Seattle Mariners Takes: Things are looking up in Week 9
How about those Seattle Mariners? After an 0-6 Week 8, the M’s turned it around and went 5-1 in Week 9.
Full disclosure – Chris Phillips, who does our weekly Seattle Mariners takes, is on a well-deserved vacation. Filing in for him this week is Mr. Sunshine (sarcasm) Chip Clark.
Five of Six
Hey, the Seattle Mariners won five of six games this week. Better yet, they were all against division opponents. Considering their next eight games are also against the A.L. West, I say keep it going.
Seriously, the M’s got great pitching all week. In all of their wins, Seattle hurlers gave up three or fewer runs. Combined with timely (not great) hitting, it was a recipe for success. Shout out to Kyle Lewis who had a pair of home runs and a hefty 1.017 OPS in five games. Now, if the rest of those bats would just heat up.
Erik with a K
Let’s give it up for relief pitcher Erik Swanson. The man from Fargo is close to unhittable this year. In 13 innings pitched, he has an 0.69 ERA and 0.769 WHIP. Swanson gave up his only run of the season on May 8 and blanked his opponents in six straight appearances sice.
This week Swanson pitched twice, striking out five of the ten batters he faced. Friday, he picked up his first save of the season, closing out the final inning of the Mariners’ 3-2 win over Texas. And in true 2021 Seattle Mariners fashion, less than 24 hours after his first save, Swanson went on the injured list with a groin strain.
Trade rumors
Rumors circulated this week that the New York Mets kicked the tires on Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager. New Mets owner Steve Cohen didn’t make billions in hedge funds with ridiculously bad financial decisions. It’s not happening. Besides, NYM still has a bad taste in their mouths after the last trade between the teams.
Mitch Haniger to the Chicago White Sox. I have no doubt that Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto can get some good prospects back from the Southsiders for Mitch. However, if all things are close to equal, Haniger goes to an N.L. East or Central team. Once he’s dealt, the fewer times Haniger comes back to haunt T-Mobile, the better.
What if
Everyone keeps talking about the Seattle Mariners as sellers at the deadline. Have they bothered to ask, what happens if the M’s are within three games of first place in the A.L. West on July 1? July 15? July 29? Do they become buyers? If they are, what do they buy? I mean, other than a first baseman who can hit.
Mariners Zingers
- After last year’s dumpster fire of a bullpen, it’s hard to believe that they are so good in 2021. If someone would please tell Rafael Montero that he’s supposed to be at the front of the relief group, not the rear (end), it would be appreciated.
- Years ago, Willie Stargell famously said trying to hit Steve Carlton’s slider was like trying to eat soup with a fork. It’s the same approach Jacob Nottingham uses with every pitcher, no matter what they throw.
- The Mariners have six former New York Mets on the active roster Eric Campbell, Daniel Zamora, Paul Sewald, Chris Flexen, Hector Santiago, and Montero. Another one on the injured list, Sam Haggerty. And two of their former top prospects, Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn. When will the invasion stop?
Around MLB
While looking over the list of MLB batting leaders, I found a few alarming things, and I’m not sure which is worse. Anyone who watched a Mariners game this year knows that making contact by putting a bat on a ball is becoming a lost art. Now I know how bad. Out of all the qualifiers, only 16 MLB players are currently batting over .300.
For the Mariners, it gets worse. Four of the sixteen play for Houston, and a fifth is batting .298. It’s a good thing the Astros pitching is bad, or Seattle would be in real trouble. Oops, scratch that last sentence.
By now, every baseball fan in America saw Javier Baez make a mockery out of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. Not that the Bucks needed any help in that department. For his part in the debacle, Pittsburgh first baseman Will Craig explained his actions as follows… “just kind of lost my mind for a second.” You can see his full comments below. BTW Will, that line won’t work for speeding tickets either.
Related Story: Seattle Mariners mock draft compilation 1.0
What are your thoughts on the Seattle Mariners’ performance last week? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.
Chris, I hope I made you proud.