Seattle Mariners combination of art and science makes them contenders.
Unseen art of the field
Unheralded, the grounds crew lay the foundation of baseball’s art. Strategic in every aspect, in sync with the team’s makeup, the grounds crew puts in the work to help a team take full advantage of their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. What they do is a true art form.
In the MLB rules for Field Maintenance, there is a minimum and maximum length of grass-based on the type of grass. The range is typically between a half-an-inch to a full-inch. It makes a significant difference. The kind of dirt used within the MLB rules is based on three sediment grades: sand, silt, and clay.
For a team built on speed like the Mariners, there are advantages on both offense and defense to taller grass. As a high-contact, fast team, they want taller grass to slow down the ball’s topspin, creating more opportunities to beat out routine grounders. Defensively, knowing that the grass will grab the ball on the ground, they take advantage of their infielder’s superior range to play closer to the grass in a traditional alignment.
The dirt used has offensive and defensive benefits as well. A mixture that absorbs water faster allows for the infield to dry out quicker, benefitting teams that are aggressive on the basepaths. This also impacts barreled non-lifted balls in a positive way as well, by giving infielders less time to react.
The Seattle Mariners are built on speed first, gap power second. Setting up the playing area correctly should result in a home-field advantage over a team built on power first.
Will The Mariners Succeed?
The M’s have gold-glove caliber defense around the horn. Behind Gold Glove winners Evan White and J.P. Crawford these Mariners will save more runs than they give up on defense, and that’ll help a pitching staff out. They have speed in the outfield and potentially more speed when Kelenic does arrive. Most importantly, they have coachability.
The Mariners’ projected rotation is good enough “as is” to win games. All Marco Gonzales does is win games (.608 winning percentage). Newly re-acquired James Paxton is also a proven winner (.633 winning percentage). Add in Justus Sheffield’s improvement from 2019 to 2020, and it’s not hard to see how close the Mariners are to creating winning circumstances.
Finally, factor in the major differences between the 2019 and 2020 Mariners teams. Even the most questionable starters are in a better position to win games with a greatly upgraded bullpen, not to mention quality defense and an offense that can score runs in bunches.
It’s almost baseball time in the Pacific Northwest. The opportunity to be successful in 2021 is there for the Mariners. As fans gradually return to T-Mobile Park, they’ll see a team that’s fun to watch.
Joe Swenson is a lifelong Seattle Sports Fan, President of Broken Arts Entertainment, www.brokenartsentertainment.com, and host of the sports talk show, “In The Clutch.”