Ian Snell makes his second exhibition start today against the Giants in Scottsdale against The Man Who Got Away, The Lost Opportunity, The Cy Who Makes Us Sigh … OK, the Mariners are facing Tim Lincecum. Let’s bag that discussion for the next time we see Brandon Morrow.
For the Mariners, this wouldn’t be a bad time for Snell to show the consistency the team needs from him in the middle of the starting rotation.
Yes, it’s only spring training, but the Mariners badly need the starters who follow Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee to pitch deep into games on a consistent basis. If the Mariners can get that, it would make them feel a little easier about going with an 11-man pitching staff, which they’re considering.
Snell would be a key to that. In his 12 starts with the Mariners last year, Snell averaged just over 5 1/3 innings, lasting six or more innings in only half of those starts and never making it out of the seventh.
Snell gave up three hits, hit a batter and allowed one earned run in two innings in his first exhibition start last week against the Padres. Pitching deep into games isn’t the point at this time in spring training; Snell won’t go more than four innings today. What the Mariners want to see is steady, consistent progress that convinces them they have a starter they can depend on.
A few other early notes:
Today’s Mariner lineup:
Ichiro Suzuki, right field
Chone Figgins, second base
Casey Kotchman, first base
Jose Lopez, third base
Ryan Garko, DH
Eric Byrnes, left field
Ryan Langerhans, center field
Adam Moore, catcher
Josh Wilson, shortstop
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