Seattle Mariners 2021 Grades: Part 6 – Manager and Coaches
Chris Phillips
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In 2021, Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais had his best year in the Emerald City, coming within a few games of reaching the playoffs. We review his 2021 season.
Seattle Mariners Manager Scott Servais led the team to 90 wins in 2021 and came up just two games short of making the playoffs. He relied on one of the best bullpens in the second half, which he needed to overcome a minus 51 run differential. Despite all of the accomplishments last season, it still wasn’t enough to land him American League Manager of the Year.
Players Coach
Servais is his player’s biggest fan and believes in them so much. At times that can be a detriment to the ball club. For example, sticking with Rafael Montero and Jarred Kelenic for too long. Montero was eventually traded away as part of the Joe Smith and Abraham Toro deal. Kelenic went back to Triple-A. There he regrouped, made his return, and helped contribute to the Seattle Mariners on their playoff push.
It’s fair to say (from a certain point of view) that in the beginning part of the year, Servais was trying out his relievers. He knew he was going to use Montero as his closer, a plan that backfired gloriously. Also, in the beginning, Kendall Graveman excelled in his appearances and eventually took over the closer’s gig when Montero failed.
So, in the beginning, Servais had two guys he could count on or at the very least had defined roles. The rest of the bullpen took time to figure out. It’s the reason why there were hiccups early on. Subsequently, once he had his relievers figured out, the fans saw how effective the relief staff was.
Team Moral
An underrated aspect of a manager’s job is to keep his team playing hard, especially when adversity strikes. Not every team could overcome season-ending injuries to their biggest offensive weapon (Kyle Lewis) and projected number one starter (James Paxton) all before May. There was no bigger adversity for the Seattle Mariners this year than the highly unpopular Graveman for Toro deal at the trade deadline.
Many reports came out about the Mariners locker room. Reactions ranged from players crying to anger, frustration, and bewilderment. Seattle dropped some games after the trade, but Servais got them back on track, and the M’s made a push for the playoffs.
“The players will let you know when they are ready” — Scott Servais literally as Jered Kelenic hits this homer pic.twitter.com/mQBq2K2LEX
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) March 3, 2021