With Figgins out of the leadoff spot, Ackley has become the regular in the first spot of the order. This has left a vacancy in the second spot in the order which has turned into a revolving door of struggling bats. Prior to tonight’s game, four players, John Jaso, Casper Wells, Brendan Ryan, and Alex Liddi, have been tried behind Ackley, but none have done particularly well. In eleven games, the second spot in the order has been 7 for 40 at the plate which gives a batting average of just .175. In addition, those four have struck out eight times in the eleven games, and have only drawn three walks while hitting second.

Tonight, Michael Saunders is taking his turn in the spot in the order. As I write this, he has two hits and a walk, raising the batting average of the two-hole to .214 in twelve games, but I really don’t see Saunders being a long-term solution.

Since it doesn’t appear that any of the five guys who have been tested in the second spot in the order will be staying there for long, I think it’s time to start looking for other solutions on the current roster.

My first idea is Ichiro. I have heard quite a few voices calling for Wedge to move Ichiro down in the order, but why not shift him up to second? If nothing else, I think we can assume that Ichiro will hit higher than .175. Personally, I always like having a lefty in the second spot in the order. This slot in the lineup is usually used quite a bit for small ball, and lefties can generally do things like hit behind the runner better than righties can. Ichiro is also a good bunter and runner, both of which put the game in motion and can be useful in Ackley’s old spot in the lineup.

The other ideal option for the second spot in the order is Kyle Seager. Seager has swung the bat pretty well this year, and he is a stereotypical two-hitter considering his ability to put the ball in play and his left handed bat. While Seager is a logical option, I think it would be a bad decision for him to be removed from the spot behind Jesus Montero. In my opinion, Seager has been crucial to the success of Montero, since he has provided the necessary protection in the order. Without Seager hitting behind Jesus, pitchers would be much less willing to throw him Montero strikes since Smoak and Carp would hit behind him with .205 and .139 batting averages respectively.

The fact of the matter is that the Mariners need to find someone who can produce out of the second spot in the order. I believe that it is time to try Ichiro there, since that arrangement would still allow for Seager to protect Montero in the batting order. Let’s see if Wedge gives Ichiro a turn in the two-hole.

News and notes…For those of you who have suggested moving Kyle Seager to short in order to see more of Alex Liddi, don’t hold your breath. Wedge once more today said that Seager was not an option at short. Not a surprise. What was a surprise was someone else he said he could put there. “I might consider playing Liddi at shortstop,” he said. “If you locked in on him in his pregame, he is all over it. All over with intensity.”

-Shannon Drayer

 Oh boy.

It is no secret that I am no fan of Eric Wedge, so I am going to be careful that this doesn’t become a forum to degrade him. However, I will point out that instead of attempting to point out his defensive aptitude over at the most important position on the diamond, he uses words such as “All over it” and “Intensity”. I’m sure I can be intense at something I’m bad at. Ever seen the hunt-and-peck typer? They are pretty intensly focused on that keyboard, but I guarantee they aren’t typing 120 words per minute.

Focusing on the problem at hand, I just have to ask why? Alex Liddi is barely passable at the hot corner, and his build isn’t exactly fitting for that of a short stop. I’m not saying Seager should nesessarily play short either, but I do believe he should probably audition there before Liddi. Seager himself is no defensive wizard, but he could certainly man SS slightly better than Liddi. You can only just now start to trust Seager’s UZR, and Liddi, while his UZR is still unstable, has always comes with defensive question marks since his time in the minors.

We’ve talked about it before, I don’t believe Wedge understands how to utilize the assets provided to him. I am certain Zduriencik never intended to see Liddi take any live balls at SS. This just doesn’t make much sense at all. Liddi is barely a defender now, experiementing with him at the busiest infield position is only going to end in tragedy

I’m away at a confrence this week so I don’t have much in the way of time to prep this and put it together the way I usually do. The Indians are a team that I think many of us underrate in general. They have an average pitching staff and a better than average offense with a bullpen that can hold it’s own. Are they able to beat the Tigers and take the AL Central crown? Maybe, maybe not.

