Updates from Thursday - RRS in action, Thompson assigned to AAA, roughed up in first outing

Ryan Rowland-Smith had another solid appearance for the Mariners today. He faced 4 batters over one inning, throwing 11 pitches in the 8th inning. He faced the top of the Rays' lineup again, and gave up one single. He struck out one (Carlos Pena - twice in two days) and got two fly outs. Another good performance from the bulldog!

Rowland-Smith has responded well after a not-so-good debut this year, and in a bullpen that is a bit sketchy at the moment, these sort of performances are going to see him get some more time in save opportunity situations. Today's game was not high pressure, Seattle was up by six, and went on to win 7-1. But this sort of focused, efficient performance is just the sort of thing the M's will be looking for.

If you had been wondering where Rich Thompson had disappeared to, like I had, there was some disappointing news reported in MLB's The Pitch. The LA Daily News reported on 5 April that the Angels activated Scot Shields from the 15-day disabled list, and optioned Thompson to AAA Salt Lake. Of the difficult decision, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said:

"I think getting his pitches in the (strike) zone in earlier counts is
important, and then once he gets to a pitch count, put guys away. It's a thing
that a lot of young pitchers go through. At times they think too fine, too early
in counts. They find themselves trying to get back into too many counts, which
is tough to do at the major league level"

Rich showed the same positive, optimistic approach that other Aussies have shown in difficult situations this year:

"I have to be more consistent with the fastball and get guys out," Thompson
said. "That's something I've got to work on and hopefully it'll not take too
long and I can be back up here as soon as possible"

The Angels pen has had a few problems, although it is early days yet. Hard luck for Thompson, and he is the unlucky one who was penalised for a bad start to the year. A few other Angels have had it rough too: Speier blew a save, Rodriguez blew a save but had his arse saved by a Torii Hunter homer in the bottom of the ninth, and Bulger gave up runs late.

So all in all, Thompson could be forgiven for thinking that this is all a bit rich (boom boom). But being a tough as nails optimistic Aussie, he will surely earn his spot back this year. For now, you can monitor his progress at the Salt Lake Bees. He had a rough start in his first outing, coming up against Trent Oeltjen and the Tucson Sidewinders. Thompson drew a line out to right, gave up a single to right, got a fly out to right, and then gave up a homer. He then walked a hitter, before drawing a ground out from Trent Oeltjen. Oeltjen went 2-for-4 on the day.