Interesting you mention him, because that's who I thought of when I saw Triunfel at the park today.
Tri stung the ball in his AB's, the way Betancourt used to, a lively, attacking bat. But with similarly underwhelming results. Only 3 or 4 AB's, of course. But I didn't like his body language. Seemed too eager at the plate, seemed obviously dejected when he hit the ball hard right in to the 2B mitt (IIRC). Also got a staredown from Michael Morse on a popup that should have been Morse's... That was the outfielder's ball, there, and Morse peeled off because Tri was calling for it. I imagine Kangaroo Court will be docking him there.
Was I a scout, I'd say the M's should jettison Tri ASAP while he still looks promising. 'Course, I liked Betancourt a lot back in the day... ;-)
Now Franklin, OTOH.... looked as loose and confident as you can imagine. In just a walk and a couple plays at 2B he looked like he belonged. Hope he's up here for good.
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For those readers interested in our cultural commentary, here is a Memorial Day article for the Ft. Lewis Ranger.
Fascinating goings-on at Royal Brougham, including a Justin Smoak announcement as we type this, and some kinda .450 OBP busher parachutes into Safeco. Oh, NOW the announcers go "Hey, I like this move!" Grrrr....
As the game begins Monday, Sims leads off with a "guess" that Aaron Harang is pitching for his spot. He coughs up a ringing double to start the game, but scrambles out of the first inning. Here's hoping for a 12-9 Mariner victory... in view of the shambles that is the Padre rotation, we give that a 97.2% chance of actually occurring Monday. Whoop, there's a Jason Bay dong to center field... bring it, bab-eh...
Jesus Sucre is a real pleasure to watch behind the plate. Along with everything else, he is an epic pitch framer, as good as anybody you'll ever see. Whether this will translate into Mariner strikes ... now we will find out whether it is "framing" or "being a Mariner" that has been costing the M's. Sucre is extremely easy on the eyes back there and his results will tell us what we need to know about the root causes of the umpire problemos. The question is going to be resolved for us.
Carlos Triunfel hit that point of development in which Zduriencik said, well, he's maxed, use him or lose him. When he decided the same about Erasmo Ramirez ahead of the Big Three, the Mariners wound up with an "extra" key resource. Triunfel reminds somewhat of Yuniesky Betancourt; that's not necessarily an insult. A second draw at the Betancourt-style deck is a good thing.
Whatever the case, the M's see themselves as at a crossroads. All Dr. D has ever asked, is that the brass care as much about winning as the fans do. We can give the M's credit that they are not sitting back and taking a quad-shot of iodine in the hip bone. You can root for an org that is raging against the dying of the light.
Lotsa shtick the next few days. Thanks for holdin' the fort Gordon :- )
Happy Memorial Day,
Jeff