Season Thread 2011 Mariners

[SABR Brat]

So, would I be alone in my thoughts that Justin Smoak should be batting in the #4 hole and not in the #5 hole? Right now, they have removed Cust from there (good move, though now he is hitting a little better . . .) and replaced him with Miguel Olivo.

Now, in the last 10 games, he is hitting .286, but in his last 6, only .136. And let's be honest, Olivo is not the guy you really want in the cleanup spot. Sure, he had a few good games, but overall, I want an actual good hitter there.

Smoak is clearly the best hitter on the team. And the only real power threat (HR and doubles). If he was batting #4, he would have more opportunities to be at bat with Ichiro and Figgins on with fewer than 2 outs. And since he is our main run producer, why not put him in the spot where he can best push in some runs?

Smoak is hitting .315, Olivo is hitting .208.

Smoak is hitting .333/.395/.641 in his last 10 games with 4 HR and 14 RBI! This is who needs to be in the Cleanup Spot, the one guy on the team who can rake!

Am I wrong in this?

As a counter argument, there is the thought that maybe they do not want to put undue pressure on him to perform and putting him in the cleanup role might mess with his mind. But I do not think it would do that. He clearly has shown that he can handle big league pitching and handle it with a lot of stress in his life (i.e. the passing of his father). He can handle the pressure and handle it well. Moving him up a spot in the order shouldn't put much more expectation on him, we would just look for him to continue what he is doing now. We don't expect him to hit .333 with a HR every other day (though that would be nice), we would just like a solid consistent hitter there to help improve our offensive output.

What are your thoughts everyone?

I see what ya saying. Move him up to three or four and more chances of having runners on base and more at bats during the season. Cust has some nice hits since moving into the six. Is Cust figuring it out or is it because he is behind Smoak in the order ? Olivo swings at everything and is not a prototypical four hitter, yet he puts the ball in play. Wednesday he had two runs batted in without a hit. I like the Rodriguez. He's doing a good job with only playing two times per week. More questions will come when Franklin and Dustin come up. Where do you put Dustin in the lineup ? Start him in the ninth position to take the pressure off ? Hitting in front of Suzuki ? See some nice pitches ?

[SABR Brat]

White Sox:

Game # 33, May 6th 7:10 CHI @ SEA, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Philip Humber vs Felix Hernandez
Game # 34, May 7th 6:10 CHI @ SEA, TV: Root, WGN, Radio: KIRO 710, Gavin Floyd vs Doug Fister
Game # 35, May 8th 1:10 CHI @ SEA, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Mark Buehrle vs Erik Bedard

[Edgartohof]

8-2 now for the M's!

Brendan Ryan got the game winning single in the bottom of the 9th inning!

Felix goes for the full 9 innings for the CG win, his 4th win of the season!

Felix goes 9 innings, 5 hits, 2 BB's, 2 runs (both earned) and 6 Strikeouts on only 109 pitches, lowering his ERA to 3.02 in the process.

Ichiro went hitless but was walked and scored a run. Figgins was 1-4 with a BB and a SB.

Bradley hit a double, knocked in a run and scored a run. Olivo was 0-4 on the night and Smoak hit a deep double (very similar to one hit last night, deep center field). Again, I just wonder why Smoak isn't in the #4 hole, tonight, he would have have a couple extra chances to bat with runners on . . . maybe management will figure it out. But probably not when they are winning. They figure that if this is working, why fix it. But I say, make the switch and you will see an improvement!

Ryan at the bottom of the order hit a double in the game and later got the game winner in the 9th!

This was career win #75 for Felix Hernandez! Congrats!

[Edgartohof]

Smoak is hitting .533/.563/1.133 the last 4 games with 8 hits, 3 doubles, 1 HR and 4 RBI.

He is currently hitting .315/.413/.576 on the season with 9 doubles, 5 HR and 21 RBI

[SABR Brat]

Smoak is hitting .533/.563/1.133 the last 4 games with 8 hits, 3 doubles, 1 HR and 4 RBI.

He is currently hitting .315/.413/.576 on the season with 9 doubles, 5 HR and 21 RBI

He leads the team in HR, RBI's, and average dispite going on the bereavement list for almost a week.

[Edgartohof]

Doug Fister, our 6'8'' Right hander is about to take the mound for the 2nd game of the series against the Chicago White Sox.

Fister has a 2.70 ERA for the season but only a 1.50 ERA over his last 3 starts, so let's hope he can continue to build on that!

