Lineup Fix, Part 1

The newest tenure of Lee Elia as Mariners hitting coach? Following a 3-run drubbing of the Jays on Monday, the M's came back with three singles, a double, two walks and a homer for a grand total, drum roll, of one run in Tuesday's loss.

Not exactly Jeff Pentland numbers, but, hey, give Elia a little time to yell at his hitters.

But The AL West Blog has no time or patience for a new Mariners lineup. Jeremy Reed hit that home run Tuesday, a deep shot to RF off a 98-mph fastball from Dustin McGowan. He also drew a walk and generally looks comfortable up at the plate.

You might not say the same about his comfort zone playing right. Carlos Silva looked dismayed that Mariners right fielder missed a hard shot from Matt Stairs that sailed over Reed's head. Note to Silva: Hard-hit balls tend to do that sort of thing. Note to self: Maybe Reed is struggling with angles and the best routes to catching hard liners vs. flyballs. He might actually be a better fit in CF.

Hmm, move Ichiro back to RF? Ichiro certainly has the better arm and, maybe, is it possible, that Ichiro will have less on his mind in RF and be able to return to form as a .300 hitter? His .291 has never seemed so dismal on pretty any other player in MLB history.

So Lineup Fix, Part 1: Keep Ichiro as leadoff man. Move Reed to CF and the second spot in the batting order with a strict plan of getting on base, walking as much as possible and always working the pitch count. For now, Ibanez as the No. 3 hitter and leftfielder feels like the loyal thing to do. But Ibanez has sat before to let prospects play, and it needs to happen again this season. Pencil in Wladimir Baletien for, oh, the trading deadline when Ibanez goes to the White Sox or maybe the Rays as fourth outfielder/occasional DH/reliable pinch hitter. 

You can only go so far with this loyalty thing.