This Week’s Man Crush: Jarrod Washburn

Even as I write this, I can’t believe it. Mariners starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn is This Week’s Man Crush. Amazing and well deserved. Dare I say he has even become the rotation’s stopper? Yikes.

Washburn ended a Mariners two-game skid on Tuesday, pitching 7 innings with a cramp in his side. He allowed 2 earned runs, 5 hits and struck out 9. Nine. The win takes him to 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA.

While many are pleasantly surprised, we all may have been able to forecast a turnaround at some point. Since the start of the 2005 season, no American League pitcher has received worse run support than Washburn. His teams have scored 2 runs or less in 58 of his 120 starts and 0 runs in 13 games.

Washburn’s first victory came on April 9 in Minnesota when he threw 8 innings of shutout ball. On April 15 he went 6 innings, giving up just 2 earned runs.

Here’s what Mike Sweeney told M’s Seattle Times beat writer Geoff Baker:

"In the fifth inning, he was grabbing his side," Mariners first baseman Mike Sweeney said. "Many people would have gotten through the fifth, just shut it down and said 'Bullpen go get them!’ But he went out there for two more innings and really showed the heart of a lion tonight. And that's what this team is about. Fighting for each other. Guys feed off that. When they see the starter going out there every fifth day, not just five and dive, and playing through injury, it means a lot."

About the Man Crush: This is a weekly installment for the blog where, for good or for bad, I’ll highlight one stand-out player or sports celebrity.