If the M's win tonight, they will be back up to .500 on the season, 17-17!

[SABR Brat]

O's

Game # 36, May 10th 4:05 SEA @ BAL, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Pineda vs Jake Arrieta
Game # 37, May 11th, 4:05 SEA @ BAL, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Felix Hernandez vs Chris Tillman
GAme # 38, May 12th, 4:05 SEA @ BAL, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Jason Vargas vs Zach Britton

[SABR Brat]

So, would I be alone in my thoughts that Justin Smoak should be batting in the #4 hole and not in the #5 hole?

In the #3 tonight

[SABR Brat]

Tommy Johns for David Aardsma

[Edgartohof]

The M's are in the bottom of the 12th inning at the moment, the 2nd time they have been there this series. They had a 0-0 tie going into the top of the 12th but the Mariner's took a 1-0 lead when Ichiro scored (after getting his 50th hit of the season).

And now that I look at it, League is doing a good job at trying to give it away. He has loaded the bases with no outs . . .

[Edgartohof]

And League blows the game, wasting a beautiful start by Vargas (9 IP, 0 runs, 7 hits).

Vargas definitely used his defense today as he was aided by 4 DP's! Not that it adds up to anything since they lose anyways.

[SABR Brat]

Cleveland:

Game # 39, May 13th, 4:05 SEA @ CLE, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Doug Fister vs Fausto Carmona
Game # 40, May 14th, 10:05 SEA @ CLE, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Erik Bedard vs Alex White
Game # 41, May 15th, 10:05 SEA @ CLE, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Michael Pineda vs Josh Tomlin

[SABR Brat]

homestand:

Games # 40 & 41 rainouts

Game # 42, May 16th, 7:10 MINN @ SEA, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Liriano vs Hernandez
Game # 43, May 17th, 7:10 MINN @ SEA, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Scott Baker vs Jason Vargas

Game # 44, May 18th, 7:10 LAA @ SEA, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Jered Weaver vs Doug Fister
Game # 45, May 19th, 12:40 LAA @ SEA, TV: Root, Radio: KIRO 710, Dan Haren vs Erik Bedard

[SABR Brat]

homestand:

Games # 40 & 41 rainouts

espn has

Baker vs Pineda monday and;

Liriano vs Hernandez tuesday;

Weaver vs Vargas wednesday;

Haren vs Fister thursday matinee.

[Edgartohof]

Pineda and the M's win tonight against the Twins.

Pineda pitched 7 scoreless innings, giving up only 3 hits, 0 BB's and had 7 SO!

Kennedy and Peguero went deep back-to-back in the bottom of the 6th inning!

Felix pitches tomorrow against the struggling Twins, looking to match up against Liriano.

Liriano has not had a great season so far, though he is just 2 starts past a no-hitter he threw this season! But he followed that up by giving up 4 ER in 3 IP in his next outing, to raise his ERA back over 7.00!

Best bet is to work the count on him early, let him walk you, he is giving up a bunch of those this year (6.8/9IP - twice his career average). He has twice been knocked out of games within the first 3 innings, both times giving up 4 ER's in the process. His Strikeouts have been down, his walks are up and he does not last long into games. With our Ace on the mound and the Twins offense struggling, we should look to put their lights out early, the earlier the better. Felix pitches well with a lead, even just a 1 or 2 run lead. So if we knock in a couple in the first 2 innings, and tack on a couple off their bullpen, we should win this games handedly.

And that is just the kind of morale boost this team needs going into their next 2 game series vs. the Angels. Especially since we will be facing their best with the likes of Weaver (2.26 ERA) and Haren (1.93 ERA) looking to make those starts.

[Edgartohof]

Now, the season is still young (only 1/4 the way through so far). But watching Pineda and knowing that he is starting to get more and more press coverage, it makes me wonder what his chances for winning the ROY award is?

There are other candidtates out there, such as Zach Britton of the Orioles who is nearly pacing Pineda, win for win. But Pineda has the wow factor and a 98 MPH Fastball to go along with his devastating slider.

[Edgartohof]

M's lose 2-1 today.

Felix gave up 2 runs in the first and followed that up with 7 more scoreless innings, striking out 9 along they way. He gave up only 3 walks and 3 hits in the game.

Liriano on the other hand gave up only 1 run on 3 hits and 1 walk along with 9 SO's of his own.

Ichiro scored the Mariner's sole run in the 5th inning.

