Mariners notebook: Servais believes Walker took another step forward in loss
Sep 20, 2016, 7:04 PM | Updated: 7:54 pm
Taijuan Walker took the loss Monday but manager Scott Servais was pleased with his starter's performance. (AP)
(AP)
There were a couple scary moments involving starting pitcher Taijaun Walker Monday night as he was hit on the arm with a 103-mph comebacker off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion and had his foot issues flare up during two fielding plays. On Tuesday, he was no worse for wear, according to Mariners manager Scott Servais.
“He feels fine,” Servais said. “He was out early, wanted to work with (pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.) on a few things.”
Walker struggled with his new mechanics Monday night, particularly out of the stretch. That maybe shouldn’t be surprising considering he didn’t have the opportunity to work out of the stretch much in his previous outing against the Angels when he allowed only three hits. Servais was encouraged, however, in the way Walker responded during the game to the struggles. When Servais pulled Walker from the game with one out and two on in the 6th inning, Servais had a few extra words for his 24-year-old.
“I just wanted him to hear from me that he did exactly what we asked him to do,” he said. “He kept us in the game and he competed well without his best stuff. We talked early in the year that was something that I thought needed to get better. I expressed that to him; he has got to keep going. You are not going to have your A-game every night but you keep your team in there and he did that for us.”
The Toronto takeover
We typically see and hear a large number of Blue Jays fans when the two teams play in Seattle and they were out in full force on Monday night. Servais and the other Mariners newcomers were forewarned about the atmosphere but Servais said he was still surprised.
“I’ve heard about it coming in, but you never really know, you have to experience it to understand,” he said. “I’m not going to lie, coming out here yesterday pre-game when the gates open up, you see all the Blue Jays coming in, when they sing ‘O Canada’ and it’s that loud I’m like, ‘Oh boy. This could be a little different than I expected.’ It’s just part of it, we have to deal with it.”
Servais pointed out that there was probably a little extra gusto with both teams battling for a wild-card spot and the Blue Jays coming off a long-awaited playoff year.
“I would certainly hope when we do get to the playoffs and have a deep run that things would flip,” he said. “But we have to do that first.”
Different look minors
The Mariners minors will have a different look in 2017 with two new affiliates announced Tuesday. The team has agreed to a four-year player development contract with the Modesto Nuts of the California High-A League and a two-year deal with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers, which takes them back to the Texas League.
