Bobby

Madritsch

It’s probably Bobby Madritsch who isn’t a sure thing to join Jamie Moyer, Joel Pineiro and Gil Meche in the rotation, but since he was the Mariners’ best pitcher in the second half of last season, it should require a pretty awful spring to cost him a job. Ryan Franklin, Aaron Sele, Jorge Campillo and Cha Seung Baek will likely end up competing for one rotation opening.

Madritsch, who competed for a job as a lefty reliever in spring training, was used as a starter in the minors and went 13-7 with a 3.63 ERA for Double-A San Antonio. He’ll probably be given another chance to make the Mariners as a reliever next spring.

Madritsch aggravated the injury in his first start back.

The 28-year-old left-hander has pitched in nine relief innings and allowed three runs and three walks while striking out three. We wouldn’t rush out and grab Madritsch at this time.

The Royals were hopeful Madritsch would return from a torn labrum in June or July, but he wasn’t able to resume pitching in the minors this year. If he’s motivated to continue his rehab, he’ll land a minor league contract this winter.

Just one bad inning. Madritsch and Scott Kazmir put up nothing but zeroes until the Rays broke through for four in the top of the sixth. That made a winner of Kazmir in his major league debut.

Madritsch, who tossed eight scoreless innings against the Red Sox on Friday, doesn’t discriminate when it comes to beating playoff contenders. He took a shutout into the ninth tonight.

Madritsch allowed one earned run and three hits in his first career complete game. He finishes a promising half season 6-3 with a 3.27 ERA. He should be a member of Seattle’s rotation next season, and he’ll be a nice fantasy pick at a reasonable price.

What a job Madritsch has done since joining the Mariners last month. He’s not quite as good as his 2.93 ERA indicates, but we like his chances of having success in September and in 2005.

Madritsch has pitched well in six of his seven starts to put himself in fine position to claim a spot in next year’s rotation.