In the Seattle Mariners' second Spring Training game of the year, they had the bats working in the hot Arizona sun at the Peoria Sports Complex beating the San Diego Padres 9-4. It was the first time this year for Mariners fans to see many of the big names such as Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, and, for the first time in a Mariners uniform, Nelson Cruz.
The Mariners got production all throughout the lineup and even saw Cruz hit his first home run in a Mariners uniform on a ball that went over the left-field foul pole. Another new Mariners outfielder, Seth Smith, got his first action and checked in with sacrifice fly to left. To go along with those two new additions, Seager, Logan Morrison, and Cano each added two hits a piece to pace the Seattle.
On the pitching side, we have had a look at two pitchers battling for the the fifth spot in the rotation the past two days with Taijuan Walker taking the hill Wednesday and Roenis Elias toeing the slab Thursday. Both looked pretty impressive, which will give manager Lloyd McClendon a lot to think about when he picks his choice for the fifth starter's spot.
Elias on Thursday got into a bit of trouble, giving up three hits and walking one, but did not give up any runs in two innings of work. He did get some help from the defense as he induced two 5-4-3 double plays.
As the game went on, we got a bit of a look into the future for Seattle while seeing Patrick Kivlehan and D.J. Peterson get some playing time. Both took advantage of it and have played well so far in the early going of Spring Training. Both Kivlehan and Peterson have home runs in the first two games after Kivlehan went yard today in the eighth inning along with Peterson's getting another base hit.
For another quick note, Mariners catcher Mike Zunino was hit by a pitch for the first time this spring. This may seem like a small detail, but he was hit 19 times a season ago! He will take the OBP, but as Zunino puts it, it is just the “Ugly finder.”
As for an update on the shortstop battle, Thursday was Brad Miller's turn to start at short, and he went 0 for 1 with a walk. This will be a good position battle to watch as Miller battles with Chris Taylor for the starting shortstop role on this ball club.
As they always do this early in Spring Training, the overreactions run wild. However, these performances by the Mariners against the Padres over the past two days have to be promising for a ball club looking to break out this season and make some noise. It is not just the main guys; it is the young guys as well.