Monday, April 11, 2005
Pitching Update
First, the good news. Joel Pineiro looked great in his rehab outing against Fresno, giveing up one run in seven innings. Joel gave up five hits, no walks, and struck out six. Look for Pineiro to return to the rotation later this week.
Which is good timing, because Bobby Madritsch could be gone for awhile. A long while. A second MRI revealed a tear in the shoulder ligament. His arm will be placed in a sling for three weeks in hopes that it will heal without surgery. There is no positive spin I can put on this news. Surgery looks to be the likely outcome, and while the tear may be small enough, even arthroscopic surgery would end Madritsch's 2005 season. Even if Madritsch returns this year, we will be holding our breath with each start to hope he does not turn whatever scar tissue heals the shoulder into a big tear. That scenario could result in Madritsch missing part of 2006 as well.
Ryan Franklin looks to be the beneficiary of Madritsch's downtime, beginning with today's day game at Kansas City. It is the first of three straight non-televised day games in Kansas City.
Now, in a final bit of bad news, during and after yesterday's start, Gil Meche complained of elbow stiffness. An x-ray afterwards revealed nothing, but its something to keep an eye on.
The Mariners are going to need to show some resiliency to rebound from a terrible first week. But, we are already 2 wins up on the lightning 0-6 pace we set in 2004. If we gain 2 wins over 2004 every week of the season, then we'll go 115-47.
Which is good timing, because Bobby Madritsch could be gone for awhile. A long while. A second MRI revealed a tear in the shoulder ligament. His arm will be placed in a sling for three weeks in hopes that it will heal without surgery. There is no positive spin I can put on this news. Surgery looks to be the likely outcome, and while the tear may be small enough, even arthroscopic surgery would end Madritsch's 2005 season. Even if Madritsch returns this year, we will be holding our breath with each start to hope he does not turn whatever scar tissue heals the shoulder into a big tear. That scenario could result in Madritsch missing part of 2006 as well.
Ryan Franklin looks to be the beneficiary of Madritsch's downtime, beginning with today's day game at Kansas City. It is the first of three straight non-televised day games in Kansas City.
Now, in a final bit of bad news, during and after yesterday's start, Gil Meche complained of elbow stiffness. An x-ray afterwards revealed nothing, but its something to keep an eye on.
The Mariners are going to need to show some resiliency to rebound from a terrible first week. But, we are already 2 wins up on the lightning 0-6 pace we set in 2004. If we gain 2 wins over 2004 every week of the season, then we'll go 115-47.
