Six Man Pen Abandoned

Both Taylor and I missed the game today, so there won’t be any recap – I’ll just suffice to say that we’re only 4 game into the season, and that there was virtually no chance we were going to win the Doug Fister vs. Brett Anderson matchup.

So anyway, back to the news of the day. The 11 man staff idea has already been thrown out after just 1 series, and I can’t say I’m surprised. A few weeks ago, it looks like a really good plan, but without Cliff Lee in the mix, it just doesn’t work. When you go with a 6 man bullpen, you’ve gotta rely on your starters to get you as many innings as possible. Cliff Lee is a really good pitcher who’s going to give you a whole lot of 6-7 inning appearances. Doug Fister, as shown by his performance today, just doesn’t fit the same mold. You just can’t afford to only have 6 relievers when two of your starters are Doug Fister and Jason Vargas. So yeah, it was a nice thought, but at least until Cliff Lee is back in the picture, it isn’t a realistic one.

The saddest part about this situation is that Ryan Langerhans is the one who gets the boot, and I for one like having him around. Don’t worry, though, as there’s a very real possibility that as soon as Lee’s healthy, we’ll switch back to the 11-man staff, and Langerhans will make his glorious return.

Oh yeah, Jesus Colome is the reliever that was called up, and from all accounts he looked pretty solid in his Mariners debut this afternoon.

Taylor’s Note: In other news, there’s a neat used sporting goods store that just re-opened down on Boat St. called Second Base.