The 2016 Seattle Mariners (Official season edition)

[kearly]

Leonys Martin: .256 / .338 / .482 ... 820 OPS
Kyle Seager: .251 / .335 / .483 ... 818 OPS

Wow.

Not bad for a guy that was brought here on the cheap for his defense in CF.

 

[Hawker]

^^^ Leonys has to be playing better than his career numbers
Conversely, Seager must be playing under his numbers this season.

 

[Rob12]

I honestly think Leonys is experiencing the "Edgar Effect."

He's outhitting his skills a bit, but I think Edgar is getting through to this guy. If you just judge it by results, it's safe to say that Edgar is a fantastic hitting coach. If you listen to guys like Mark Trumbo, who said Edgar had the most profound coaching impact anyone has ever had on him, it's pretty easy to see (Trumbo is having a great year so far in Baltimore). If you look at the M's and what they're doing offensively, it's honestly insane.

The Mariners are the only team in the MLB top 10 in:

BB%, K%, K/9, and BB/9

That's called controlling the zone. This isn't the "all or nothing" Mariners' lineup of the past few seasons under Jack Z. The Mariners walk a lot and strike out a lot less. This was the vision that Jerry Dipoto and Scott Servais brought here, and Edgar is the perfect hitting coach to implement it (he had a great eye, and had over 100 walks four times in his career, and 80 walks nine times in his career).

With guys like Leonys, Edgar is simply squeezing every bit of talent out of him that he can. This team is now conditioned to drive up the pitch counts of opposing pitchers.

Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) is still low at .281 (22nd in the MLB). For as good and efficient as the offense has been, they should get better as the season goes on. And the pitching has been outstanding.

This is a very, very good team. Don't let past Mariner teams cloud your view of this team. They can play, and I believe the right Front Office and coaching staff is in place to get the most out of this team.

Another bright spot this season has been the Minor League system. The Mariners' farm was abysmal last season. This year, they have gotten some very solid performances and things are looking up a bit.

So glad the Mariners' house was cleaned this offseason; Dipoto is truly on his way to turning things around.

The best part about this season for me is seeing the fight in this team. Opposing team leads don't feel insurmountable anymore. Tonight is a great example of that. Down 5-2, and they claw back. In the past, a 3-1 lead for the bad guys usually meant a loss. That's not the case anymore.

 

[Hawker]

Didn't the guys in the booth mention that Leonys just switched to Cruz's bat about a week ago? The awe-inspiring 36"/36oz bat. With Edgar's tutelage... reaping rewards!

 

[Rob12]

Seattle is 25-12 since April 13th, the best record in the Majors.

 

[kearly]

^^^ Leonys has to be playing better than his career numbers
Conversely, Seager must be playing under his numbers this season.

Seager tends to start off slow. He'll probably finish with his normal numbers.

 

[Rob12]

Leonys Martin: .256 / .338 / .482 ... 820 OPS
Kyle Seager: .251 / .335 / .483 ... 818 OPS

Wow.

Not bad for a guy that was brought here on the cheap for his defense in CF.

Seager's slow start really skewed his numbers.

Kyle Seager (0x3, BB) has reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games after a walk in the first inning. … During stretch, is hitting .348 (32×92) with 11 runs, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 16 RBI & 12 walks.

We might see Kyle's best year yet.

 

[Rob12]

99.9 percent sure Chris Taylor is being sent back down after tonight, and Luis Sardinas is being brought up.

 

[CurryStopstheRuns]

Great finish last night. That was enough to warrant a slight pulsation from the most flaccid of Mariner fans.

I was furious last night after watching the team squander a multitude of opportunities the night before. I am not as big of a believer in Rich Hill as some are. He is good, but lady luck rides with him.

 

[sutz]

99.9 percent sure Chris Taylor is being sent back down after tonight, and Luis Sardinas is being brought up.

Hate to judge a guy on one game, but he didn't look ready the other day. O'Malley at least has the glove, hopefully he'll find his way at the plate.

 

[Atradees]

O'Malley got the start at shortstop Sunday and went 2-for-4 with a double in a win over the Reds.

Last year he batted .262 in 20 some odd games. The M's dont like him at shortstop. Thats why they called up Taylor.

Taylor is a steaky hitter and would take a while to get going....

Its gonna be pretty when Kmart comes back.

Martin
Kmart
Cano
Cruz
Seager

Buzz saw!

We do have to tame this home jinx. Everyone else is hitting here...

I hope The M's are grooming some untapped potential in the starting pitcher area. This just might be Iwakuma's swan song. He is certainly not worth it at 20 million an option year.

 

[sutz]

O'Malley got the start at shortstop Sunday and went 2-for-4 with a double in a win over the Reds.

Last year he batted .262 in 20 some odd games. The M's dont like him at shortstop. Thats why they called up Taylor.

Taylor is a steaky hitter and would take a while to get going....

Its gonna be pretty when Kmart comes back.

Martin
Kmart
Cano
Cruz
Seager

Buzz saw!

We do have to tame this home jinx. Everyone else is hitting here...

I may have missed that game, but that's good news. As for his fielding, at least O'Malley didn't throw two balls into the stands and single-handedly give up two runs in an inning. Taylor had a really bad game.

