John Mclaren

Big Fat Bartolo Colon. Masterful. Two words you do not usually hear in the same sentence as of late. But alas, Big Fat Bartolo pitched 7 strong innings of 5 hit, 4 strikeout baseball on only 84 pitches to ultimately send Mariners fans home with a 7th straight loss. Colon had his best stuff against the Ms. His fastball was always around 93-95 MPH, and occasionally hit 97. His change-up was moving well and located with pristine accuracy. His slider was left up in the zone at times, but ultimately did not get punished like it should have. If you are a fantasy baseball player, take a chance on Colon. His velocity is higher than it has been since 2004.

Continue reading "Colon, Pedroia hand Mariners 7th straight loss"

In this morning's Seattle Times, Mariners beat writer Geoff Baker talked to Carlos Silva about clubhouse accountability. As I have expected, no one in the clubhouse feels accountable or at fault for this losing season. And face it, if people don't feel bad about their play as well as their team's, nothing will ever be fixed. This team needs a leader. I don't see anyone on this team that can fill that role. The one player that could change things is J.J. Putz. He is somewhat of a leader in the locker room, but is seen as more as a prankster than a leader. Without someone in the locker room to light a fire under the players (McLaren sure can't do it), this team will never be able to succeed.

Continue reading "Dear Mariners: Feel Embarrassed"