By Patrick
 |
| Great throw, buddy |
On Friday night, the Mariners held a 4-3 lead going into the ninth inning after a fantastic start from Blake Beavan. But if you polled hardcore Mariner fans during the commercial break, most probably wouldn't have had faith in closer Brandon League delivering the victory.
Those fans, unfortunately, would have been right.
League allowed the first two hitters to reach, both in typical fashion. The first runner reached on a scouting report hit off of League. League doesn't have a solid changeup, so he has to use his fastball to get ahead. So the first hitter jumped on his fastball and lined it to center. One pitch, one baserunner. The next at bat was more complicated. League got ahead early, but the count was worked to 3-2. And of course, with the pressure on, League overthrew a fastball and walked the second hitter of the inning.
The next batter, Erick Aybar, dropped down a sacrifice bunt, but League couldn't make it a regular sacrifice. He forced a throw to third, which Alex Liddi didn't come anywhere near. That allowed the tying run to score, and the runners to move into scoring position. Howie Kendrick later delivered a two-run single that sunk the Mariners once and for all.
A win in that game could have made the series with the Angels radically different. Imagine if the M's were looking at 1-1 rather than 2-0 heading into the Felix start. Maybe the Callaspo slam wouldn't have happened. The Mariners might have split the series instead of getting swept. We wouldn't be feeling as thoroughly depressed this morning as Mariner fans.
But that loss, as well as the three other League has dealt the M's this season, doesn't explain why League has to leave Seattle. The reason League must go stems from the feeling and the environment that League's pitching creates.
The Mariners have a young roster that have no idea how to win. They are all learning how to succeed at the major league level together. On Friday, they learned how for eight innings. Justin Smoak knocked in three runs, and Blake Beavan pitched spectacularly outside of a homer to Albert Pujols, which we'll forgive since it happened to Felix too. And then League came in and spoiled all of it.
Tom Wilhelmsen should have pitched the ninth. Sure, he got rocked by the Rangers on Wednesday while League finished the save, but Wilhemsen has better closer stuff. His fastball is faster and better than League's. His out pitch also beats League's any day. That hammer curve is the second best pitch on the entire team, behind Felix's change up. Sure, Wilhelmsen is young and untested, but that's my point exactly. Friday would have been a victory for the young guys if Wilhelmsen closed it out.
Instead, League, yet another of the Mariners' questionable veterans, stepped in and screwed everything up. The Mariners need to commit to their youth. They have already by shelving Chone Figgins on the bench and favoring Jesus Montero to Miguel Olivo. In the next month, they need to add League to that list. Wilhelmsen needs the experience of the closer role in order for him to improve.
The Mariners need to relegate Brandon League to the eighth inning, where he belongs. He absolutely sucks against left-handed hitters, and that doesn't translate well to the closer role, where he's expected to get every hitter out regardless of matchup. League has good stuff, but the closer role has proved too demanding for him, and he needs to permanently vacate that role.
This season is about young players learning how to win. Brandon League is a struggling veteran, and the Mariners have no tolerance for that kind of player. League needs to step aside, and the Mariners need to trade him at the deadline. Tom Wilhelmsen is the future, and Brandon League's time is up. Go M's.
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