HeraldNet: What to do with Batista



RECENT POSTS:
• No surprise: Ichiro elected to All-Star team July 6 • Riggleman cuts Bedard some slack July 5 • And now, a short break from the Mariners July 3 • Nothing sinister in Mariners lineup without Lopez July 2 • Searching for (an offensive) personality July 1

Archives:



RELATED ARTICLES:
• A-Rod ties Mantle with 536th home run July 6 • Tigers score winning run in 15th off Mariners' catcher turned pitcher July 6 • Mariners' Bedard to miss start, Hernandez poised to return July 6 • Mariners' Suzuki, Indians' Sizemore selected to AL All-Star team July 6 • Brewers close to deal for Sabathia July 6 • Clement powers Mariners to win July 6 • Mariners update July 6 • Knuckleballer Dickey's emotion of choice is hope July 6 • Clement's 2 HRs lift Mariners over Tigers July 5 • Mariners' manager says Bedard might not be fully healthy July 5


ADVERTISEMENT <script language=JavaScript src="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/169233/0/vj?z=heraldnet&ct=122081&dim=169231&abr=$scriptiniframe"></script><noscript><a href="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/169233/0/cc?z=heraldnet"><img src="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/169233/0/vc?z=heraldnet&ct=122081&dim=169231&abr=$imginiframe" width="160" height="600" border="0"></a></noscript>

Mariners Blog

May 17, 2008

What to do with Batista

Posted at 7:49 pm by By Kirby Arnold

One day after Miguel Batista started pitching effectively at 7:40 p.m. in a game that began at 7:11, the Mariners weren't any closer to finding a solution to the right-hander's first-nning problems.

"We're looking at everything," manager John McLaren said.

When he says everything he means everything -- from the way Batista warms up to his throwing mechanics to his pitch repertoire to what he's thinking (good luck with that).

Batista is an E-ticket pitcher anyway, a guy with good stuff who occasionally loses all sense of where it's going. Most of the time it happens during one inning and he's able to rein himself in. In his past three starts, Batista has struggled from the outset.

He has allowed eight hits and seven runs in the first inning of his past three outings, needing 106 pitches and an elapsed time of 55 minutes to get nine outs. He hasn’t lasted more than 5 1/3 innings in any of his past three starts and, having allowed 22 hits and 15 runs in 13 innings, his ERA in those outings is 10.38. His ERA for the season is 6.11.

The Mariners have no plans to pull him from the rotation. "Who else are we going to put in there?" McLaren asked.

That may be a valid point now, but if Batista's problems on the mound continue, I can think of a certain knuckleballer at Class AAA Tacoma (OK, it's R.A. Dickey) who couldn't pitch any worse.

Return to Mariners Blog

TODAY'S TOP JOBS

View All Top Jobs

>> view all top homes

>> view all homes

<script language=JavaScript src="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/105699/0/vj?z=heraldnet&dim=100749&abr=$scriptiniframe"></script><noscript><a href="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/105699/0/cc?z=heraldnet"><img src="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/105699/0/vc?z=heraldnet&dim=100749&abr=$imginiframe" width="728" height="90" border="0"></a></noscript>
\|Contact Us \|Advertiser Services \|Home Delivery \|Newsstand Locations \|Classifieds \|Feedback \|About the Company \|Work@the Herald \|Site Map	© 2008 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA.