2014 Seattle Mariners

[Atradees]

Elias is up next. Kid looked great in the preseason.

 

[davidonmi]

the hart homer was very relieving. He had looked horrible prior to that one swing. If he and morrison can be a legitimate platoon that would be huge

 

[davidonmi]

despite smoak, ackley, miller's hitting there has not been one more impressive young kid so far than Zunino.
The kid is going to struggle at the plate, he's going to strike out a ton. But what he can do is field, and 2 straight clutch hits in as many games. Wow!
Our first franchise catcher since Wilson maybe (we'll see if his hitting comes along)

 

[Uncle Si]

Elias is up next. Kid looked great in the preseason.

agreed, excited to see him.

but how good were Ramirez and Paxson (2 hits, 9ks, 0 ERs over 7)?

The Angels sweep was the perfect storm for the Mariners:

Felix dealing as usual (11Ks), Cano just being an impact in the middle of the lineup (5 for 11, 4BB)

but: Zunino, Miller, Ackely, and Smoak (7 RBI already) raking, and Ramirez and Paxson looking at their potential best

just three games, but a great start. while its too early to get too excited, this three game sweep was dominant in both frames, was against an AL West opponent, and took apart two lefties (which is supposed to be a major issue for this team givign their left heavy lineup)

 

[Largent80]

Nice way to start for the M's. Unfortunately there are 159 games left, and historically we have seen this before.

 

[CPHawk]

Nice way to start for the M's. Unfortunately there are 159 games left, and historically we have seen this before.

We have?

 

[Uncle Si]

Nice way to start for the M's. Unfortunately there are 159 games left, and historically we have seen this before.

We have?

once in 20 years... but statistically yes, we have seen this before.

 

[CPHawk]

Nice way to start for the M's. Unfortunately there are 159 games left, and historically we have seen this before.

We have?

once in 20 years... but statistically yes, we have seen this before.

To me at least, this feels much different then what we have seem in seasons past. Usually we see a run like this when we are 20 games under .500. Which to me, felt like the other teams looked past the mariners, and didn't play as well as they could. This is the first series, and we got a sweep?! Last year we were the last team to sweep a series, there was an actual fear Seattle might not sweep anyone all year.

I'm not ready to say AL west champs, but I feel like we should finish over .500 and still be competing for the title late in the year.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Nothing is more funny than people jumping on message boards (not on here, but elsewhere), calling in on the radio etc. telling people "it's still early" or "it's only 3 games" or "don't get ahead of yourself" blah blah blah.
Put on some damn big boy pants and and enjoy something for once! Geez.
Gotta' love what we are seeing so far, sure they are a young team and will have some slumps, but I was thinking 78 wins on the season, feeling real confident in that. In fact, wouldn't be surprised if they win 82-84 games.

 

[Uncle Si]

agree CP.. there certainly is a different confidence about the group so far. I also feel like McLendon's presence may be overlooked a bit here. He certainly is a different personality than what weve seen in the dugout over the last 8 years.

I mean its baseball, a sport where the best hitters FAIL 75% of the time and make 20 million a year. The Ms will lose games. There will be stretches where they lose 3-4 games in a row. Smoak will have an 0-8 streak. Paxson will get hit hard, so will Felix. When you play 162 times bad things are going to happen.

But, for a start, this is what the Ms look like when everything they have been building for over the last 4-5 years comes together at the same time. Why not enjoy it?

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Exactly, enjoy it.

 

[Uncle Si]

Exactly, enjoy it.

lets enjoy this as well... because baseball can be fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g794oDdc1l0#aid=P-Swzozh0Lk

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I love baseball. Thru thick and thin (and man there has been a lot of thin) I will always be there for the M's.
Nice to see that the young guys that came thru the system are finally starting to get it etc.
It always makes for a much easier transition back to football, when the M's are good.

 

[425HawkSpark]

I'm a big mariners fan and happy so far. I Love what he has done this season but. Every ball smoak has hit this year is a fastball. He is a real copy of cerano from major league. Feed the guy a curve and he misses. Has any one else seen this? Go M's

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Carano was funny, especially his pre-game rituals.

 

[kearly]

Here is why I am excited about the Mariners. Even with average luck, they are an 82 win team (Pecota projections). However, those projections assume guys like Ackley, Smoak, Paxton, Ramirez, etc will not be very good players this season. I know it's just been three games, but those four players all have the talent to be stars and so far this season they have looked like it. If Ackley and Smoak finish the year with something very good yet attainable like a 130 OPS+ and the pitchers continue to get results that match their stuff, that's going to tack on 10-12 wins over that 82 win projection. And that's not even counting Walker, who has it in him to be a 4 win pitcher over 5 months if he stays healthy.

There's going to be some regression from certain guys (Iwakuma probably won't have back to back career years). And we'll need Hart to hit roughly as well as Morales did last year, when he was the M's best pure hitter that season. Still, the Mariners underachieved by a whopping 7 wins last season (Pecota had them for 78, the M's won 71 instead) so there isn't a lot of area you look at for regression. Long story short, the over-achieve / under-achieve arrow is pointing way, way up for a team that it usually points down for. And this is for a projected 82 win team that only needed to over-achieve a moderate amount to contend seriously for the playoffs.

Statistical analysis aside, I just really like the way the players have looked. The Mariners have had a ton of good at bats, even willing to take strike three called if it means walking more on other opportunities. And the Mariners have drawn a lot of walks. They've forced pitch counts up, they've hit for a ton of power, they are hitting line drives and they are looking disciplined at the plate. Even a guy like Almonte who seems kinda off in some aspects of his game just has the nicest at bats. Almonte looks like the guy Chone Figgins should have been.

I think Paxton is very exciting, he can hit 97 MPH as a starting pitcher and has a very effective changeup. His last four major league starts have been sensational. Ramirez is a guy smart baseball analysts love but struggled through injuries last year. When healthy though, he has the stuff of an upper end #2 pitcher. And he's a guy that could be our #5 pitcher a month from now when Walker and 'Kuma come back.

I know it's just 3 games, but the Mariners look TALENTED as hell all of a sudden. The lineup lacks an easy out, our rotation has a real chance to be the best in baseball (it is already without a doubt the most talented, barring injury Seattle's rotation is a very good bet to lead the AL in strikeouts), really my only worry is injuries and defense.

Granted, the blowout wins had a little bit of luck involved (insane efficiency with two outs), but the talent is self evident. Seattle could probably contend for the playoffs with two "pleasant surprises" from the young guys. And the way this season has started, it looks like getting at least two of them shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Atradees]

Im bored.

How many batters does Elias strike out? 7

How many innings does Elias pitch? 6

How many doubles? 3

Who hits more? Smoak, Cano or Miller? Miller

How many homers? 3

BTW; who is Eric Wedge?

 

[hawkcrazzed]

You know for the first time in a long time. im telling my friends I can't wait too see what the ms do tonight. It feels really strange but I like it.

 

[jkitsune]

Been a while since I've looked forward to baseball games this much. I know it probably won't last, but gosh darn it I'm going to enjoy it while it's here.

 

[mbtitleist]

Oakland's defense doing their best imitation of a little league team on the first play of the game.