Into the Wild Blue Yonder- Who Takes Ichiro's Spot in Right Field?

Never in his whole career has Ichiro been placed on the 15-day disabled list.

Never say never.

It was reported today that Ichiro Suzuki is now postponing his return for April 15th due to a bleeding ulcer.

My friend, Shanan, has already covered his opinion of who should bat where in the lineup due to Ichiro's absence, but I believe that defense is going to be another significant issue heading into the season.

Bleeding Blue and Teal reported that Ken Griffey Jr. could be replacing Ichiro in right field, with Mike Sweeney taking over as the designated hitter.

It would be a truly gratifying experience for all Seattle Mariner fans to be able to watch Griffey play in the outfield once again at Safeco Field.

Even though he isn’t that same 19-year old kid he was at the beginning of his storied career, when he was tracking balls to the depths of center field and some times beyond, it would still be a treat for Mariner fans to watch him roam once again.

Then again...it is only eight games.

The rest of the AL West is trying to heal even worse wounds than Ichiro’s ulcer.

The Angel’s John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar will be absent till late April or early May.

The Athletic’s Justin Duchscherer is also on the disabled list, and it’s only a matter of time until one more player falls down for the injury prone Oakland Athletics.

But back to the M’s outfield, it’s all about defense.

If the Mariners play Griffey in right, Franklin Gutierrez in center and then Endy Chavez in left, they still have one of the best defensive outfields around.

The outfield is basically more crowded than the Anti-Bush rallies were, and even with Ichiro’s injury, the M’s can easily recover.

Jack Zduriencik, all off-season you have been building up the depth of our team and now we have very good reason to thank you.

So...

Thank you Jack Zduriencik!

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