SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners faced Los Angeles Angels lefty C.J. Wilson Tuesday night, which meant for the first time this season, we got a glimpse at how Seattle’s new-look lineup would fare against left-handed pitching.
And two of Seattle’s new right-handed bats, Nelson Cruz and Rickie Weeks, each got hits off of Wilson. Then again, those were the only two hits the Mariners had off Wilson in eight innings, with Wilson retiring 17 straight following Week’s third-inning single to lead the Angles to a 2-0 victory.
OK, so the improvement wasn’t evident on this particular night, but over the course of an entire season, Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon feels better about the names he’ll be able to write on the lineup card when Seattle faces left-handed pitching.
“We have much better balance,” McClendon said. “We have veteran guys who have pretty decent track records against left-handers, so I feel better.”
A season ago, the Mariners struggled against left-handed pitching — actually, they really weren’t a great hitting team against righties or lefties. But with a left-handed dominant lineup, the numbers were worse against left-handed pitching.
Over the offseason they worked to address that deficiency, most notably by signing Cruz to be their cleanup hitter. The Mariners also added Weeks, Tuesday’s leadoff hitter, and outfielder Justin Ruggiano. When they faced Wilson, they did so with just four lefties in the lineup: Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, Logan Morrison and Brad Miller.
“We ran a lot of left-handers out there last year against left-handers, and I don’t know how we did it, but we beat them,” McClendon said. “But I feel much more comfortable with this lineup.”
On Tuesday, that balance was no match for Wilson, who continued his mastery of the Mariners, improving to 16-8 against Seattle, his most wins against any opponent.
“We seem to always catch him on a good night,” McClendon said. “He’s been tough against us, and tonight was no different.”
But McClendon is still confident this year’s Mariners will hit lefties better than they did in 2014, one bad night notwithstanding.
“That doesn’t mean that’s not going to happen,” McClendon said. “It’s baseball, the guy pitched a hell of a game tonight.”
The Mariners didn’t hit for average last year, batting .240 against lefties (25th in baseball) and .246 against righties (20th), but there was a big difference when it came to generating any pop out of their lineup against left-handers.
Against righties last season, the Cano and Seager-led lineup had a .394 slugging percentage, which ranked a respectable 11th out of 30 teams, while against lefties that number dropped to .342, which ranked 29th.
“We’ve got guys who can contribute all over the place,” said left fielder Dustin Ackley, one of the left-handers who figures to have his playing time cut back this season by the addition of players like Weeks, Cruz and Ruggiano. “I think that’s what’s going to make us a great team is that we can hit one through nine.”
But while it was known that Weeks would start Tuesday against Wilson, what wasn’t necessarily expected was McClendon’s decision to put Cruz in the outfield and have Weeks DH. That decision wasn’t tied to the hamstring injury that briefly limited Weeks in spring training, but rather just a McClendon’s desire to get Cruz an occasional game in the field.
“Rickie’s fine,” McClendon said. “Just playing Nelson in the outfield and Rickie’s DHing. … I’m playing him in right field today. There was no deep thought to it, I’m playing him in right field. Rickie is DH. His hamstring is fine.”
Weeks, a second baseman for almost his entire career with Milwaukee, spent time mostly in the outfield and also first base during the spring. He also did some pregame work at first base prior to batting practice Tuesday.
“There will be times when (Weeks) might be in left field, he’s DHing today,” McClendon said.
As for breaking Weeks in at a new position, McClendon said there’s no trick to easing him into action at this point: “Just put him out there. I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s had plenty of fly balls, he knows the speed of the game, he just didn’t get a lot of action in spring, but we can’t run from that now. He’ll play some left field, he’s just not playing left field today.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.