While fans scream about pitching, two new M's quietly stand out.
By Tracy Larsen, for Seattle Insider
Originally published by Cox Interactive Media, May 1999

With both Butch Henry and Mark Leiter now sidelined with injuries for the rest of the season, we're in even greater need than first feared in terms of our pitching. These were two veterans whom we were counting on to give our young pitching staff some much needed experience. Ouch. We've been witnessing just how much 'much' there is in "much-needed".

But the club seems to have collectively staggered out of the gate in the season's early going. Piniella's recurring nightmare is this: our team ERA is a major league-leading 6.81, we can't begin to afford another pitcher or infielder to be placed on the DL, nor can we forever ignore the problems of our number one starter, Jeff Fassero, who so far this season has allowed the most home runs in the majors (15) and is struggling, to say the least, with a 1-5 record. Don't bother asking the proverbial question, "Could things get any worse?", because of course they could. Just ponder the name 'Ayala' and that fact becomes crystal clear (don't worry, we'll all ease up on ol' Bobby... eventually).

But there are two Mariners who have stood out in a positive way, and they're both relative newcomers to our well-established and gotta-be-loved group. One, a rookie righthander, has stepped up to seemingly become our stopper, and the other, a quiet second baseman with quick infield moves and a famous baseball father, is thus far keeping pace with Griffey in the home run hunt.

That's Freddy Garcia and David Bell, respectively. They've distinguished themselves in the early going this season by not inspiring a Kingdome full of prayerful groans every time their names are announced. But who are they? While others sniffed out trade rumors, I decided to look into these quiet new players wearing the teal and blue.

Involved in last year's Randy Johnson trade, Garcia, a tall, 22-year-old righthander from Venezuela, leads the Mariner starting rotation with a record of 4-1. He has become the de facto stopper, their number three man behind Fassero and Moyer, despite this being his first full year in the majors. He had previously spent time between the minors and winter ball in Venezuela since being signed by the Astros in '93.

And even though Garcia's ERA has climbed some since early April (from just over 3 to a current 5.08), it's good enough to be the lowest among our active starters. He has shown himself to be cool under pressure, to possibly even enjoy being expected to put an end to whatever Mariners' slide is in effect at the time. But if Garcia isn't comfortable with that role, he doesn't show it. While pitching against the Yankees on May 8th, he was hit by a ricochet pitch off Chili Davis and was obviously in some pain, but he seemed not to want to leave the game. Piniella's wisdom prevailed, however. He wasn't willing to risk his young up-and-comer. Garcia was skipped in the rotation once, but is expected to start this Wednesday's game. 

Whew! Keep it up, kid; we need that kind of grit on the mound, not on the bench. 

Playing behind Garcia at second base is David Bell, son of Buddy Bell, former Gold Glove third baseman and ex-manager of the Detroit Tigers. Arriving from Cleveland late last season in a straight trade for Joey Cora, Bell has had large (or small, depending on how one looks at it) shoes to fill. Cora, though not always dependable at second, was a fan favorite and a determined player, and fans warmed to Bell slowly. In fact, there still seems to be some thawing going on.

But Bell is versatile both offensively and defensively. While he may not have Cora's speed, he has surer hands and seemingly more power. After hitting only ten homers in all of '98, he has already hit twelve so far this season, at one point tying Griffey as major league leader. But more importantly, his defense at second is an improvement over Cora's - he covers more ground and seems to have surer hands -  and his good clutch hitting is something the entire team needs more of. Our sluggers will always find a way of getting men on; it's getting them in that has sometimes stymied them. 

It will, of course, take more than just the earnestness of two young players to turn this team's fortunes around. We need pitching and more pitching, both in the rotation and in our bullpen. There is already some nail-biting going on over Griffey's contract expiring in 2000, as well as rumblings of a "Will Trade For Pitching" arrangement involving A-Rod, our phenom shortstop. But pitching issues and headline-making stories about headline-makers we'll forever have in today's brand of baseball. 

Hopefully, though, we'll not forget to take notice of what makes up so much of back-page baseball: quiet dependability.

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