SundayNewspaper

C4 Sports | | SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2019 2 R The big number 77/54 The Mariners have hit 77 home runs this season, including 54 on the road. Both totals lead the major leagues. Through Saturday’s game Prospect watch Ljay Newsome Starting pitcher, Class AModesto. Selected in the 26th round of the 2015 draft out of Chopticon High School inMorganza, Md. Newsome has dominated the Class A Cal League for Modesto. In seven starts, he’s posted a 4-2 record with a 2.50 ERA. In 39 2 / 3 innings, he has struck out a ridicu- lous 59 batters with just four walks. He’s averaging 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings and has a 14.75 strikeout to walk ratio. The right-hander has always been a strike thrower. In 2017, he won the Mariners’ 60-feet, 6-inch award, which was given to the Mariners minor-league pitcher who dominates 0-0 and 0-1 counts. After putting in work in the offseason “velocity camp,” Newsome’s fastball has bumped up from90-91 mph to 93-94mph this season. Former Mariner update J.A. Happ Left-handed pitcher, New York Yankees The veteran lefty picked up a win against the Mariners on Thursday in New York, tossing five shutout innings. But there was some controversy as Dee Gordon criticized Happ for throwing up and in and hitting him in the wrist with a pitch. Happ responded to Gordon’s com- ments on Friday: “I think it’s absurd. I would like to think he was running on emotion when he said it. …Using each side of the plate is the way the game’s been played for the last 150 years. I think it was sort of embarrassing and disappointed that it was even a headline. I would like to think that he regrets saying it but maybe not.” Ryan Divish J.A. Happ Yankees : They are rolling out a lineup that features more Class AAA players than big-leaguers and are still finding a way to win and stay on pace in the American League East. That doesn’t bode well for the Rays and Red Sox. Mariners : After starting 13-2, they fell below .500 on Friday night in a 14-1 loss to the Red Sox. Since that torrid start, they are 7-20. Will they get back over .500 again? And can they stay there? Nationals : General manager Mike Rizzo can’t build a bullpen. Several key players are injured. But manag- er Dave Martinez might be the one that suffers for this horrible start. Maybe Dusty Baker can come back and take over the job he never should have lost. Marlins : They are requiring all English-speaking players and employees to take Spanish classes to help improve communication. It’s a really smart move by an organization that does so many dumb things. MLB power rankings By Ryan Divish No. (LW) Team 1 (1) Dodgers 2 (2) Astros 3 (4) Rays 4 (5) Twins 5 (9) Brewers 6 (6) Yankees 7 (10) Cubs 8 (7) Phillies 9 (3) Cardinals 10 (11) Diamondbacks 11 (18) Red Sox 12 (8) Indians 13 (14) Braves 14 (13) Padres 15 (23) Pirates 16 (17) Mets 17 (12) Mariners 18 (15) Rockies 19 (16) Athletics 20 (20) Blue Jays 21 (21) Angels 22 (19) Rangers 23 (22) Tigers 24 (24) Nationals 25 (26) Reds 26 (27) White Sox 27 (25) Giants 28 (28) Orioles 29 (29) Royals 30 (30) Marlins By RYAN DIVISH Seattle Times staff reporter BOSTON—There was some discussion about jinx- ing a no-hitter by broadcast- ers on social media when Yusei Kikuchi was flirting with one in New York. This is flat-earth thinking. If Vin Scully says it’s OK to say “no hitter” then the discussion is over. Just to be clear there is no jinxing the weekly mailbag’s no-hit level of questions each week. It’s dominant with or without pine tar. As always, these are real questions submitted by the unique personalities that make up my Twitter follow- ers. If Long and Crawford play well while Gordon/ Seager, etc., are out, do you think they could earn a starting role? @jakester342 It’s instructive to point out that J.P. Crawford and Shed Long are at two different points in their development. Crawford is major league ready in almost every way. He played in 72 major league games with the Phillies over the previous two seasons and has four seasons and 261 games at the Class AAA level. The reason he started the season in Tacoma was to allow him to address some small things with his swing and approach, continue to work on some upgrades on defense and build some confidence. There were also service-time ramifications if the Mariners had started him on the opening-day roster. For all those reasons, it served in the best interest of the Mariners to have Craw- ford start in Tacoma and play his way up to the big leagues where he would take over as the everyday shortstop and push TimBeckham to a utili- ty role. There