I'm not in any way saying O'Malley should take over for Marte. Not at all. But he does look like a pretty good utility fielder that can handle the pressure and perform acceptably in short duty. Kind of reminds me of Willie Bloomquist, who everybody around here seemed to hate, but could play adequately almost anywhere and could handle the bat OK, which is what you want out of a utility guy anyway. I could see O'Malley hanging around for years as that bench guy you can count on to at least not totally screw the pooch when you play him.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

The best part about this season for me is seeing the fight in this team. Opposing team leads don't feel insurmountable anymore. Tonight is a great example of that. Down 5-2, and they claw back. In the past, a 3-1 lead for the bad guys usually meant a loss. That's not the case anymore.

Ditto. This how winners are.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

O'Malley got the start at shortstop Sunday and went 2-for-4 with a double in a win over the Reds.

Last year he batted .262 in 20 some odd games. The M's dont like him at shortstop. Thats why they called up Taylor.

Taylor is a steaky hitter and would take a while to get going....

Its gonna be pretty when Kmart comes back.

Martin
Kmart
Cano
Cruz
Seager

Buzz saw!

We do have to tame this home jinx. Everyone else is hitting here...

I hope The M's are grooming some untapped potential in the starting pitcher area. This just might be Iwakuma's swan song. He is certainly not worth it at 20 million an option year.

This year is a different story. Hitting is our strong point, and I think if we could use an upgrade in the starting rotation. Felix is obviously the #1. Taijuan looks like a very strong #2, but I still have my doubts about him in a playoff series as our #2. While he has pitched his best baseball of his career, he still young and susceptible to that one really bad inning. Not sure I'd want either Miley or Iwakuma pitching in a playoff series at this point. Hard to say on Karns. Ideally I'd like to see us ad a legit #2 behind Felix, which would push Walker to the #3 so there is less pressure on him.

MLB playoffs is all about the starting rotation. Get a couple aces in your rotation and you are looking good. Right now it's going to be tough for anyone to beat a 3-man playoff rotation of Sherzer/Strasburg/Roark, Syndegard/DeGrom/Matz, Arietta/Lester/Lackey/Hammel, etc. While Taijuan is good, not sure how well he'd matchup with the cream of the crop #2's.

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

Nice test for iwakuma tonight. He hasnt impressed me this year so far. Might jist be age catching up to him.

 

[Atradees]

I hope The M's are grooming some untapped potential in the starting pitcher area. This just might be Iwakuma's swan song. He is certainly not worth it at 20 million an option year.

This year is a different story. Hitting is our strong point, and I think if we could use an upgrade in the starting rotation. Felix is obviously the #1. Taijuan looks like a very strong #2, but I still have my doubts about him in a playoff series as our #2. While he has pitched his best baseball of his career, he still young and susceptible to that one really bad inning. Not sure I'd want either Miley or Iwakuma pitching in a playoff series at this point. Hard to say on Karns. Ideally I'd like to see us ad a legit #2 behind Felix, which would push Walker to the #3 so there is less pressure on him.

MLB playoffs is all about the starting rotation. Get a couple aces in your rotation and you are looking good. Right now it's going to be tough for anyone to beat a 3-man playoff rotation of Sherzer/Strasburg/Roark, Syndegard/DeGrom/Matz, Arietta/Lester/Lackey/Hammel, etc. While Taijuan is good, not sure how well he'd matchup with the cream of the crop #2's.

I Know how the heck one one year later hitting is our strong point...

Massive props to Dipoto for the roster changes and the increase in OBP

I wonder what the future holds for Paxton.

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

Awesome game. So happy to see Lind get red hot.

Only downside was Martin getting hurt but it doesnt seem too bad and they are off tomorrow then play the twins. I think O'Malley and Clevenger will do okay against the twins if Ianetta needs a rest after grtting hit.

 

[Ontos67]

Lots of offense tonight - I 'd rather have seen them "bank" a few of those 13 runs to give to Felix on Friday.

A look over the horizon into June - huge 6 game series coming with Texas - 3 there, 3 here. A real chance to put some distance over them. However, based on season so far, we'll probably split the series. Best I could hope for is go 4-2 - net 2 game increase on Texas. We'll have Marte back by then and I think Texas is expecting Darvish return soon.

Day off tomorrow, then the Twins for 3. Sweep the Twins!

 

[TestMo1337]

Kind of reminds me of Willie Bloomquist, who everybody around here seemed to hate, but could play adequately almost anywhere and could handle the bat OK, which is what you want out of a utility guy anyway.

That's because Bloomquist is severely overrated by some Mariners fans and because the Mariners incite many people to hate them and their "family friendly" atmosphere they threw out for so long, Bloomquist was the poster-child for a lot of that hate.

In truth, Bloomquist was barely a serviceable utility guy. Looking at WAR as a neutral metric gives Bloomquist a life-time WAR of 1.8. Not an average, not a single season, not a high/low but a cumulative total over 14 years.

In Seattle, Bloomquist had a 2.9 WAR (over 9 years) while his years outside of Seattle brought it down to a career 1.8. In 5 of the defense positions he played, he was a below average defender in all but LF and 2B.

 

[Hawker]

Twins and Padres on deck. A combined 32 games under .500 are those teams.

Seems like a good time to go on a run and break away from the Rangers a bit.