Our offense was just pathetic tonight. Yes, Liriano was pitching quite well but we still should have done more than 1 run. So Felix picks up another loss even with a good performance.

[SABR Brat]

Angels:

Weaver vs Vargas wednesday;

Haren vs Fister thursday matinee.

[Edgartohof]

Vargas outpitched Weaver last night, going 7 strong scoreless innings giving up 4 hits and 2 BB's on a season hight 115 pitches. He also tied his career high in SO's with 9!

Vargas now has a 0.38 ERA in his first 3 starts in the month of May after only giving up 1 run in the first game and 16 scoreless innings since then!

Next we have Fister vs. Haren today at 12:40. Fister has actually pitched quite well this season though his 2-4 record does not show that. He sports a 3.22 ERA wit a 114 ERA+. While in fact, he has only had 2 bad games this season. In 8 starts this season, he has given up 2 or fewer Earned Runs in 6 of them (in his first start of the season, he had 1 unearned run). And he is coming off a strong start where he gave up only 2 runs over 8 innings giving up only 4 hits and 1 BB but receiving a no-decision.

Hopefully the M's can keep up what they started the last few starts and get another great performance by their starter. And maybe, we could find a way to score just a couple more runs than the Angels'. Of course, we are facing Haren who sports a 1.93 ERA and the leagues lowest WHIP and BB/9IP.

[Edgartohof]

In the Mariner's last 3 games, their starters have given up a total of 2 ER for an ERA of: 0.82 and have Struck out 25 batters in their 22 innings (10.22 SO/9IP).

[Edgartohof]

Beautiful game for a beautiful day.

Fister pitches 8 innings of 1 run ball but takes the No Decision as the game was tied when he left the game. Pauley came in to finish the 9th and lowered his ERA to 1.11 in the process.

Fister paced Haren who also only gave up 1 run on 3 hits and 4 BB's over 8 innings. Fisters only mistake ended up being a HR to Howie Kendrick (his 7th of the season - his single season high so far is 10, which he reached the last 2 seasons - looks like he will best that soon).

Scott Downs came in for the Angels in the bottom of the 9th and ended up losing the game and gave up his first run of the season. The winning hit was a single by Peguero to knock in Jack Cust.

The M's offense was still not pretty but they still got the win today.

Mariner's starters have been on fire as of late, giving up only 3 ER in the last 4 games (0.90 ERA in 30 IP).

[Edgartohof]

Despite some great pitching by Fister, his bad luck remains as he did not get the win today. 1 Run over 8 innings today, after only 2 ER in 8 innings in his last start, only to get a loss in that game.

A 1.69 ERA in his last 2 games and a 0-1 record to show for it! Come on M's, let's do better than that.

[Edgartohof]

Bedard is pitching tonight. Despite a high ERA, he has been pitching very good as of late. He sports a 1.89 ERA over his last 3 starts.

[Edgartohof]

Am I dreaming? Or have we had 5 great games by our starters in a row? Pineda, Felix, Vargas, Fister and now Bedard (8 scoreless innings with 9 SO!).

Bedard only gave up 3 hits and 2 BB's along with 9 SO's (ties his season high, set in his last start). His ERA is now under 4.00 (currently at 3.94).

Of course, the defense tried to give it all away in the bottom of the ninth inning but we were still able to come away with the victory!

The M's hit Latos hard, including doubles by Ryan and Olivo, a hard hit double by Peguero and a beautiful HR by Olivo.

[Edgartohof]

As of now, all 5 Mariner's starters have an ERA under 4.00 (2 are under 3.00)!

This season, the starters have given up a total of 100 Earned Runs over a total of 283 1/3 innings for an ERA of 3.18! Not bad at all.

Then there is our bullpen. There are definitely bright spots in there as well but a few that are not quite so stellar.

There is League who have a scary stretch, though he did have 9 saves to start the season without losing one. And there is Chris Ray who came in to finish the game. He came in with an ERA of 11.88!!! And that is down from what it was. And then there is his WHIP which is over 2!!! This guy just terrifies me everytime he comes in. And though there were mistakes by the defense in the ninth, he still gave up a hit a walk and a run. And this actually lowered his ERA (down to 10.61).

But then we have Pauley, Laffey and Wright (and I am still willing to support League). But the the trio of Pauley, Laffey and Wright spot a combined ERA of: 1.37!

So we definitely have some good pitching on staff (with a couple wild cards thrown in as well). If we can just have some league average offense (or better), we have a good chance at winning more than we lose.