is little for Crawford to prove in the minor leagues. He’s up in the big leagues now, and he should stay if he plays well. Long had never played above the Class AA level until this season. He’s played in 32 Class AAA games. There is still a fair amount of season- ing he needs in terms of approach at the plate against the more experienced pitch- ing in the Pacific Coast League and some reps in the field. The Mariners also want him to be able to play some third base and left field, if possible. The expectation when acquiring him during the offseason was that a full season with the Rainiers would lead to a September call-up and possibly a roster spot next season. The status of Dee Gordon also plays into that timeline. Gordon is under contract through the 2020 season, but he will have some trade value in the coming weeks. Even if Long plays well in what is expected to a brief call-up, he’ll likely head back to Tacoma. And that’s not a bad thing. He’ll be back. But there’s no reason to rush the development. Last week you wrote about the Mariners being on track for a ridiculous amount of errors. Do you think that Perry Hill can affect as much positive change into the defense that might be needed to make a big difference? @Brocker80 Perry Hill is a fantastic infield coach, but he’s not a miracle worker. His best results come with younger players who are more open to change and malleable in their technique. For Hill to fix the fielding inconsisten- cies of someone such as Tim Beckham, it would take a complete reset of his funda- mentals. And it would take months of daily work. Scouts believe Beckham doesn’t have great hands, knows they aren’t great and doesn’t trust them. But you have seen im- provement fromRyon Healy at third base. After he strug- gled early in the season, the extra work with Hill before games and some added con- fidence have made him ade- quate to average. He’s com- mitted just three errors in his last 31 games. While he might not make the brilliant plays of Kyle Seager, who will be back by May 25, Healy is making the routine plays, which is the Mariners’ expectation for success. My old school baseball notions leaveme conflict- ed, is Jay Bruce a help or hindrance in the lineup? @burienboy87 Well, I guess if your old- school baseball notions rely solely on batting average, then Jay Bruce’s .192 batting average would be viewed as hindrance. But in this era of baseball, where success is measured in other ways, his 12 homers, which are tied for the team high, are of value. His .261 on-base percentage isn’t optimal. But if you are only going to have 24 hits in 125 at-bats, having six dou- bles and 12 homers out of the 24 is better than all sin- gles. He also breaks up the power right-handed bats the Mariners roll out there. Also you can’t hope to trade him if you don’t play him. Dipoto traded for Mur- phy, Sadzeck andWright after they were DFA’d. Sure he only gave up low-level prospects for them, but he now has three fewer pros- pects to throw in to other trades. All just to avoid waivers. Is it really worth it for another team’s castoff? @Madhatter0061 Realistically, you could view TomMurphy, Connor Sadzeck andMikeWright as older, more advanced pros- pects. To be clear, just because a player is designated for as- signment or placed on waiv- ers, that doesn’t mean they’re a castoff. Often, teams get caught in roster pinches that require moving players off the active roster who are out of minor league options. It doesn’t mean they don’t want to keep them. It simply means that they can’t based on their current roster struc- ture. For example, the Mari- ners didn’t want to designate Shawn Armstrong, but he was out of options and they needed pitching help. Murphy is a right-handed hitting catcher with power and athleticism. Going into last season, he was the Rock- ies’ No. 9 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. He was better than any catcher that the Mari- ners had in the upper levels of the organization. At 28, Murphy is under club con- trol and can contribute for the next three to four sea- sons even as a backup, while lefty Jesus Ozoria, who the Mariners gave up, had never pitched above the Domini- can Summer League and has an 8.31 ERA in the Low- A Sally League. Sadzeck is 27, can throw a baseball 100 mph and is also under club control for the next five years. He might not always knowwhere that fastball is going, but the Mariners have a lack of hard throwers in their system and they believe they can help Sadzeck throwmore strikes. He was once the Rangers’ No. 10 prospect, and he’s been better than expected already. So getting a