Wedge's message to veterans: Play better

Mariners manager Eric Wedge hasn't been shy in his criticism of the veterans on the Seattle Mariners, particularly the veterans that have failed to produce on the field and specifically at the plate.

And after 17 straight losses, he tossed some more criticism their way again. Before the game with the possibility of 18 straight losses weighing heavily on him and his team, he didn't hold back.

"I've been talking to about the veterans all year long, you can't expect the kids to lead you out of this, the veterans have to do it," Wedge said. "At best, the veterans have underachieved all year long, except for one or two guys. So that's where we are."

Luckily for Wedge, the kids did lead the Mariners out of it. Rookies Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp combined for seven hits and seven RBI, while Felix Hernandez, yes, Wedge still classifies him as a kid at age 25, pitched seven innings and allowed one run to improve to 9-9 and stop the streak.

And while veterans like Ichiro Suzuki (4-for-5 with two runs scored) and Franklin Gutierrez (1-for-4 with an RBI double) gave some contributions.

But if the veterans – the exceptions being Brendan Ryan and Adam Kennedy and possibly Miguel Olivo – had been contributing more and performing better, the Mariners would never have lost 17 straight.

"The fact of the matter is where are breaking in a lot of young kids that will be much better for it next year for what we are going through this year, and not just what they've been through, but what's ahead of them," Wedge said. "The problem is they need some help some veteran guys to lead the way and take some of the heat off them. I can't say it enough. It's indisputable."

Wedge had a few guys Cleveland in his first year of managing team – which was a largely young team – to help him through rough spots while then-youngsters like CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Casey Blake figured things out.

"What we did there is what we'll have to do here," he said. "Because there isn't a great deal of leadership out there anymore from our veteran guys for whatever reason, you have to develop it. That's what we did. We developed it. You look at all my young kids from year-to-year and we challenged them and had conversations about what it means to be a leader, and do it at a younger age."

Wedge is starting to have those conversations with guys like Ackley, Carp and Justin Smoak.

"We have more people coming too," he said. "We still have a couple guys here that we can move forward with."

To be fair, Wedge admitted this is a different situation than the one he had in Cleveland, an organization he worked his way up through.

"Everybody knew what I was about before I got the job," he said. "A lot of those guys were with me in the minor leagues before we got up there. You come over here and everybody is new. Not just with me but the staff as well. You don't have an idea of what you are getting and it takes a little bit of time to figure out what you have. We were able to surprise a lot of people early on, but you knew we were just squeezing by and you saw the tough stretch of games that were coming."

Still, the Mariners are 104 games into the season, the veterans should know what Wedge is about by now and what he demands. And yet they don't seem to be performing.

"With veterans it's tougher, they should know themselves better than anyone else," Wedge said. "If you are veteran at this level, you should be your own best coach because you are the only one that's been with yourself throughout your entire career. You've been up here long enough to know what works and what doesn't. Either it is declining ability or it's something else going on within yourself, physically, mentally, emotionally, mechanically. They've got to know themselves."

Wedge and his staff are still managing them, coaching them and trying to put them into positions to succeed. But it goes beyond that.

"Ultimately the veterans have to take a lead role within themselves, because they've been up here too far along, they've done too much – both bad and good to not understand it," Wedge said. "You can only help them so much."

"So to answer your question about Ichiro or Figgy (Chone Figgins) or (Jack) Cust or whoever it may be, Gutierrez … just look at our opening day lineup, you do the math."

Short hops

With an infield single in the seventh, Brendan Ryan extended his hitting streak to 11 games. He is hitting .347 (17-for-49) with four doubles, two homers and seven RBI over that stretch. … Felix Hernandez has won his last five decisions against the Yankees and is 5-0 with a 1.29 ERA. He improved to 3-0 in three starts at the new Yankee Stadium. The win snapped a personal three-game losing streak for him this season. … Ichiro's four hit performance was his second of the year.

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483
ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
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