The Seattle Mariners are 46-42 heading into the Allstar break. They are in 3rd place in the American League West, and 4 games out of first behind the streaking Los Angeles Angels. Before the season started, many people predicted the M's to be in 3rd in the West, but few thought they'd be 4 games above 500. Let's take a look at why the M's are having success this year.
Starting Pitching: A-/B+
This would have been an A if it wasn't for Carlos Silva's six starts and a 1-3 record with an 8.48 ERA. More atrocious than Silva's record is the Mariners eating his behemoth 12,000,000 dollar salary for 09. O.k., enough, lets stop with Silva before I punch a hole my wall and kick my defensless dog while he's asleep.
Felix Hernandez has been lights out. Washburn is having a career year, which a 6-6 record doesn't reflect. If Washburn got any run support he'd easily have 9 wins this season. More impressive is his 112 innings pitched only halfway through the season, and his sub 3 ERA at 2.96.
Bedard has been fairly dominant despite a few injuries keeping him off the mound. Jason Vargas has done extremely well with his 3-3 record and 3.82 ERA. Garrett Olson and Chris Jakubauskas have been mediocre in spot fill in roles. All in all, the Mariners have one of the best rotations in baseball.
Bullpen: B
The emergence of David Aardsma as the Mariner closer could not have come at a better time. Morrow was struggling with his location and confidence without a clear cut reliever to replace him. Aardsma stepped right in and dazzled. He's saved 20 out of 22 games and has a 1.96 ERA. Those are Allstar numbers.
Mark Lowe has been a consistent arm and someone to count on in late innings. Sean White has a sub 3 ERA at 2.63. Even Miguel Batista has been quietly good with a 6-3 record and 3.33 ERA. Just don't put Miguel in the late innings where he's 0-3 in save opportunities.
Roy Corcoran has been struggling in long relief. Despite his 2-0 record, he's got a 6.88 ERA and a 16-6 BB to SO ratio. Shawn Kelly has struggled at times too going 0-2 in save opportunites and a 5.93 ERA.
It's safe to say without Aardsma the Mariners would 5 to 6 games under 500. No one else seems to have the stuff to be on the mound in the ninth inning.
Offense: D
The Mariner offense is laughable. I would rather watch an entire Seattle Storm game than watch the M's hit 1 through 9. Despite the best efforts of Ichiro, Branyan, and Gutierrez, the rest of the line-up stinks.
The Mariners have the worst catching duo in baseball with Kenji Johjima (BA 254) and Rob Johnson (BA 203). Jose Lopez has decent power numbers with 12 home runs, but is only batting 250. Griffey's batting 22o and Cedeno isn't even above the mendoza line.
The Mariner offense has only scored 348 runs in 88 games for an average of less than 4 runs a game. This is one of the lowest run totals in all of baseball. The team average is a pitiful 261 with an on base percentage of 317. It's a good thing Mariner pitching has been lights out, because this offense could not sustain a winning record.
Coaching: B-
Coaching is a tough grading category, because not too many people get to see what goes on behind the scenes. So far Wak has done a good job. I don't have many complaints about the way he's managing the club. This grade is based purely on a few questionable calls by the skipper on handling his bullpen and not going to his bench enough past the 7th inning. For example, not getting Chavez into the game after the 7th for defensive purposes.
Rick Adair has handled the pitching staff to perfection. On paper, our bullpen looks like a bunch of guys were just thrown together. No one would predict a bullpen with the likes of Jakubauskas, Kelly, White, and Bautista would be one of the strongest in baseball. Rick Adair deserves recognition for the influence he's had on this young bunch of guys.
Front Office: A
Seattle is loving Jack Zduriencik. Since coming to the Mariners Jack Z. has been wheeling and dealing. He first trade sent J.J. Putz packing for the Metz and in return got Franklin Gutierrez (who's turning out to be a stud in Center Field), Endy Chavez, Mike Carp, Aaron Heilman, and minor leaguers. Jack Z. then ships Heilman to the cubs for Ronny Cedeno and Garrett Olson, who are both helping the club on a daily basis. I think Ronny has a bigger upside than his sub 200 average suggests. We'll just have to be patient with him.
