Jamie

Moyer

Moyer, who has been awful the past two months (nine straight losses) is hoping to discover the source of his difficulties by pitching to teammates between starts. We are big Jamie Moyer fans and hope the 40-year-old left-hander can still be an effective pitcher. We shall see.

He ties Scott Bankhead who gave up 35 home runs in 1987. We have been Moyer fans for years, but it may be time to admit that he is finally losing his effectiveness. If so, we tip our hat to him, as there has rarely been a major-league pitcher so good for so long with such poor stuff.

Villone may start later in the week after pitching three scoreless innings in relief to register the win yesterday against Kansas City. The last time Moyer pitched on short rest he was messed up for three starts thereafter. Since he’s not pitching too well at the moment, the change might do Moyer some good this time out.

The other teams to do it since 1900 were the 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers (Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen, Don Sutton, Joe Moeller), the 1904 Boston Red Sox (Cy Young, Bill Dinneen, Norwood Gibson, Jesse Tannehill, George Winter), the 1901 Boston Braves (Vic Willis, Bill Dinneen, Kid Nichols, Togie Pittinger, Bob Lawson) and the 1901 Washington Senators (Bill Carrick, Watty Lee, Case Patten, Win Mercer, Dale Gear).

It’s likely that Rodriguez’s velocity will increase as he gets further into his throwing program, but what he did yesterday won’t help his stock. Although he didn’t rule out a future bid, Mariners GM Bill Bavasi said he wouldn’t make Rodriguez an offer based on the workout.

Moyer threw 54 pitches in relief on Thursday, but the Mariners think the soft-tosser shouldn’t have a problem pitching tomorrow.

Pineiro will start tomorrow afternoon’s game against the Rangers, while Moyer will start Friday against the Padres. For the record, Moyer denies an ESPN report that claims he would waive his 5-10 rights to accomodate a trade to the Yankees or Red Sox. “I have no idea what my response would be” Moyer said of being asked to agree to a deal.

Moyer only pitched two innings on Friday due to rain delays, so he will now get two starts in the upcoming week. Travis Blackley will now start Wednesday.

Mariners’ general manager Bill Bavasi indicated that he will not deal Edgar Martinez or Dan Wilson either. Bavasi told reporters that he recognizes that all three of these players have strong ties in the Seattle community, and that his team still needs a veteran presence.

He took the loss, but Moyer pitched pretty well by allowing just four hits and three walks. We’ll see what he says about his back after the game, but it didn’t appear to be a problem tonight.