The Seattle Mariners received good news about an injury. It wasn't a Mariner player who was hurt, but none other than the Los Angeles Angels' hurler and ace, Jered Weaver suffered a broken elow that will sideline him for more than a month. Does this mean the Mariners will in fact remain in third place in the A.L. West division until further notice? I think so.
Though the Mariners do not possess the best pitching in baseball, they do have their ace healthy so far in 2013. Felix Hernandez has pitched decently as he continues to get a feel for the ball and Hisashi Iwakuma has also held his own in his first two starts of the year. In 14 innings pitched, Iwakuma has allowed four earned runs for a 2.57 ERA. Veteran Joe Saunders is also in the rotation trying to give the Mariners enough innings in every start.
The fishiest part is the back end of the Seattle rotation where they feature both Brandon Maurer and Blake Beavan. Both guys have a 9.00 ERA combining for 11 ER in their games of the season. These guys are young and as a young team, these are risks the Mariners take. However, their offense is packed with veterans that are far from superstars and the perfect combination of young and experienced players.
The addition of Mike Morse has already paid dividends as Morse has hit five home runs in the season. Bringing over Raul Ibanez and Kendrys Morales, only gives the Mariners more reason to be confident they acquired decent power hitters in the middle of the order. While Morales and Ibanez are 20-home run candidates, Morse can get up into the 30's.
Now, you still like the Angels' lineup better than the Mariners because they have Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton back-to-back in the lineup, not to mention they have the reigning Rookie of the Year award winner in their lineup. However, with great supertstars, comes a great deal of pressure. The Mariners aren't trying to win now, of course, winning would be lovely, however, the Mariners willl stick with the plan of establishing veterans and competing later.
When a team spends millions on two players, that shows they are in trying to win as soon as possible. There is more pressure for the Angels to perform as the season moves along. They have the stars team dream to stuff into their lineups. However, with no pitching, the Angels will be locking up fourth place. If Weaver's healthy, he could save their season in May.
The Angels are 2-4 in the first six games while the Mariner have played eight games and are 4-4.