Jack Z. kept the trade bug going by getting rid of Yuniesky Bettencourt for a couple minor league pitchers in Danny Cortez (only 22 yrs old) and class A pitcher Saito. Cortez is supposed to be one of the Padres better pitching prospects. Jack Z has also traded for Jack Hannahan and sent minor league pitcher Souza packing to the A's. Jack Hannahan was the starter for Oakland, but struggled at the plate and was sent down to AAA. I've got a good feeling we got a steal for Hannahan, who is a much better player than what he was showing for the A's.
Overall: B
I am extremely happy with the Mariners at the break. Despite a lacking offense, the club has a desire to win and are doing so with great pitching. I have complete confidence in Jack Z. and like all the moves he's been making thus far. We are just a few more trades and draft picks away from being competitive for the pennent every year.
Showing posts with label Don Wakamatsu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Don Wakamatsu. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Waking a Sleeping Giant
About three weeks ago, Mariner Manager Don Wakamatsu asked his star pitcher to "step it up" after his fourth consecutive lack-luster performance. The question was if King Felix was actually listening? There are times in the past where Felix Hernandez hasn't responded to his Manager's motivations. This was not one of those times.
Felix Hernandez has been lights out in his last 5 starts since Don Wakamatsu's statement to the media. He is 3-0 in that span and averaging over 7 innings per start. More impressively, Felix has allowed only 3 earned runs in over 37 innings, dropping his ERA from 4.13 to a staggering 2.77. That puts King Felix at 7th lowest ERA in the American League, and 13th in all of Major League Baseball.
Felix is not only winning games now, but he's actually pitching! Yes, there is a difference. Pitching is when you're thinking, using both sides of the dish, hitting your spots, and saving your out-pitch for a 2 strike count.
A lot of you are probably asking yourself what it means when pitchers aren't pitching. Well, just look at game tape of Jarrod Washburn in '07 and '08 to answer that question. There, you'll see no focus or itensity, a lack of competitiveness, no urgency to make good pitches or trying to outhink hitters.
Baseball is definitely a thinking game, and Felix is doing more than just that. He's two steps ahead of everyone in the box, and making hitters look absolutely foolish. The question everyone wants to know is how long it will last?
Felix Hernandez has been lights out in his last 5 starts since Don Wakamatsu's statement to the media. He is 3-0 in that span and averaging over 7 innings per start. More impressively, Felix has allowed only 3 earned runs in over 37 innings, dropping his ERA from 4.13 to a staggering 2.77. That puts King Felix at 7th lowest ERA in the American League, and 13th in all of Major League Baseball.
Felix is not only winning games now, but he's actually pitching! Yes, there is a difference. Pitching is when you're thinking, using both sides of the dish, hitting your spots, and saving your out-pitch for a 2 strike count.
A lot of you are probably asking yourself what it means when pitchers aren't pitching. Well, just look at game tape of Jarrod Washburn in '07 and '08 to answer that question. There, you'll see no focus or itensity, a lack of competitiveness, no urgency to make good pitches or trying to outhink hitters.
Baseball is definitely a thinking game, and Felix is doing more than just that. He's two steps ahead of everyone in the box, and making hitters look absolutely foolish. The question everyone wants to know is how long it will last?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Monday Morning Musing, June 8
As always, these are random thoughts to get your week started on the right and/or wrong foot. Prepare to be spellbound. Or at least mildly amused.
Who cares if our offensive scoring prowess is worse than the two dudes from Superbad? So what if 40 percent of our starting rotation should be taking buses to games in small towns with names that end in "ville"?
Right now, this team of thrown-together misfits, castoffs, underachieving middle infielders, over-the-hill Hall of Famers, aloof Asian superstars and over-priced free agent mistakes is positively scorching the earth like the climax of a Michael Bay film.
Relatively speaking.
In fact, the M's have won two in a row (shoula been three, Wladamir!) taken three straight series against solid competition (Angels, Orioles and Twins) and sit just one game under .500. Not bad, but not awesome. But here's the kicker. We're improving. That's right, the Mariners are getting better.
The starting pitching has been fantastic. The new lineup, with Branyan hitting second, has been increasingly productive.
But the most impressive wrinkle in this delightfully unpredictable season is that this team is coming to play every night or afternoon. We lose focus and games, some that we shouldn't, some that we blew. Regardless, we're coming back the next day and playing hard.
I credit Wak and I credit our cooky veterans.
Wak, because he's willing to make changes (brilliant on the Branyan shift) and holds his players accountable for making preventable mistakes (Jose, Yuni, even Felix have all been taken to task for mental errors).
