Reasons for hope, reasons for concern

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, April 14, 2007

Mariner Nation woke up with glee this morning. Their team had returned to first place, a half-game ahead of the Angels in the AL West.

What will it take to stay there the next 5 1/2 months? Nothing more than the things that have made a difference since the day baseball was invented — pitching, defense and hitting. It’s way too early in the season to know how good the Mariners really are in those phases of the game, but after two weeks here’s my view:

The offense hasn’t clicked yet, but blame that on the weather that wiped out five games on the last road trip. Hitters need consistent at-bats to find their groove, and from what I’ve seen so far, the Mariners are working counts well and putting themselves in position to hit good pitches.

PItching? Let’s give the starters a few times through the rotation to see where they stand’m not as discouraged by the first outings of MIguel Batista and Jeff Weaver as some outraged fans, although I must admit that Weaver is the highest-paid No. 5 starter I’ve ever seen.

I see a huge concern, however. This team can be woefully slow on the basepaths, and that kind of game doesn’t play well at Safeco Field. This is a ballpark that rewards gap hitters and first-to-third, second-to-home, first-to-home runners. Nothing creates or extends a rally like speed on the bases, and the Mariners have little. Ichiro Suzuki can run, Yuniesky Betancourt has good speed and so does Adrian Beltre when his legs are healthy.

The middle of the Mariners’ lineup is little more than a rolling chicane, with Jose Vidro, Raul Ibanez, Richie Sexson and Kenji Johjima that turns the M’s into a little more than a station-to-station offense.

What does all this mean for the rest of the season? Let’s play a few more weeks and let some patterns develop.