Morrow was called into the manager's office and asked if he would like to start tomorrow. I am told he said sure, and thought it would be for the Rainiers. "How about here in Colorado?" Wak then asked him. Even better. Shortly after I saw Brandon with a bat heading to the cages. Got to be ready to hit in the NL parks...Apparently, Erik has come up with a shoulder problem...
Wak made a curious statement when telling us the news today. "It's a situation where we can take him to 60 (pitches) and maybe build him here," he said. "He has been getting work up here. We feel that's the direction we're heading right now with him.''
.....the shoulder problem cropped up in Bedard's last start, June 7 (last Sunday) against the Twins. The Mariners won 4-2, and Bedard got the victory, but he lasted just five innings (101 pitches). He gave up four hits, two runs, walked four and struck out four.
Wakamatsu said the decision to scratch Bedard tomorrow was "precautionary." He said, "It was a matter of how close he was to being where he felt it wasn't going to jeopardize anything. He could probably pitch, but we felt it safest not to.''
Bedard didn't pitch after July 4 of last year because of shoulder problems, and underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery on Sept. 26. Dr. Lewis Yocum removed a cyst and performed a minor labral debridement (which is removal of non-healthy tissue). The point is, he has a history with that shoulder, so, yes, this is something to worry about. But if he's back out there on Friday against the Diamondbacks, as the Mariners plan, that would be obviously encouraging. No doubt teams thinking about trading for Bedard will be watching him even more closely.
As for Brandon Morrow, he gets to stay in the majors a bit longer -- maybe more than a bit -- as he transitions to the rotation.
This season, Branyan's .289 batting average is roughly 60 points higher than his career total. He still has power; leading the Mariners with seven home runs, seven doubles and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .935.And while he's still prone to strikeouts, he's now fanning once every 3.3 at-bats instead of every 2.5.
"I think it's helped me really pinpoint and focus on the ball," Branyan said. "I see the ball exactly where it is."
Branyan spends 10 minutes a day, usually at home, training his eye muscles by donning special glasses and following a moving set of three-dimensional arrows on his laptop with help from a joystick. He can adjust the arrows' speed and vary programs — dealing with depth perception, tracking, focus and other visual areas — as he becomes more adept at following the images.
"We call it weight training for the eyes," Seiller said. "What we do is, we work on the speed and efficiency of the eye movements. And when you do that, you give the batter more time."
There are two components to Vizual Edge: the training program and an evaluation process that identifies visual strengths and weaknesses.
Zduriencik and the Brewers used both. Zduriencik has introduced Seiller's evaluation program into Mariners scouting, and the team has begun 15-minute eye tests on most amateur prospects being considered for the June draft.
"It helps you identify which players may have gifted vision," Zduriencik said. "And also, if any red flags pop up, you can look into it further to make sure it's not a serious issue that can come back to bite you later."
Congrats on #5000 , Mr. Niehaus!
The man who has been the voice of the franchise since its expansion inception in 1977 called his 5,000th Mariners' game Thursday when Seattle lost to Kansas City 3-1 in Kauffman Stadium.
The Hall of Fame announcer has missed just 90 games over those 33 seasons, not a bad attendance record.
When Niehaus called his first Mariners game in 1977, Jimmy Carter had just replaced Gerald Ford as president. Star Wars was debuting in theaters. The first Apple II computers were just hitting the market.
The Hyphe-ator tosses simulated game...
Rowland-Smith said the best part of the session was "facing hitters, seeing some swings-and-misses and getting ground balls and stuff. You feel like you are actually a baseball player again, not just a cheerleader on the top step of the dugout."Rowland-Smith has been recovering from triceps tendinitis for more than a month.
He broke camp as the fifth starter and pitched against the Athletics in Oakland on April 10, going 3 1/3 innings. He has been sidelined ever since.
The game plan is for the lefty to throw a bullpen session on Thursday and then begin a short rehab stint at extended spring training in Peoria, Ariz. He would then travel to Triple-A Tacoma for perhaps two starts before returning to the Mariners.
"It could change, but I have it all written down on a calendar," he said. "I'll probably be back [with the Mariners] at the end of the month."
Manager Don Wakamatsu was pleased with Tuesday's workout.
"He has made some adjustments in his mechanics, and I think he has improved," the manager said. "What I was looking for was the reaction of the hitters and his command. I thought he stayed behind the ball well today, and his breaking ball had late break."
