Mariners notebook: Mike Montgomery a key part to bullpen’s strong start

The Mariners’ struggle continues with runners in scoring position as they went 0 for 10 in the loss Tuesday night. On the flip side, the opposition hasn’t done much lately either with Mariners pitchers holding opponents to an .068 average, allowing just three hits in 44 at-bats with RISP the past four games.

The bullpen has been one of the better surprises of the early season. Mike Blowers, Rick Rizzs, Aaron Goldsmith and I discussed that on the roundtable segment of the pregame show.

On Tuesday night it was Mike Montgomery coming up with the big out with runners in scoring position. Montgomery entered the game with the bases loaded, two outs and the game still in reach, and he kept it that way by forcing Mike Napoli into a ground out. He went on to give the Mariners 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball.

“He threw the ball really well,” said manager Scott Servais on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m really excited about the transition he’s made into our bullpen. He’s going to continue to get higher-leverage opportunities with guys on base, maybe some deeper in games as we go along, and that’s what we really need. Both he and Tony Zych have done a nice job so far this season.”

In five outings, Montgomery has pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings sandwiched around an outing against the Rangers where he gave up four runs. His stuff has played well out of the pen and there has been an uptick in his velocity.

“I think it’s easier for him, he simplifies things,” said Servais. “Just let it fly. He certainly has. His stuff is very good.”

He appears comfortable in the role and with his routines, although it is clear he still ultimately thinks of himself as a starter. For now he has given the team important innings, and if he continues to pitch well, perhaps insurance for even bigger innings.

So far so good for the transition to the pen.

As for the offense and the continued struggles with runners in scoring position, the answer to why they are not scoring more runs is simple, according to Servais.

“Because we are not getting enough hits,” he said.

Thank you very much.

“They’re going to come around,” he continued, pointing out that they have a number of players who are hitting 100 points below their career on-base percentage. “I certainly am not panicking. I know they’re not. They are in there working. They know.”

We may have seen one bat break out last night with Kyle Seager getting two hits. They need to see others follow and that could be tough with Danny Salazar on the hill for the Indians. The lineup that follows is 4 for 41 against him.

Lineup!

Norichika Aoki, LF
Seth Smith, RF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nelson Cruz, DH
Kyle Seager, 3B
Adam Lind, 1B
Chris Iannetta, C
Leonys Martin, CF
Luis Sardinas, SS

Taijuan Walker, RHP

Notes

• Luis Sardinas is making his fourth start of the season, second at shortstop. Ketel Marte gets the day off as he continues to struggle at the plate. “He just hasn’t gotten in a good groove yet,” said Servais, who noted that his timing has been off. “We obviously saw in spring training, he got going pretty good. He’s not quite there consistently but he’s going to be fine. Young player getting off to a slow start. Just give an opportunity for Sardinas to get a day in there.”

• While it could be a tough night for the Mariners hitters with Salazar on the hill, Cleveland hitters haven’t fared much better against Walker, who went 2-0 against the Indians last year allowing just one run in 12 innings.

• For my Insider Report for the pregame show, I sat down with Steve Cishek for about 10 minutes. One of the topics we hit on was the relievers’ routine of conditioning by catching Nerf footballs. I asked who had skills and which two relievers Cishek would pick to line up on either end if he were the quarterback. “Definitely Montgomery,” he answered. “He reminds me of Gronkowski. I call him Gronk. (Joel) Peralta is starting to get pretty good, he’s starting to get some hands. If we are back at home, (Charlie) Furbush is the guy, he doesn’t really drop many balls. We are supposed to catch the ball with just one hand. It’s easy with two hands but you have to have a little flash out there.” In the interest of safety, the relievers are not allowed to leave the ground on their catches or to throw the ball. If you were wondering, however, were he was allowed to throw a football, Cishek would go sidearm. “That literally is my natural arm slot. I throw to first sidearm, I will throw a football that way, a Wiffle Ball – I throw everything sidearm,” he said.

• MyNorthwest.com is running a neat series on the best baseball memories of a number of staff members and mine ran today. It can be found here.