Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Though the pregame discussion was on Toronto Blue Jays SP Ricky Romero‘s promotion and insertion in the Blue Jays rotation, the actual game’s discussion was muted by Seattle Mariners SP Felix Hernandez.
The entire game could be well-summarized by two tweets from FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron, “Felix is dealing tonight…” and “Ricky Romero doesn’t look fixed, still getting owned by lefties.”
While the Blue Jays’ re-promotion of Romero was probably rushed when they placed SP Josh Johnson on the disabled list, it seems that the small time he spent in the minors didn’t help. His four inning, three walk, three run outing was underwhelming and must be alarming for Jays fans.
With R.A. Dickey and Brandon Morrow struggling, the fans needed rotation stability in some form. Their early season struggles have been both in run prevention and creation, but their very low BABIP and batting average with runners in scoring position indicate that the offense should naturally improve. The pitching, however, is an unnerving problem.
For the Mariners, however, run prevention isn’t much of a worry when King Felix is on the hill. His eight inning, no run performance Friday lowered his season ERA to 1.52.
While the Mariners recent demotion of Brendan Ryan will significantly hurt their defense and not improve their offense, their worries can be lessened with Hernandez pitching. Though their offense has many new cogs, it was farm-raised 3B Kyle Seager who did most of the damage for the Mariners.
While many discuss the importance of new acquisitions Michael Morse and Kendrys Morales, there is equal importance on long-time Mariners Seager and Dustin Ackley. With arguably the best starter in baseball on the hill every fifth day, the Mariners have slightly less to worry about than the entirety of their 25-man roster would indicate.
