As Of This Very Moment, Baseball Is Back
As you’re reading these words, the Seattle Mariners are standing on a baseball field. They’re not there for stretches, as they have been for the last couple weeks. They’re not going to go through any drills, or practice fielding grounders. I mean, they are, kind of, but not really. Said simply, the Mariners of today are taking the field to play a game of baseball.
More from Emerald City Swagger
- Seattle Seahawks: To rest or not to rest, that is the question
- Washington State Football: What you need to know for 2018 Alamo Bowl
- Washington Basketball: 3 takeaways from Huskies win over Sacramento St.
- Seattle Seahawks: 12s still waiting to exhale
- Seattle Seahawks: 4 Takeaways from 26-23 Loss to the 49ers
It’s the Seattle Mariners, who are newly-minted AL West favorites over at FanGraphs. It’s the San Diego Padres, offseason headline thieves and self-proclaimed California powerhouse on the rise. It’s a charity game, but it’s a game, and look, there are starting pitchers and lineups and everything!
Here they are: your Seattle Mariners, for the first time this year!
CF James Jones
SS Chris Taylor
DH D.J. Peterson
1B Jesus Montero
LF Stefen Romero
3B Carlos Rivero
RF Julio Morban
C John Hicks
2B Ketel Marte
SP Taijuan Walker
Mostly minor leaguers, but hey look, that might be our shortstop up there! Montero could win a bench spot, and Jones got a lot of (rightfully maligned) MLB time just last year! Walker’s a captivating top prospect looking to lock down a rotation spot! Be excited, if only because it’s a lineup.
One notes that Lloyd McClendon‘s promise to hit his shortstop last seems to have already gone the way of the dinosaur. We also see that top prospect Peterson isn’t even playing defense – does this mean the team is down on him? Is Marte ready to supplant Robinson Cano at the keystone? What if people took spring training seriously and sincerely thought any of these thoughts? Wouldn’t that be weird?!
First pitch is at 12:05. All proceeds go to charity. Want to see the hated opposition? Here they are!
CF Cameron Maybin
1B Yonder Alonso
RF Matt Kemp
LF Justin Upton
DH Carlos Quentin
2B Jedd Gyorko
3B Yangervis Solarte
SS Clint Barmes
C Wil Nieves
SP Jason Lane
While the Mariners are content to field their AAA lineup for the season’s tone-setting first game, the Padres are in it to win it. They see our Jesus Montero and raise us one Justin Upton. They’re not content to roll over and take a loss, not even in a meaningless barely-not-a-practice game that doesn’t even count in the spring training standings. This team is no joke. A.J. Preller isn’t messing around.
So it appears Wil Myers is already out of favor in San Diego, given that Maybin’s manning center in this contest. Look out, James Shields – here comes Jason Lane, ready to take the ball in the season’s first game. Big Game James No Longer Fit For Opening Day – coming to a tabloid near you soon!
It’s spring. It’s sunny out and the birds are chirping. There’s baseball to be played, and baseball to be seen. Let’s pretend to take it really seriously right now, before we lose interest and start counting down the days to the regular season. Which, by the way, starts in 33 days.
Mariners. Padres. Charity. John Hicks. Let’s do this.