Borchard center of M's attention

[aboz56]

http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...304/1002/SPORTS

 

Borchard center of M's attention

Seattle eager to see if newcomer can fill in for Reed for a few weeks

 

BY KIRBY ARNOLD

 

FOR THE OLYMPIAN

 

PEORIA, Ariz. -- One big game at spring training won't win a job for the regular season, but Joe Borchard showed two things Saturday that enticed the Seattle Mariners.

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When he runs into a pitch at the plate he can hit it a long way, and he can run down drives in center field.

 

As Option 1 in the Mariners' search for a replacement center fielder while Jeremy Reed is injured, Borchard answered some concerns -- at least for a day -- about his ability as a hitter.

 

He went 2-for-4 and drove in five runs, including a mammoth homer off Oakland Athletics starter Chad Gaudin during the third inning of Seattle's 20-8 loss. The ball cleared the tall "batter's eye" wall in center field at Peoria Stadium.

 

"A grown man hit that ball," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said.

 

But was that man the Mariners' next center fielder?

 

It may take a few more days to determine that, although Borchard did little Saturday to show he can't replace Reed. He made six catches in center, including one when he left his feet to snag the ball, and even stole a base.

 

Borchard, a switch-hitter acquired by the Mariners last week from the Chicago White Sox, will get considerable playing time in center during the final week of spring training as the M's look at their options for replacing Reed.

 

Reed suffered a broken bone in his right wrist Thursday and, pending the results of a second exam Monday, could miss six weeks.

 

Hargrove said Borchard would start in center again today against the Angels.

 

"When Jeremy got hurt and we were looking for someone to play center field, he entered the mix," Hargrove said. "I've seen nothing out there of him to make me think he can't play center field and play it well."

 

Borchard, primarily a right fielder, has played 102 games in the major leagues, 23 in center field with the White Sox. Baseball America rated his arm strength as the second best among players in the 2000 draft, and the White Sox took him in the first round.

 

Hargrove said the Mariners would prefer to find one player to play center while Reed is injured, but the priority is to solidify the defense.

 

"We're looking for a guy who can do the job defensively, first of all," Hargrove said. "Then the offense would be a plus. We need to send somebody out there at the very least who can cover ground and make plays."

 

Borchard is comfortable with that.

 

"My first three years in the minor leagues, I played center field almost exclusively," he said. "I have a lot of experience out there."

 

Three other players could play center field -- Willie Bloomquist, Matt Lawton and Ichiro Suzuki -- but Hargrove said none of them are an option for full-time duty while Reed is out.

 

He values Bloomquist for his ability to play multiple infield and outfield positions. Lawton will serve a 10-day steroids suspension when the season begins, and Hargrove said he wants a center fielder for "the entire time" and not for the first 10 days of the season.

 

Hargrove said he hasn't spoken with Suzuki about moving from right field and "it's not on the agenda at this time."

 

He did leave open the possibility of playing Bloomquist against left-handed pitching.

 

"If Willie goes out there every day, you lose a lot of your flexibility," Hargrove said. "I wouldn't mind using him out of a platoon situation, but I'd hate to send him out there every day."

 

Despite his impressive day at the plate Saturday, Borchard's bat -- particularly a swing that can get long -- has impeded his progress. He played 63 games for the White Sox in 2004, but batted .174 in that time and spent most of last year at the Triple-A level.

 

The Mariners traded pitcher Matt Thornton to the White Sox last week in exchange for Borchard in a swap of players whose inconsistency had frustrated both clubs. Like Thornton, Borchard is out of minor league options and, given his difficulties with the White Sox, welcomed the chance with the Mariners.

 

"I had no idea four weeks ago that I would be standing here with the opportunity that I have presented to me," he said. "That's why you say it's a long season and a lot of things can happen."

[hi8is]

go borchie!

[SouthsideBlitz]

Hehe ... Borchard

[Felix]

Tests show no break in Reed's wrist

Prior injury led to initial report; outfielder may start Opening Day

By Doug Miller / MLB.com

 

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Jeremy Reed returned to the Mariners' Spring Training complex on Tuesday with a big smile on his face, and who could blame him?

 

Reed, thought to be out for at least six weeks with a broken wrist, might not even open the season on the disabled list. Heck, if everything goes "perfectly," Reed said, he'll be in the lineup and back in center field on Opening Day.

 

His broken wrist? Not broken.

 

Huh?

 

Here's the bizarre explanation given by head trainer Rick Griffin, who joined Reed in an impromptu press conference on Tuesday morning.

 

"Jeremy had a whirlwind day up in Seattle [on Monday], and after a CT scan, an arthrogram, a series of X-rays and an MRI, it has been completely ruled out that he has a fracture," Griffin said.