By cooky veterans, I mean Griffey and Sweeney. These graybeards are keeping this team focused and in stitches. The major league baseball season is long and arduous. You need to have a short memory to keep coming back day after day and act like nothing (good or bad) happened yesterday. And what's the best way to forget about your troubles: laughing. Comedy as cure-all.
When Griffey's gone, sadly, the Mariners will need to hire Zach Galafianakis to fill the comedic void. "The Hangover" star probably couldn't hit much worse. It hurts just to write that, but I'm sure, if he read that surprisingly topical joke, the new ego-less Ken "Cosby" Griffey would probably be laughing. When isn't he?
Anyway, I'm enjoying it.
Other musings:
-This Bedard renaissance is a sham. He's a mercenary, plain and simple. If someone were to play him in a movie, it would be Jean Claude Van Dam.
-He's also re-established himself as one of the top 5 nastiest pitchers in the American League. Scouts are watching. Too bad we still won't get half of what we gave up for him.
-Seahawks starting tailback, Michael Vick. Sounds good, doesn't it.
-If you saw Pau Gasol on the street, wouldn't you wonder why someone that tall had fallen so far and wasn't playing in the NBA? Wouldn't you point him to the nearest homeless shelter, keep walking and then make a (Chappelle) Rick James joke? "Cocaine is a helluva drug."
-I really hope the Magic win a couple of games against the Lakers, just to prolong the series. Aside from Rescue Me (best season yet and it goes all summer long) and the occasionally train-wreckish fun of crappy reality shows, TV is terrible this time of year.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wak's Shout Out
No, Wakamatsu wasn't calling into Kube 93 to holler at his boyz, or put an add in the Stranger under the man seeking.... section. But he was giving a shout out, rather, calling out some of his star players. How many first year managers have the stones to tell their star player "they aren't stepping up"? That's what I like most about Wak, he's not afraid of anything.
There's only a handful of players he could be talking about. Surprisingly it's not Beltre, who's having one of his worst years as a big leaguer. Wak did move Beltre around in the order, now hitting #2, to try and relieve the pressure for Beltre to drive in runs. But, isn't that why the Mariners gave him a monster contract after hitting 40+ home runs and 100+ RBI's? To drive in runs? I understand why Wak is doing it though. He's got to try something to get Beltre going.
So who's not earning their paycheck in the skipper's eyes? Here's a hint, he started the season 4-0, but has taken losses in 3 of his last 4 starts. He has a 4.13 ERA. This guys is supposed to be our ace, our gauranteed win, our Johan Santana. Not hard to figure out Wak's talking about our supposed savior Felix Hernandez.
I can understand pitchers having a bad start. Maybe they lose focus, couldn't locate that day, or weren't feeling well. But #1 starters are not supposed to have consecutive bad starts, let alone 4 in a row.
Felix is getting ROCKED. I'm surprised we haven't seen him on the 15 day DL with neck stiffness. I mean it must be painful snapping around to watch line drives, gap shots, and homeruns for a whole month.
Kudos to Wak for putting King Felix, um Prince Felix, um Felix the Fool, into his place. Wak is doing exactly what he should be doing; putting pressure on his star players to perform every night, and set an example for the rest of their teammates. He's made a few questionable calls at the helm thus far, but overall is doing a great job. I see a little Sweet Lou in Wakamatsu. Someone who won't coddle players and will speak his mind. Now if he could only light up a cig and drink a coors light tallboy in the corner of the dugout, I would assume the Cubs have put out an APB for a missing manager.
There's only a handful of players he could be talking about. Surprisingly it's not Beltre, who's having one of his worst years as a big leaguer. Wak did move Beltre around in the order, now hitting #2, to try and relieve the pressure for Beltre to drive in runs. But, isn't that why the Mariners gave him a monster contract after hitting 40+ home runs and 100+ RBI's? To drive in runs? I understand why Wak is doing it though. He's got to try something to get Beltre going.
So who's not earning their paycheck in the skipper's eyes? Here's a hint, he started the season 4-0, but has taken losses in 3 of his last 4 starts. He has a 4.13 ERA. This guys is supposed to be our ace, our gauranteed win, our Johan Santana. Not hard to figure out Wak's talking about our supposed savior Felix Hernandez.
I can understand pitchers having a bad start. Maybe they lose focus, couldn't locate that day, or weren't feeling well. But #1 starters are not supposed to have consecutive bad starts, let alone 4 in a row.