power arm that will contribute for the coming years for Grant Anderson, who has one year of professional experience, isn’t a bad trade. How does the team trav- el from city to city? Private plane? Commercial? Do you travel with themor wander through busy airports? @vanwing- erdenpi The team has a contract to charter a private jet. And given the length of the trip, there is a determination which model and size of jet is used. The Mariners don’t go in-and-out of airports. Their bus takes them direct- ly on to the tarmac, and they get on the plane. They still go through TSA screening, but it’s usually done at the ballpark or on the tarmac. I’ve never flown on the team plane. Media that’s not affiliated with the team does not fly on the team plane unless there’s some extenu- ating circumstance where commercial travel isn’t available. So while the play- ers avoid the chaos that can be a day at the airport, I experience it in all of its goodness. Ryan Divish: 206-464-2373 or rdivish@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @RyanDivish. Are Shed Long and J.P. Crawford in the big leagues for good now? M I C H A E L DWY E R / T H E A S S O C I A T E D P R E S S The Mariners' J.P Crawford, right, scores on a dou- ble as the Red Sox's Sandy Leon can’t get a handle on the throw. Mariners mailbag The second-ranked Washington Huskies clinched the Pac-12 co- championship with a 3-0 shutout of the Stanford Cardinal (32-18, 8-13) on Saturday at Husky Softball Stadium. Washington (45-7) finishes the regular season 20-4 in Pac-12 play, just the second time the team has won 20 games in con- ference and the first since 1996’s record 23 wins. Washington clinched a share of the Pac-12 cham- pionship, sharing the title with UCLA. This marks the fourth Pac-12 champion- ship in school history. The Huskies have also won Pac-12 championships in 1996, 2000 and 2010. Taran Alvelo pitched 4 2 / 3 scoreless innings for the Huskies to start the game, allowing four singles. Gab- bie Plain earned her fourth save with 2 1 / 3 scoreless innings. Sami Reynolds had three extra-base hits, including a two-run homer. Morganne Flores also had an RBI, while SilentRain Espinoza had two singles. SeattleUclaims WAC title The Seattle University softball teamwon its first Western Athletic Confer- ence tournament champi- onship at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix with a 3-2 victory over New Mexico State. Carley Nance earned tournament MVP honors, while Kaylee Ree and Cherise Silvan were both picked all-tournament. Seattle U (39-15) has qualified for its first NCAA tournament and will await its fate at Sunday’s selec- tion show. Nance allowed three hits and no earned runs. She struck out seven. Madison Cathcart went 2 for 2 with two RBI, a run and a walk. Olivia Viggiano tallied two hits and two runs. With the win, SU broke the school’s season record for victories with 39. Baseball Washington scored all five of its runs in the fifth inning to rally past Utah 5-4 at Husky Ballpark to clinch the series. The Huskies (26-19, 11-12 Pac) go for the sweep over the Utes (12-30, 4-22) on Sunday at noon. The Huskies were limited to four hits but they were the recipients of nine walks and a hit batter. Michael Petrie hit a two-run single that capped the crucial rally. • WAC leader New Mexico State (35-12, 17-6) defeated Seattle University 17-5 in eight innings at Courter Field in Bellevue. Kyle Sherick hit a three-run homer for the Red- hawks (12-36, 7-16). • Washington State dropped a 10-0 decision to top-ranked UCLA (40-8, 18-5 Pac-12) at Bailey-Brayton Field. Kyle Manzardo had three hits for the Cougars (10-35-1, 2-20-1) and Collin Montez had two. • Host Gonzaga (27-20) earned a 16-0 victory over Lamar (16-33). Mac Lardner pitched seven shutout innings, striking out 12. Brett Harris went 2 for 4 with a home run and four RBI, while Troy Johnston went 2 for 3 with a grand slam. Rugby The visiting Seattle Seawolves beat Rugby United of New York 38-31. Track and field Grace Bley won the 200-me- ter championship (24.56) for the second year in a row and ran a leg on the meet-record 4x100 relay team (46.32) – also for the second year in a row – as Seattle Pacific captured the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s championship in Monmouth, Ore. The Falcons edged Central Washington for the title, 166-162. That gave SPU two straight conference crowns and its 10th overall. SPU senior Jesse Phan won the men’s 800 in 1:53.99. It was the first individual title for a Falcon man since 2016. Huskies share Pac-12 crown A weekly look at the Mariners and the major leagues INSIDE PITCH