Ichiro 2.0 scalding line drives

Ichiro's fading so they move him from leadoff to third?
Holy balls...

good on him...he simply cant slap the ball and run out singles anymore...I remember when he first came up, he was able to smash the ball all over the place but settled on those singles...now he seems intent on driving the ball...he'll have a lower avg. but with better power numbers.

Typical puff piece from the Seattle press.

Seems like his contact and speed would suit the team better in the 2-hole....That being said, I have no idea who is on that team besides Figgins, Ichiro, and that really good pitcher whose name escapes me right now...

They always said he could have hit for more power if he wanted to/changed his swing. now we will find out.

Sounds good to me. He's making all the adjustments an aging player has to make. I think he'll be successful this year and I hope to see him get his 200 hits.

QUOTE(#7):

Originally posted 11:24 AM ET  02.22 by Yogi-Zen

Sounds good to me. He's making all the adjustments an aging player has to make. I think he'll be successful this year and I hope to see him get his 200 hits.

If he is hitting for power, trying to, he will not get his 200 hits. From what I have read about him over his career his avg will suffer and his HRs will go up.

This is not going to end well for Mr. Wedge...

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 09:51 AM ET  02.22 by Lex-LOU-thor

If you need to change and are able to do it to meet your new role - more power to him. Good luck.

Agree; it's tough to change your batting style at 38 years of age, and if he can pull it off more power to him!

Ichiro is a great professional hitter. He will be fine batting third, which will open up the lineup for some of the other guys to produce.

I really think Seattle will be better this year scoring runs, with Ackley and Carp all season, and Smoak rebounding...and, of course, Montero.

Personally, I have absolutely no faith in Eric Wedge as manager. He has only twice managed a team to a winning record in a given season. So, his decision to take Ichiro out of the leadoff slot and place Chone Figgins is a joke. Chone has only had a couple good years (NOT great). He was a joke of a free agent pick up. The Mariners fell for his good free agent year in hopes he would actually help them. Ichiro had 1 (ONE) sub-par year. People are so quick to judge a player. The man had 10 consectutive years of 200+ hits and never batted under .300. He had 10 years straight of golden gloves. People say he is slower. Well, he did have fewer putouts, BUT the pitchers induced a greater GO/AO ratio which gave the outfield close to 200 fewer chances which in turn contributed to the decrease in putouts. He met his career season average in steals and was only slightly less in infield hits - and that total can be affected by struggling at the plate in general. Lastly, before last year, one of his worst years came when he tried to hit for more power. I feel that if they put him in the 3rd position, he will do the best he can to live up to what a 3rd position hitter needs to do, thus greatly affecting his numbers as they did in the past.

I think people are doing a knee jerk reaction to him having one sub-par year. Even with the reduced numbers, he was still one of the best, if not the best hitter, on a bad team last year. If he still hits the same this year and may be even next, then I will believe he is going downhill in skills. But, until that happens, I won't beleive last year was anything other than a sub-par year. I think Ichiro took last year personally and you will find out that he wil rebound this year.

Seattle will still sux..