting role Sunday in the Mariners’ 6-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field. The center fielder wasn’t even the most influential Seattle player named Saunders. (That distinction belonged to starter Joe Saunders, who sustained his pattern of pitching like an ace at home.)
But Michael Saunders showed the value of his versatility. Facing fellow left-hander Tommy Milone in the bottom of the first, Saunders went with the pitch and hit a line drive to left center.
“He put a nice swing on that,” said manager Eric Wedge. “He didn’t try to do too much.”
After Kyle Seager walked with one out, Kendrys Morales launched a three-run homer over the wall in left field. Though the Mariners had all the runs they’d need, Michael Saunders wasn’t finished.
Leading off the fifth inning, he put a bunt in play. It wasn’t a very good bunt — he popped the ball up — but with his speed, it didn’t have to be. Saunders beat out the bunt for an infield single, then advanced from first to third on a Jason Bay grounder that took a bad hop on the third baseman. Saunders scored a moment later on Seager’s sacrifice fly to right.
Manufacturing runs off bunts and sacrifice flies is difficult for the Mariners, who have a glut of first base-designated hitter types tending to clog the basepaths — when they’re actually, like, on the basepaths. Put another way: No other player in the lineup Sunday would have considered advancing from first to third on what amounted to an infield single.
At 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, Saunders has the ability to win games with his power, to save games with his defense, and to change games with his speed. The shoulder injury he suffered while making a wall-banging catch on April 9 can’t be overemphasized.
The Mariners were 11/2 games out of first place, with a 4-4 record, when Saunders was put on the disabled list. During his absence, they fell to 8 games out of first, while their record dropped to 11-16.
Since Saunders’ return on April 28, they are 7-4. It took the Mariners almost a full month to win their first series, but after beating Oakland twice over the weekend, they’ve now won three of their past four series — and split the other.
When Saunders was told Sunday about how his influence on the team can be backed up with numbers, the former hockey player deflected the praise like a goalie fending off a slap shot.
“All I know is that I was happy to come off the disabled list,” he said. “It was tough just watching while the guys played.”
The injury derailed momentum Saunders had built in spring training, when the 26-year old resembled a one-man wrecking crew for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Saunders went 8-for-11 in the tournament with seven RBI, three doubles and a home run.
“He’s a very talented man that probably doesn’t get the recognition he deserves,” Canada manager Ernie Whitt said of his team’s MVP. “Playing in Seattle, they just don’t have the media coverage. But he’s just a tremendous up-and-coming outfielder who’s going to be a superstar.”
Last year was a breakout season for Saunders, who finished with 31 doubles, 19 home runs, 57 RBI and 21 stolen bases — all career highs. But his more compact swing, retooled the previous winter with the assistance of personal hitting coach Mike Bard, still found him striking out too often (132 times in 139 games) and working the count too infrequently (43 walks).
He’s improved in that area, too, with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 17-10.
“I think he’s just settled in,” said Wedge. “He’s gained experience the last couple years — in particular last year.”
Despite evidence to the contrary, Saunders doesn’t see himself as any kind of catalyst.
“We’ve got great hitters in the middle of this lineup,” he said. “I try to get on base for them, but they do the hard work.”
So did fans who followed the Mariners while Saunders was hurt. It was hard watching a lineup that offered little else but the potential to hit a long ball now and then. An offense built around the occasional bases-empty homer induces yawns and creates apathy.
But an offense built behind a leadoff man who can reach first on a flubbed bunt, and advance to third in the time it takes to snap your fingers? A leadoff man with more power than Ichiro Suzuki? That’s fun. That’s exciting.
“He has a good heartbeat up there,” said Wedge.
A good heartbeat? I’m not sure what the manager meant, and yet I understood. Michael Saunders has a heartbeat that’s so good, it’s providing the rest of his team with a pulse.
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Look, here.[Morse and Morales are] expected to handle the bulk of duties in the Nos. 3 and 4 lineup spots, taking the pressure off younger hitters by bumping them further back in the order.
[...]
All kidding aside, Morse says there’s a big difference hitting in the middle of the order compared to other places.
[...]
Morales, who debuted in 2006 with the Angels, feels there’s a confidence level required to stay in the middle of the lineup.
On Sunday, Michael Morse and Kendrys Morales were bumped down in the Mariners’ lineup. Morales is batting fourth, after batting third all season. Morse is batting fifth, after batting fourth all season. What’s the deal? We turn to our fearless leader:“In those situations, sometimes you rarely get to see a fastball. They are going to pitch you different and they are going to pitch you tough. You really have to relax and not try to do too much,” Morse said. “It’s tougher when you are young. It’s a big role and it’s a tough role. They had to learn the hard way.”
Morales and Morse were supposed to be stable, veteran additions, immune to trying to do too much in response to batting in the middle. Now, in Eric Wedge’s estimation, they’ve been trying to do too much in response to batting in the middle. It’s not that I don’t believe there’s some difference between batting in the middle and batting somewhere else. It’s not that I don’t believe veterans benefit from their experience. But I think this speaks for itself. In the Mariners’ own words, the experienced veterans aren’t doing what they were brought in to do. Wedge thinks they’re pressing, just like he thought the young guys were pressing.“I’m playing around with it a little bit,” Wedge said. “I still stand by the fact that Morales and Morse are just trying to do too much. They know they’re the guys here and I think with that sometimes you put a little too much pressure on yourself to do too much. You see both of them chasing more than they should.”
Smoak's been a little better as of late though, right?
I can deal with keeping Ryan around for his glove, but Andino...it blows my mind seeing them both in the lineup togetherBrendan Ryan is absolutely pathetic at the plate. I was surprised that M's put up 6 runs with him and Andino in the lineup.
Yeah idc how bad Ack has been...There's no reason to have Ryan & Andino batting in the same lineup....everI can deal with keeping Ryan around for his glove, but Andino...it blows my mind seeing them both in the lineup togetherBrendan Ryan is absolutely pathetic at the plate. I was surprised that M's put up 6 runs with him and Andino in the lineup.