Mitch Haniger, Seattle Mariners.
What a wacky week for the Seattle Mariners. It featured not one but two double-headers. Despite the odd schedule, it was also a very successful week for the M’s. They took three of four from the Orioles and won the Astros series. Before we get into the stars of the week, there was a lot of discussion about the depleted Astros. While it is true, it’s also myopic.
The Mariners are also short-handed after losing James Paxton for the season and with 2020 unanimous Rookie of the Year yet to return. While not as short-handed as Houston, the Mariners went with their seventh starter (Nick Margevicius) and the unproven yet effective Chris Flexen pitch over the weekend.
Seattle needed a comeback against proven relievers to beat the Astros on Friday night. No Bregman, Altuve, or Alvarez definitely had an impact on the Astros offense. But Houston’s starting pitching was relatively untouched. The Mariners did a great job working counts to get to the pen, where they did their damage.
In a week where the Mariners went 5-2, it’s tough to pinpoint down to just three stars for the week. Nearly the entire bullpen deserves to be on this list, but so do several starting pitchers, and multiple bats had a great week.
J.P. Crawford – .350 BA, .809 OPS, 4 runs
J.P. Crawford really got the bat going this week, turning around a rough start to the season. He finished the week 7-for-20 (.350 avg) with a double, and 4 runs scored. The shortstop only had one RBI, but it was a big RBI during the comeback against the Astros on Friday. He scored a bunch of runs, primarily due to the great week the top of the Mariners lineup had.
Evan White – .333 BA, .945 OPS, 1 HR
It was only in 15 at-bats, but they were a successful 15 trips to the dish for Evan White. He only struck out 4 times, which is a considerable improvement over last year’s 41 percent strikeout rate.
Justin Dunn – 1.80 ERA, 6Ks in 5 IP, 2 BB.
Against Baltimore, Justin Dunn looked unhittable at points and finally showed a bit more control. The righty balanced a steady diet of fastballs that danced along the edges of the strike zone, without the control issues he had to this start. Instead, only two Orioles batters got a free pass. So far, Dunn issued 10 walks in 9.2 innings, so this was an outing he really needed. He did get a win this week.
2 games, 2 IP, 2 saves, 0.00 ERA, no walks, no hits
In the Pacific Northwest Sportswriters community, a question was posed about who would end up with the most saves on the season. Some said Montero; I said Kendall Graveman. Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais hasn’t come out and named Graveman as his new closer, but after three blown saves by Montero, Graveman appears to be the M’s go-to pitcher in the ninth inning.
Graveman was efficient in his pair of relief appearances, with no walks or hits. More importantly, no drama for a change. He has my vote to be the Mariners’ closer for the foreseeable future. I’m sure most fans agree that he’s earned the position. For his part, Montero has done well as a set-up reliever. The entire bullpen was strong this week.
.280 BA, .945 OPS, 2 HRs, 4 XBH, 6 RBI
The 1-2 punch of France and Haniger proved to be a lot for opposing teams to handle, couple that with Crawford’s fantastic week, and it was a great week for these three consecutive hitters in the line-up. Ty France is batting over .300 and is second on the team in nearly every offensive category, except OPS (leads the team).
The other piece for France is that he’s playing decent defense, although he had an almost costly error in the loss to Baltimore. His versatility allows Servais to manipulate the line-up to keep Haniger rested (DH) and gives Dylan Moore some time in the outfield. The value of both Moore and France’s versatility is immeasurable because of their abilities to play multiple positions.
.429 BA, 1.234 OPS, 2 HRs, 8 RBI
At the time of this publication, MLB hasn’t announced the offensive players of the week for each league, but Mitch Haniger has to be a strong candidate for the honor. He finished the week with a .429 batting average, 1.234 OPS, and 8 RBI, all of which led the American League this week. His 5 extra-base hits tied for the league lead with Kansas City’s Salvador Perez.
Haniger is off to a stellar start in his return from the multiple injuries which cost him almost two seasons. Mitch’s 2021 numbers are also fantastic. Over the first 16 games, he has a .339 average, 4 Home Runs, 14 RBI, and 13 runs scored, all among the league leaders.
In fact, with 10 games left to go in April, Haniger is in the race for the American League’s April Player of the Month. He’s competing with JD Martinez of the Red Sox, Whit Merrifield of the Royals, Yermin Mercedes of the ChiSox, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., of the Blue Jays. Haniger gets a chance to go head-to-head with Martinez next week in Beantown.
The Mariners are coming off of an impressive week. It’s hard to find reasons to be disappointed with their effort. The pitching staff is more than doing their part to start the season. Meanwhile, Haniger, France, Kyle Seager, and now White and Crawford are contributing offensively.
Sadly, Taylor Trammell’s days in Seattle are numbered. The rookie will likely be out of a major league job when Kyle Lewis and Jake Fraley return. Or when the Mariners call up Jarred Kelenic (which can be any day now).
This week’s schedule is a busy one with two games against the Dodgers (their fourth and fifth starters) before traveling to Boston to face the hottest offense in the league for a four-game series. To succeed, the Mariners need to fire on all cylinders. That’s easier said than done right now with how often Seattle hitters strike out (29.6 percent).
Joe Swenson is a lifelong Seattle Sports fan and the President, director, producer, and writer for Broken Arts Entertainment. He is also a co-host for the In The Clutch Podcast.