Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Franklin Tanks It
What a pathetic performance from Ryan Franklin last night in the Mariners 11-7 win over the Cubbies. He just looked like a beaten man out there from the get go. Perhaps losing his rotation spot (seemingly) to Aaron Sele has worn him down. He gave up seven runs on nine hits and three walks in 5+ innings.
But his body language is what concerned me most. He just looked dejected and slumped, rather than the fighter we've gotten used to seeing out there.
After his last wind-addled start, Franklin said, “My versatility makes it (him going to the bullpen) an issue, and the team might be better with me in the bullpen, I don’t know. But I don’t think I’ve pitched badly enough to lose my job. I’ll accept it if that’s what they tell me to do – but I’ll say what I have to say first." Five days later, Franklin spoke a mouthful with his performance. I hope Ryan takes a good look at that last performance and decides he doesn't want to see that anymore. Otherwise, he's not even going to do us much good in the bullpen.
A few interesting things I've found recently. One commentor pointed me to Sportspyder, which is an excellent place to go for recent Mariner headlines. What we need is one aggregator that does news AND blog entries to one place.
I was worried when I saw the title of John Hickey's latest piece, Reluctant M's stopper Putz prefers to setup than finish. That sounds like Putz wants no part of the closer role. Reading the article, you find that Putz just says he learned a lot last year, and thinks he has more to learn in the setup role. He also thinks the Mariners are a better team with Eddie Guardado closer. Neither of these is a startling revelation. A better title would have been, "Putz looks forward to setting up Guardado." I do, too.
Finally, InsideThePark has a look at 20 Reasons the M's Will Win it All in 2005. There's pretty much a bullet for every player, but I think they missed one or two. One that I think will happen is that when the Mariners are contending this summer, Bill Bavasi WILL pull the trigger on a deal to pull in a major piece to the championship puzzle. And I think it will be important that Raul Ibanez continues to hit like he has all Spring. Ibanez is going to feast on the slew of righties this lineup should face.
But his body language is what concerned me most. He just looked dejected and slumped, rather than the fighter we've gotten used to seeing out there.
After his last wind-addled start, Franklin said, “My versatility makes it (him going to the bullpen) an issue, and the team might be better with me in the bullpen, I don’t know. But I don’t think I’ve pitched badly enough to lose my job. I’ll accept it if that’s what they tell me to do – but I’ll say what I have to say first." Five days later, Franklin spoke a mouthful with his performance. I hope Ryan takes a good look at that last performance and decides he doesn't want to see that anymore. Otherwise, he's not even going to do us much good in the bullpen.
A few interesting things I've found recently. One commentor pointed me to Sportspyder, which is an excellent place to go for recent Mariner headlines. What we need is one aggregator that does news AND blog entries to one place.
I was worried when I saw the title of John Hickey's latest piece, Reluctant M's stopper Putz prefers to setup than finish. That sounds like Putz wants no part of the closer role. Reading the article, you find that Putz just says he learned a lot last year, and thinks he has more to learn in the setup role. He also thinks the Mariners are a better team with Eddie Guardado closer. Neither of these is a startling revelation. A better title would have been, "Putz looks forward to setting up Guardado." I do, too.
Finally, InsideThePark has a look at 20 Reasons the M's Will Win it All in 2005. There's pretty much a bullet for every player, but I think they missed one or two. One that I think will happen is that when the Mariners are contending this summer, Bill Bavasi WILL pull the trigger on a deal to pull in a major piece to the championship puzzle. And I think it will be important that Raul Ibanez continues to hit like he has all Spring. Ibanez is going to feast on the slew of righties this lineup should face.
