ICHIRO is our biggest problem...right now

we do not have to many big names on our team.  and two of them are in the starting rotation.  we really only have one "great" bat in our lineup, and that is supposed to be Ichiro. 

When asked about how he feels about his team losing so much he said something like: "back in Japan with the (don't know name) Dragons (i think) every season was like this...if he was or is so great how come he is not on winning teams??

what i have noticed so far with ICH is that he gets one base through small hits aka beating the throw down the line, he does not drive in runs because he swings at too many bad pitches. and here is the kicker.  Ichiro gets on base in the beginning of the ball games more often in his 1st and 2nd at bats, but at this time during the game the rest of the lineup is cold, and it'll take the rest at least till their third at bat to get a good crack.

Where is ICHIRO at the end of games, non existent.  i can't recall the last time i remember ichiro driving in a deciding run, or a game winner - he did have a two run homer to tie a game once this year (we lost that game), but there are shades of gray in anything - i don't want to hear about him doing it TWICE/

the best players on the team are supposed to be the model of the line up, the trickle down factor.  what is he hitting? .276?  his OBP is .330 (the same as Soriano, but at least that guy drives in runs and can slug the ball)

Ichiro is really aggrivating me.  he was up in the slugfest on tuesday with two men on and us tied (i think) and he struck out, a great player would have capitalized and changed the momentum.  Ichiro is too heady, he thinks hes too great, when in acutality he is a self serving player who gets his, and does not care about the rest.  i don't like saying that because i believe he wants to win more than anybody, but i just don't think he understands what it takes.

ICHIRO needs to walk more, swing at better pitches, and drive the ball or ill slap him. 

You sir, are a blasphemous dog...  I agree, he's not the same player as he has been, but give the guy a break.  He's going to get there.  It's unfortunate that ANY player could be classified with the rest of the dregs when he's hitting a PALTRY .271(Third best on the M's.)  That number isn't so low compared to the rest of the league, unfortunately for Ichiro Suzuki he's a career .331 hitter.  He's a freakin' demi-god, he will warm up and the team will warm up with him.  For all of your complaints, he has 5 more runs and 11 more stolen bases than anyone on the team.  If he had more hitting behind him, he SHOULD have a lot more runs than that.  He also has the third best on base percentage for regular players on the team.  He hasn't started as hotly as in the past, but if the rest of the team were hitting that PALTRY .271 mark you wouldn't have even made this post.

That being said, go ahead and vent.

Have a nice day.

Go Mariners!

Well if Ichiro was really the M's biggest problem, then we would be nowhere near the AL cellar right now.  Yes, he is a singles hitter but he leads the league or is close to the lead in stolen bases, so he's getting into scoring postion.  It's not his fault when guys don't drive him in.  He had a bad April, but he does that every year and then warms up, he's hitting close to .400 in May.  I'd like to see Ichiro walk more too but that's his style and if they tinker with it he won't be as productive. 
Not to mention, he is still an excellent centerfielder.  Give him time and his average will be well above .300.

Go M's!!!

i wanted to rattle the cages, and i did.  all of you are right, but still i feel that ichiro could still improve his game a little bit, ESPECIALLY when we are struggling.

the main things i have against ichiro, even though he is my most favorite player right now. is that he does not walk much, he does not drive in runs, and he swings at too many bad pitches.  and he looks even worse now when no one is hitting like they are supposed to.

i know, i know ichiro will climb back up, which makes me believe that the M's still have a fighting chance in all honesty, another year in the weakest division in baseball. 

but i feel that ichiro is escaping from a lot of criticism because he is ichiro, when MAC is getting all of it for underperforming players.  this is not one persons fault we suck so much.

...and for arguments sake i could go back to a lot of those losses and point out that ichiro did not get a hit that day, or he struck out with men on base, he swung at the first two pitches and rolled a dinker to the shortstop, he didn't get a walk...

im sorry, but its hard watching fukudome in chicago just tearing it up because he is so patient, and he gets good balls to hit.  think of if ICHIRO had a better pitch selection where we would be right now, think if he walked more and was on base .400 instead of .330 were we would be right now, think if he got more hits later in the game were we would be right now, think if he didn't swing at the first and second pitches all of the time where we might be.

i just want to toss some ideas around because he hasn't been mentioned in any of the M's failures...

GO M's!

ICHIRO the problem????

Get real. If you have any recall at all, you would know that Ichiro gets off to a slow start each year. As has already been noted, he is hitting near .400 in May, and is tied for the AL lead in stolen bases with 16. So he is getting on base and in to scoring position, his job. The guys behind him need to produce, they are the RBI men of this team.

As for McLaren being gone, I don't think the M's will make a move in this direction during the season. Last years departure in mid-season was bad enough. I don't believe McLaren will be back next year though.

Absolutely.....we are losing bec