What I know is that the Mariners are going to need for the bats to show up. We’re over a month and a half into the Season and we need more than one hot hitter going at a time. Otherwise they are going to strand more runners and we’re going to lose more games than we should.

Pitcher Previews

Wednesday, May 16th, 4:05 pt

Felix Hernandez vs Urbaldo Jimenez

Thursday, May 17th, 4:05 pt

Hector Noesi vs Zach Mcallister

Defensive Alignments

Bullpen

Series Preview 3-on-3 questions featuring

Fansided’s Senior Editor of Wahoos on First, Lewie Pollis

Harrison Crow: If I would have told you before the season started that you would be in first place after the first month would you have believed me?

 Lewie Pollis: Absolutely. It was clear before the season started that Detroit was the favorite in the AL Central, but I can’t understand why everyone was (and still is) so skeptical about this team. Last year the Indians suffered from ineffective veterans youthful inexperience, and being absolutely hosed by injuries, but they were still basically a .500 team. So doesn’t it make sense that they’d be good with an improved roster, more experience, and better health? The lead might not last, but anyone who completely wrote off the Tribe this winter wasn’t paying attention to what was happening in Cleveland.

HC: Does Urbaldo Jimenez ever become worth the trade and what Cleveland gave up for him?

LP:  At this point it’s hard to say that he will. Ubaldo has just looked awful this year—his velocity is down, he’s not getting enough strikeouts, and he’s walking almost seven batters per nine. Is there a chance he turns things around in the next year and a half? Sure. In terms of pure stuff he’s up there with the best pitchers in baseball. But he just hasn’t been the same pitcher since coming to Cleveland, and at this point I’m sure Chris Antonetti would be very happy to call “tradebacks” and reclaim Drew Pomeranz and Alex White.

Indians fans can take some solace (I guess? I don’t like to celebrate young players struggling.) in the fact that White and Pomeranz have been less than impact players in Colorado thus far. White gave up 12 homers in seven outings for the Rockies last year and started 2012 in the minors, while Pomeranz has been demoted after struggling with his control in his first five starts. That said, it’s way too soon to count either of them out. Even forgetting salaries and service time I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that at least Pomeranz will emerge as a better pitcher than Jimenez before Ubaldo’s contract expires.

HC: Do you think the Cleveland front office learned its lesson about buying into fast starts too soon, or do you see them trying to find help in sustaining their early success.

LP: I’m not sure what you mean by “learned its lesson.” The Jimenez deal was definitely an attempt to improve our playoff hopes last year, but he’s under team control through 2013. He wasn’t a half-year rent-a-player, the Indians acquired him to help out for (at least) three pennant races. Other than that the only “buyer” moves they made last year were the trades for Kosuke Fukudome and Jim Thome, neither of whom cost anything of value—not to mention that bringing back Thome bought the team a tremendous amount of goodwill. Anyway, it’s not as though the front office overreacted and bet the farm on a fluky start.

That said, the Indians could definitely look for some outside help if they’re still in the race come July. It’s possible they could go after another impact arm if Jimenez and Justin Masterson continue to struggle and Josh Tomlin’s health is still in question, but they have plenty of capable (if subpar) arms waiting in Triple-A. Going after a bigger bat at first base is a definite possibility—the team loves Casey Kotchman’s defense, but he’s not hitting well at all.

The other place the Tribe might want to upgrade is left field. The Johnny Damon experiment looks like a bust so far and for some reason the team doesn’t seem to have any faith in Shelley Duncan; unless someone steps up before June the Tribe will be betting on Grady Sizemore, but even if he’s really healthy this time he’s nowhere near the player he once was.

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LP: Entering Tuesday the Mariners are in third place in the AL West. Can they stay out of the basement all year?