JP Crawford, Seattle Mariners.
We continue our weekly feature on Pacific Northwest Sports, Seattle Mariners 3 up, 3 down. It tracks those M’s who had a good week and those who had bad ones (Monday-Sunday).
On the schedule from May 8-14, the Seattle Mariners finished a home stand with three games against AL West-leading Texas, had an off day, and then traveled to the Motor City for three against the upstart Tigers.
If the previous week’s 5-1 record was a home run, going 3-3 last week was more like an RBI single. What’s really upsetting is the Mariners could have gone 5-1 again but let a couple of games slip through their fingers.
Seattle is now 20-20, 4.5 games behind Texas and 2.0 back of the New York Yankees for the final American League Wild Card spot.
This 3 up will be very close to a repeat of last week.
In our previous installment, we said Ty France was back to being the Seattle Mariners best hitter and that the power would come. That night, he hit his second dinger of the young season.
France started in all six games, picking up at least one hit in each. That takes his hit streak to 11 games, the fourth most in baseball.
While not as prolific as a week earlier, Seattle’s standout first baseman still had a nice week at the dish. France was 8-for-24, with a home run and 4 RBI.
Business is picking up for the Seattle Mariners middle infielders. Last time, Jose Caballero was part of our 3 up with a .462 batting average and 1.115 OPS.
WhileCaballero had another decent week, J.P. Crawford‘s was better. He sat out the first two games of the week and then benefited from manager Scott Servais’ batting order shuffle.
From the leadoff spot, Crawford went 5-for-16 with a pair of walks in four games. More importantly, he set the table, scoring 5 runs.
Bryce Miller may not have started this season in the Majors, but it’s mid-May, and the Seattle Mariners hard throwing righty has put himself in the race for American League Rookie of the Year. Saturday’s seven-inning gem in Detroit was another example of his early dominance
For the second straight outing, Miller allowed no runs. The three hits he yielded to Detroit batters are the most in his short MLB career.
His stat line was 7.0 innings pitched, 3 hits, 0 runs, 3 strikeouts, and 0 walks.
While our 3 up was close to the same, our 3 down is mostly different.
This is getting ugly. AJ Pollock is off to a horrible start in 2023, batting just .139 in 72 at bats. Last week just added to the misery.
Pollock played in 5 games, starting 4. He responded with 1 hit in 13 at bats (cue Harry Doyle).
One of the reasons why Seattle signed Pollock in the offseason was his career .276 batting average and .801 OPS. So far, that guy hasn’t made it to the Mariners locker room. If he keeps this up, Pollock may find himself unemployed next to Tommy La Stella.
Seattle Mariners fans know their third baseman is a very streaky hitter. He started the season strong but is now mired in a deep slump (.139 batting average since April 27).
From May 8-15, Eugenio Suarez played in all 6 games, registering just 2 hits (both singles) in 22 at bats. He also struck out 6 times and grounded into a double play.
If there was a bright spot to his week, Suarez drew 4 walks and stole a base.
Our only repeater to the downside of the ledger this week is Matt Brash. While he officially only gave up 1 run in 3 outings, it was pretty bad.
His meltdown on May 10 was very costly. Brash started the sixth inning down 3-2 to Texas. Three of the first four batters he faced singled, increasing the lead to 4-2. Seattle came back with a run in the eighth; it was too little too late. Sunday, May 14 was worse.
Brash came in for lefty Gabe Speier in the seventh inning with 1 out, and the score tied 3-3. Speier did him no favors by putting two men on, but Brash got the first batter he faced, Javier Baez, to hit a sacrifice fly, putting runners on first and third with two outs. Then the walls caved in.
The next batter, Spencer Torkelson, walked on 5 pitches to load the bases. Brash then hit Phil Maton, bringing in the go-ahead run.
He followed that up with a four-pitch walk (although some of the pitches were very close) to Andy Ibanez, scoring another run. Detroit took a 5-3 lead, which was the final score.
Not to say the Seattle Mariners could have won either game, but the loss to Detroit on Sunday might be a game they look back at as the one that got away.
Which Seattle Mariners players are on your 3 up, 3 down for last week?