 

"He had an old fracture in his wrist from when he was 12 years old or 18 years old, and he exhibited quite a bit of pain and discomfort and swelling the day after he ran into the wall [last Thursday night]."

 

Reed slammed into that center-field wall in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks while going back on a Johnny Estrada double. Reed stayed in the game despite the pain, and he even singled sharply to left field.

 

The next day, Reed had an X-ray taken, and it revealed the fracture of the scaphoid bone in his right wrist, a small but significant nagging injury that usually keeps players out of action for between one and two months, if not longer.

 

Griffin said that the initial X-ray left the team's medical staff "very suspicious," which is why they ordered more tests and had Reed go back to Seattle to see noted hand specialist Dr. Carleton Keck of the Seattle Hand Group.

 

"It's an old fracture and it's completely healed," Griffin said. "It's not related to anything that's going to cause a problem. He might have done it when he was 7 years old skateboarding in Orange County, for all I know."

 

Reed, who will undergo more tests on Saturday, after which the team will know better how to proceed, said that he had no recollection of breaking his wrist at any point in his younger years. He said that he didn't even skateboard that much.

 

One thing he was sure of was that he was incredibly surprised and happy to have been released from the internal roller coaster he's been riding for the last several days.

 

"It's definitely a relief," Reed said. "There were a lot of emotions, and I'm excited for it now."

 

Reed said that the wrist is still tender and sore, but he quickly added, "I'm glad it's not broken."

 

In the meantime, Reed said that he'll start up his regular conditioning routine once again, and he'll throw and wait to hit until he's told that he can.

 

"I'm going to do everything I can do to strengthen it," Reed said. "And I'll do everything I can to stay in the shape that I was when I left.

 

"I went in basically thinking [i would miss] six weeks, minimum, and it could be a heck of a lot longer. So this is better than I ever could have imagined."

 

It was a confusing four-day period for Reed, to say the least.

 

Reed said that while the CT scan was going on, the doctor was telling Reed that he didn't see a fracture.

 

"And I'm telling him which bone is broken," Reed said. "And he's telling me it's not there. And I'm going, 'I don't know what's going on.' "

 

Reed described the range of emotions as going from "disappointing to frustrated to happy to [ticked] off that I have to take all these tests, now very relieved."

 

The Mariners have to be relieved, too.

 

They were trying to figure out what to do without Reed, and they had seemed to settle on the notion that Joe Borchard could win the center-field job and bat ninth, which would push shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt to the second slot in the lineup, for which Reed was a contender.

 

Borchard played every game in center since Reed's injury, looked solid defensively and hit a long home run in a five-RBI game on Friday afternoon.

 

But once Reed is back in the mix, Borchard will be back in the reserve category, and the Mariners' lineup will change again.

 

In the meantime, Reed said that he'll try as hard as he can to be playing as soon as he can and that he won't change the way he plays outfield, either.

 

"I thought over and over again a million times, 'It's Spring Training -- why did I do it?'

 

"But I'm not going to change the way I go about my business. If I go out and I have an opportunity to make a play like that, I'll do it."

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article...t=.jsp&c_id=mlb

 

 

Maybe this should be here. Whichever the mods think :/

Edited March 28, 2006 by Felix

[Balta1701]

Jeremy Reed meet Mark Buehrle. Mark Buehrle, Jeremy Reed.

[GoodAsGould]

Jeremy Reed meet Mark Buehrle.  Mark Buehrle, Jeremy Reed.

 

ok?

[Balta1701]

ok? 

Link

 

Buehrle thought he would miss a couple of weeks with a stress fracture after injuring his foot shagging flyballs on Sunday, but an MRI and a CT scan revealed Buehrle had a stress reaction from a previous injury.

[SoxAce]

I'll root for Borch. I'm just pissed I won't see probably my favorite non sox player (Reed) miss some time. Gotta love the grinders.

[Gregory Pratt]

Go Borchard!

 

[SSH2005]

Latest News  Mar. 29, 2006 - 8:46 pm et

 

Joe Borchard went 2-for-4 with a home run today and is 7-for-19 with two homers since arriving in Mariners camp.

Jeremy Reed remains iffy for Opening Day, so Borchard still might get the start against the Angels. If Reed's wrist turns out to be OK, Borchard probably won't be worth using in AL-only leagues.

[redandwhite]

Watch Borchard come out and rake this season..

[SSH2005]

Watch Borchard come out and rake this season..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Doubt it. In 62 AB's this spring, he has drawn only 3 walks but has struck out 17 times. I see a lot of swings and misses in his future once he starts facing good pitchers.