Week #14 in Review
Didn’t we just tear down this roster a year ago?
Vital Signs
On this Friday we find the Mariners 33-44. And like a selfish 3-year-old eyeing his favorite Hot Wheels car at play time, they have know violently wrenched last place away from Oakland. “Mine!” They drop three more notches in the standings, now 13.5 back of Anaheim. According to Baseball Prospectus’ adjusted standings, the M’s are underperforming by two and a half games, now. Only the Royals and Devil Rays have fewer third-order wins than the Mariners.
The Mariners have scored 322 runs. Last in the American League. They are hitting .256/.315/.386 compared to the AL average of .266/.329/.420. Their on-base percentage is last in the American League. Their slugging percentage is tied with Oakland for last. Are we sensing a theme yet? They have hit 57 homers: last. Their 211 walks are tied with Baltimore for 10th in the league. Their .255 EqA ranks 26th in all of baseball, tied with the Pirates.
The defense has allowed 349 runs, which makes them the 8th best team in the American League at keeping runs off the board. The gloves are turning 71.3% of balls in play into outs, which is the 3rd best rate in all of baseball. The overall the pitching staff ERA is at 4.36. They have struck out 401 batters (last in the league), walked 265 (3rd highest total in the league) and allowed 82 home runs (the 4th highest total in the league, Safeco Field be damned). The starters are allowing 4.95 runs per nine innnings (12th in the AL), while the relievers are at 3.15 (5th in the AL).
Not a pretty week. The less said the better. They Mariners went 1-5 and were outscored 38-28. Take out last Friday’s lopsided victory, and they were outscored 33-14 in the five straight losses. They were outplayed across the board–out-homered 12-8, out-walked 25-12.
Heroes
Turning it around after two horrid weeks, and just in time for the trade deadline, is Bret Boone, who went 8-for-22 on the week (.364/.417/.773). The shared the team league in hits, home runs (2), walks (2) and RBI (5) and led the team in total bases (17). Maybe the Don Baylor transmogrifier works after all. Or maybe its coincidence.
Hmm… pass.
Not-so-much Heroes
Pat Borders: 2-for-12 with a walk (.167/.214/.167).
Saturday was just a rough day for Aaron Sele. There’s only so many balls one can put in play before they start falling in places they really shouldn’t. Sele allowed 8 Padre runs in 4 innings, including 3 home runs. And this was Petco Park, of all places.
Coming to a stadium near you
So if the Mariners get swept by the team with the worst offense not in Seattle, what happens when the hottest offense in the league comes to town? I shudder at the thought.
Seven of the Rangers starters have double digits in home runs. The Mariners have two. Only Boston has scored more runs than the Rangers. But only the Devil Rays, Yankees and Royals have surrendered more runs. So perhaps all is not as nightmarish for the Mariners as it sounds. The Rangers are 4-8 over the last two weeks against the likes of the Angels, Astros and Nationals.
Freak stat of the day: Since 2002, Chan Ho Park has made 6 starts against the Mariners and compiled a 2.29 ERA. Against all other teams since 2002, his ERA is 6.37.
On Monday, the Mariners travel to Kansas City, where the Royals have scored a measly 12 runs more than Seattle, and their pitching staff is 13th in the league in runs allowed. Will 15,000 show up to any of those three games?
Comments
15 Responses to “Week #14 in Review”
The 2005 Mariner team film should be “Groundhog Day”, not “Napoleon Dynamite”.
Given the Sele-Boone correspondence, I expect Mike Morse will hit .400 for the rest of the season.
Wake me when it’s over.
It’s time to root for the underdogs! Texas and Chi WS in the AL and the Padres and Washington in the NL.
“They are hitting .256/.315/.386 compared to the AL average of .266/.329/.420”
Is that the average of the rest of the league or the average of the league?
“Wake me when it’s over.”
Unfortunately, it has been over for several weeks now. I refuse to care anymore, at least until the FO gets off its ass and does something to try to make this team better for the future. Watching them stagnate is sickening.
Boone’s starting to hit. Time to sign him to a three year extension before anyone else notices.
The Nationals aren’t playing any better than we are. I wish we could figure out how they’re winning and start doing it too.
They’ve been outscored this year, but they’re in first. They “should” have a record of 38-39, and be in last place (we “should” be 36-41).
Damn Republicans.
But sending Lopez down and recalling Spiezio will help?
Color me depressed.
Pitching is the answer!!!The thing we spent no money on this winter.Wow something new pitching wins championships.Go Bavasai great job now find a new one go away.
I am showing up to one of those games in KC. July 4th to be exact.
Well, I guess we should have seen this coming. I mean, two guys can’t carry a whole team and make a team that much better: what was expected of Beltre and Sexson. And were there really any signs that the pitching would have been better this year? Looking at all the important team stats, the M’s really do deserve to be in the place they are. And another problem (although admirable) is the loyalty the M’s give to older players. Of course this was the problem last year until they decided that loyalty at the price of winning wasn’t worth it. So, I look forward to seeing more rookies play as they will be fighting to stay in the bigs — their future. What are they vets fighting for?
i was looking over the stats of the detroit tiger starters on sportsline and realized just how badly the M’s hitters are performing. the tigers are WAY better. the TIGERS! sure, the pitching is spotty and enough to condemn the M’s to a certain level of mediocrity, but the hitting numbers are just grotesque. and that’s what was “fixed” in the off-season. let the experiments begin!
Well, I’ll be one of the less than 15,000 on July 5 against the Royals. 😉
Dave Sund, you living in KC?
My wife and I just moved here from Olympia.