Ryan Rowland-Smith's debut as a starter was unspectacular. His line:
5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 103 pitches
To elaborate farther, Rowland-Smith did not have a great overall outing. He only had 8 ground balls compared to 7 flyballs and 4 line drives.
So much for Tacoma helping him out, huh. Im hoping Morrow will be a bit better in his return. With Jarrod Washburn on the way out, and Batista being in the bullpen, there will be plenty of starts for the young guns in the majors this year.
If the prospects the Mariners have work out on the pitching end of things, assuming Aumont isn't another Ryan Anderson, here is the projected rotation in a few years:
1. Felix Hernandez
2. Brandon Morrow
3. Ryan Rowland-Smith
4. Philipe Aumont
5. Carlos Silva (assuming he isn't traded or DFA by then)
Now, that isn't really a top of the line rotation, but it could be. Morrow and Aumont both have top of the line fastballs, and Aumont has a MLB slider. Now if Morrow can develop his change-up, splitter and slider he can be 100 times more effective. R.R-S. can be a good lefty that can be put in the middle of a rotation and win around 10-13 games a year, IF he can work on getting the ball on the ground a bit more.
Really, the M's need another young starter for this team. Could there be one floating around in the minor league system? Sure, why not. They really just need to draft better (Morrow over Lincecum, really?) and make sure the minor league system teaches the players the right tools, and keeps them healthy.
Keywords: Seattle Mariners
