You Be the Manager: Who Should M's Drop from Starting Rotation?
Erik Bedard returns to the Mariners rotation on Tuesday, having missed the last month with a sore shoulder (according to team doctors--some of our Mariner fan friends contend that the oft-injured Bedard has a sore part of the female anatomy.) Bedard's return takes up a spot in the five-man starting rotation, meaning somebody's headed to the bullpen or, worse yet, back to traveling coach class with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers. Ew.
All-Star Felix Hernandez and the reinvigorated Jarrod Washburn are rotation locks. Bedard will replace one of Jason Vargas, Brandon Morrow, or Garrett Olson.
Who would you demote?
Jason Vargas: 2-3, 4.42 ERA in 10 starts. 13/31 BB/K in 55 IP. High-80s FB.
Vargas started the season strong, allowing just seven earned runs over his first five starts. Recently, though, he's been shaky. Vargas has pitched through the fifth inning--the bare minimum for starter success--in only one of his past four games. The 26-year-old starter came from the Mets in the J.J. Putz trade, he'd missed all of 2008 with a hip injury. After starting the season in Tacoma, he came up to the M's bullpen before moving into the rotation.
Brandon Morrow: 0-0, 3.97 ERA in 5 starts. 13/25 BB/K in 22.2 IP. Mid-90s FB.
After flaming out as the M's closer, Morrow asked for and received a transfer to the starting rotation. The M's originally planned to send him to Tacoma, but Bedard's injury opened a spot and Morrow slid in. He had a very low pitch count limit at first, but has slowly built up his stamina. Sunday, Morrow threw six solid innings against Boston, his longest start so far. His control remains shaky, and he's susceptible to the long ball, but the former first-round pick clearly has more pure talent than Vargas or Olson.
Garrett Olson: 3-2, 5.00 ERA in 8 starts. 15/24 BB/K in 45 IP. Low-90s FB.
Olson has bounced all over the place this season--beginning the year as a starter in Tacoma, then coming up to take a spot in the Mariners bullpen, making some spot starts, moving back to the 'pen, and then moving into the rotation full-time June 11. Olson's had five starts since then, and the M's have won four of them. We were particularly impressed with Olson's performance against the Red Sox Saturday--he couldn't control his fastball but was able to keep the Sox in check with his soft stuff.
We'll find out the Mariners' choice tomorrow, when Bedard is activated off of the disabled list and the team makes a move to clear space on their roster. Meantime, let the argument begin!
