Mariners notebook: More on Morales, Taylor and Montero

By Shannon Drayer

Two new additions to the lineup tonight and we will have to wait another day before we see Kendrys Morales. His former teammates were happy to hear he was returning as he had always been a popular teammate. A newer Mariner is happy to see him on his way as well.

“He can mean a lot for this team,” said Robinson Cano. “He’s played in this ballpark before and the numbers he pulled…we can’t wait to see him.”

And neither can Lloyd McClendon.

“He’s a professional hitter, gives us an opportunity to stretch out our lineup, he’s a nice fit,” he said. “He’s a switch hitter, hit behind Robbie. It gives us options of what we want to do with Seager, where we want to hit him. I like it.”

So there will be little mystery to where he fits in the order. Behind Cano. It will be interesting to see where they hit Seager. Ultimately McClendon would like to hit him second but it is more likely that we will see him in the five spot to extend the order.

As for his role in the field, there won’t be much of that. McClendon said that Morales could see a game or two at first base but his primary role will be as the DH. First will be handled by Logan Morrison and Corey Hart mostly on a platoon basis.

Lineup!

So normally I would have the lineup here, and I did for a time but in the middle of posting this post Ken Griffey Jr. came into the booth and he is more than a little distraction. A good distraction. Plenty of stories about his family, his new TV series and some good natured ribbing with Jay Buhner who came into the booth to do the 1st inning. Always good to see Junior. Apologies for the delayed post. On to the notes.

Notes:

-Willie Bloomquist has been placed on the 15-day DL with what has been initially diagnosed as a knee contusion suffered when he tried to leg out an RBI single Wednesday night. He was scheduled to have an MRI earlier today and we should know more after the game.

-Chris Taylor is up and up to play according to Lloyd McClendon who said that he would get his fair share of playing time. With a short bench the team could not afford to go without a utility man for even a day so the move was made. McClendon said that he would like to get Kyle Seager a day off some time soon. Miller played some third in spring training and Taylor has played some in the minors.

-Jesus Montero is up for what most likely will just be one day. He has been working with a new batting stance, more open, that he says allows him to see the ball better. He told me he has become much more comfortable with the stance over the last two weeks.

-Michael Saunders is making progress in coming back from the grade-2 oblique strain. He has progressed to light activity after allow the injury to quiet some. Yesterday he tossed baseballs into a net and will do so again tomorrow. No timetable has been put on his return.