Felix is getting ROCKED. I'm surprised we haven't seen him on the 15 day DL with neck stiffness. I mean it must be painful snapping around to watch line drives, gap shots, and homeruns for a whole month.
Kudos to Wak for putting King Felix, um Prince Felix, um Felix the Fool, into his place. Wak is doing exactly what he should be doing; putting pressure on his star players to perform every night, and set an example for the rest of their teammates. He's made a few questionable calls at the helm thus far, but overall is doing a great job. I see a little Sweet Lou in Wakamatsu. Someone who won't coddle players and will speak his mind. Now if he could only light up a cig and drink a coors light tallboy in the corner of the dugout, I would assume the Cubs have put out an APB for a missing manager.
Monday, April 20, 2009
What to do now?
Over the weekend, I foolishly began contemplating blogging about what the Mariners should do if the team is still competitive, let alone leading the AL West, come the July trade deadline.
I thought, "What could be more intriguing than a Mariners front office that had no intention of making a playoff run (let's be honest) now forced to think about 1) keeping players with trade value and 2) making potential playoff-run acquisitions?"
What do you do with guys like Beltre, Bedard and Washburn? All are in their contract year, all are perceived as valuable in terms of potential future-building trades. Would Mariners' brass take a gamble on keeping these players for a playoff run? Would they acquire anyone of significance perceived as a "missing piece?"
Then came 2-0 and 8-2.
Two runs in two games isn't going to cut it. And it's becoming increasingly clear that Wak-ball will only take the Mariners so far. Sooner or later, they will need to drive runs in if they want to continue winning, especially considering the team's ever-so-fragile pitching rotation and bullpen are to survive.
Still, considering the M's surprising start - 8 and 5 with a 2 1/2 game lead atop the AL West - we need to take a deep breath and realize that the recent losses and anemic offense just over two games is not necessarily a pattern one can draw conclusions from just yet.
HOWEVER, and this is a big however (hence the capital letters), we will know a lot about the Mariners as early as the end of April.
The next three series will prove pivotal; all involve match-ups with contenders: at home against the down-but-dangerous Rays, then on the road against the hungry Angels, a team that looking to avenge last week's debacle in Seattle, then a long trip to division-leading Chicago.
That's nine games with some of the league's best competition, all before May 1.
If the Mariners rebound from the weekend and get back to their winning ways over these next three series, and perhaps come out north of .500 in those games, you may have yourself enough of a litmus test over this first month of baseball to draw the conclusion that these Mariners could be here to stay. Conversely, if things go bad, this team could very easily revert to, eh, 2008.
Until then, I'll save my roster move scenarios for a later date.
I thought, "What could be more intriguing than a Mariners front office that had no intention of making a playoff run (let's be honest) now forced to think about 1) keeping players with trade value and 2) making potential playoff-run acquisitions?"
What do you do with guys like Beltre, Bedard and Washburn? All are in their contract year, all are perceived as valuable in terms of potential future-building trades. Would Mariners' brass take a gamble on keeping these players for a playoff run? Would they acquire anyone of significance perceived as a "missing piece?"
Then came 2-0 and 8-2.
Two runs in two games isn't going to cut it. And it's becoming increasingly clear that Wak-ball will only take the Mariners so far. Sooner or later, they will need to drive runs in if they want to continue winning, especially considering the team's ever-so-fragile pitching rotation and bullpen are to survive.
Still, considering the M's surprising start - 8 and 5 with a 2 1/2 game lead atop the AL West - we need to take a deep breath and realize that the recent losses and anemic offense just over two games is not necessarily a pattern one can draw conclusions from just yet.
HOWEVER, and this is a big however (hence the capital letters), we will know a lot about the Mariners as early as the end of April.
The next three series will prove pivotal; all involve match-ups with contenders: at home against the down-but-dangerous Rays, then on the road against the hungry Angels, a team that looking to avenge last week's debacle in Seattle, then a long trip to division-leading Chicago.
That's nine games with some of the league's best competition, all before May 1.
If the Mariners rebound from the weekend and get back to their winning ways over these next three series, and perhaps come out north of .500 in those games, you may have yourself enough of a litmus test over this first month of baseball to draw the conclusion that these Mariners could be here to stay. Conversely, if things go bad, this team could very easily revert to, eh, 2008.
Until then, I'll save my roster move scenarios for a later date.
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