Fantasy Notes: Scoreless in Seattle
Alright, I admit it. I’ve been totally remiss about getting into baseball so far. It’s just that basketball has me completely entranced lately, it’s going to get worse before it gets better (March Madness, NBA Playoffs). So while there is about five minutes between March Madness games, I’m going to clock in with an observation or two.
- Remember how desperate the Mariners were for starting pitching this offseason? Desperate enough to deal Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez? Ya, you remember. At any rate, it’s only spring training, but so far, so good for Seattle and its patchwork rotation. After Jarrod Washburn’s four-inning, one-run effort on Tuesday, the Mariners’ projected starting five have surrendered just four earned runs over the past 29 innings. That would be a 1.24 ERA for those scoring at home. Opponents’ BA? Try .188. Who knows? Maybe a starting five of Washburn, Felix Hernandez, Miguel Batista, Ramirez and Jeff Weaver can get the job done. It’s going to take a major recovery from both Washburn and Weaver, a healthy Ramirez and a big step forward by Hernandez to help this team get back to .500, never mind make some progress in what should be an improved AL West.
- Speaking of the Mariners, here’s a name that jumped out at me when scanning the boxes: Tony Torcato. Wow, I hadn’t thought about him since Hector was a pup, but here he is batting .357 (5-for-14) through 10 games with five runs, four RBI, a couple of doubles and a steal. Torcato’s chances of winning a bench job are probably non-existent, but he’s survived the first wave of cuts and is at least putting his name in the hat for a callup should one of the Mariners’ outfielders land on the DL. Now 27, he was the 19th overall pick in 1998 and spent years as a prospect in the Giants system, batting .296 in nine seasons in the minors, but last appearing in the majors in 2005.
