Seattle Mariners combination of art and science makes them contenders.
Baseball is a perfectly imperfect art. Combine that art with modern analytics, and the Seattle Mariners are closer to contending than most think.
When General Manager Jerry Dipoto came to the Emerald City in 2015, the Seattle Mariners adopted a more sabermetric-driven philosophy. Advanced analytics have evolved from seasonal generalities to specific game management strategies. Dipoto and Manager Scott Servais are all-in using ‘the numbers’ as a strategy to create opportunities for success during games.
Preparation and Analytics
At the plate
Having this information at the team’s disposal and using it to perfect practice are two different things. Improving launch angle, for example, isn’t as easy as changing the speed slot that your bat lags through. It’s undoing years of practice and practical application.
Then it’s perfectly practicing the nuances of hands, the drifting of the hands into loading up, unlocking the hips, which maximize power, finally generating the correct pull/push ratio and lag from the hands/wrists to create lift. Lift is just one of the many analytics that the Mariners want to improve in 2021, but it’s far from the only thing requiring improvement.
On the mound
There was an analytic that significantly impacted the Mariners pitchers from August 2020 to September 2020. Specifically analyzing spin rate and less reliance on fastballs. The strategy led to a decline in fastball usage, with nearly every pitcher on the staff during that time frame.
A great example of this was Yusei Kikuchi, who had an atrocious start to last season, posting a 6.38 ERA in his first five starts. Over his final four starts, Kikuchi had a 4.09 ERA. According to Baseball Savant, he started 2020 with a similar trajectory of fastball usage as he had in 2019 (49 percent). However, in September, that dropped significantly (31%) as he relied more on pitches with movement.
This is part of a trend that is sweeping throughout baseball. Using analytics to find ways to increase spin rate results in more opportunities to succeed. You might be asking yourself, what does this have to do with art. Some of the greatest mathematicians in the world’s history were incredible artists (DiVinci, Michaelangelo, etc.). The entire choreography of baseball is now built out of these analytics, from fielder positioning to distance from first base when leading off. There are geometric angles involved throughout the game. DaVinci would be proud.
In the field
On defense, the Seattle Mariners adjust to opposing hitters better than most teams. Seattle was middle of the pack when it came to total shift percentage in 2020 (33.3 percentage). They were one of the lowest when it came to right-handed hitters (10.7 percent) and one of the highest against left-handed hitters (71.2 percent). As a result, the Mariners finished fourth in wOBA (Weighted On Base Average) at .310. Only the World Series Champion Dodgers and playoff contenders Twins and White Sox were better than the Mariners.