Weaver’s questionable starts add more questions

MARINERS • UPDATED: 12:15 P.M.

We’re back.

Now on to last night’s debacle. As I was saying before I had to go, if Joe West had called that one fastball a strike … well, as my dad used to say, if frogs had wings, they wouldn’t hit their butt every time they jumped.

Which is an almost incomprehensible way to say life is what it is. He didn’t call it a strike, the next pitch hung like a horse thief and the game was over.

As is the case with every major league team, the M’s are going to be as good as their pitching, especially their starting pitching.

We don’t know if Felix is going to continue to dominate – the guess is yes, but of course he’ll have ups and downs – or if Jarrod Washburn will be more than a .500 starter – the guess is yes, but not by much – or if any of the three new starters will excel – the guess is no, but Miguel Batista and Horacio Ramirez will be serviceable, which just leaves us with the Jeff Weaver question.

Last night, again, wasn’t the right answer.

Today’s hot list …

• The game stories revolve around Weaver’s outing with this from the Herald , the Times and the P-I . There are also these two stories from the Twin Cities, one from the Star-Tribune and the other from the Pioneer-Press .

• It’s probably no surprise to find out Felix Hernandez’s idol , pitching-wise, is the Twins’ Johan Santana.

• Jose Guillen wasn’t sure he’d be ready to play when the season started. He was. And he gives the credit to the M’s trainers.

• Back when I was playing in college, we had a summer rivalry with Golden West College, a JC in Orange County that had a strong group of major-league caliber players, including Houston Astros’ coach Doug Mansolino. But the star of the team was Johnny Moses, soon to move on to the University of Arizona and the bigs, most notably with the Mariners. The fleet-footed outfielder was a great guy, quiet but accessible as we talked after our games.

Moses has coached for years in the M’s organization and elsewhere, before calling it quits last season to spend more time with his family. But he’s back , throwing batting practice and helping out in other ways.

• UPDATE: The Washington Post has an interesting story on Felix.

And now today’s question …

• If Jeff Weaver can’t cut it as the fifth starter, what should the Mariners do?