2012 Mariners Season Thread

[Edgartohof]

Add another couple losses for the M's as they drop a couple to the Rays.

And again, I will mention Figgins and his work at the top of the order. He was 0-4 today lowering his BA down to .189.

The only thing I can say for him is that he has more than half the RBI that he had last season (8 this year compared to 15 last year), so woohoo for him!

He is hitting .190/.246/.261 since last year... please just let him go. Or at least send him down to the Minors for a bit, maybe he can find himself there...

[Paladin Cecil]

Anyone else think Tom Wilhelmsen should be released after that unspeakable play that cost us our 7th straight game?
He's lucky that our owner's last name isn't Steinbrenner.

[Blue387]

Anyone else think Tom Wilhelmsen should be released after that unspeakable play that cost us our 7th straight game?

Do you want to trade him to the Mets? The Mets bullpen can't hold onto leads either.

[Blue387]

Murphy's four hits
5/5/12: Daniel Murphy goes 4-for-4 with a run scored against the D-backs

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=21183327

[Edgartohof]

Okay, so the M's did win tonight, but seriously, tell my why Felix was not at least given a shot at finishing that game?

8 innings, 1 hit, 2 BB, 9 SO! At least let him start the 9th and allow him the opportunity to finish it out!

He was on fire tonight, one of his best games ever, but no, we callled in Delabar in to finish it off. Yes, he got them out 1-2-3 but that is not the issue, it is that Felix as the Superstar Veteran should be allowed to get a CG every once in a while, he is not a 19 year old pitcher any more, or a 23 year old pitcher. He has been in the league 8 years already (at 26 years old!), he is in his prime, his arm is young, he had only thrown 107 pitches. I know it is early in the season but 120 pitches tonight was not going to derail his season. Heck, he threw 126 pitches just 3 starts ago, let him at least go that far. Do not baby him or when you need him to finish out a big game, he will not be ready to because he won't have the experience closing them out...

I am not saying make him the next Halladay and have him throw double digit CG's every year (though I do not personally have a problem with that, let them finish what they start), but when the opportunity arises where one can cap off an amazing performance like he had, you owe him that chance.

In case I did not already mention, the M's beat the Twins tonight 7-0!

Ackley and Ichiro were both 1-2 with 2 BB's and 2 Runs. Ichiro also had 2 RBI on a late innings triple. Seager hit his 4th HR of the season.

Felix has lowered his seasons ERA to 1.89, one of the top in the league in the early goings of this season. He is also at or near the top in IP and SO.

[Edgartohof]

Seager has been on fire lately, hitting .361/.378/.694 with 3 HR and 10 RBI over his last 10 games! He has raised his season BA from a low of .255 to its current total of .297 and he is now slugging over .500 as well.

Let's hope he can keep it up.

For those who missed it, according to Wedge, Figgins is now only a Uitility Player!!! Now if we can just get Smoak hitting, things could be looking good again.

[Edgartohof]

The offense is on again tonight, this time starting early.

They put up 3 runs in the first off a 2 run double Montero and then a solo HR by Carp (his first of the season) in the 2nd to put the M's up 4-0 at the moment!

[Blue387]

That was a tough loss to the Indians. I am sorry for the Mariners.

[leecemark]

--Mariners playing decent ball lately and some encouraging work from some of the young guys. One guy who has been DIScouraging is Smoak. He just isn't getting the job done and after over 1000 MLB plate appearances you have to wonder if he ever will. I think they need to send him down and give some more opportunities to some of the other guys who haven't got as long of a look.
--Alex Liddi and Casper Wells both should get a chance to show they can be more than weak side platoon men. They could both get 1/2 the starts vs RHP with Wells in LF and Carp at 1b someties and Liddi at 1B and Carp in LF the other. Giving those guys some more reps will give us a better idea of who desrves to lose playing time when Guti comes back (or should that be if? - I have no confidence Guti will ever be an everyday player again).
--Oliva will be back sooner and thats when I'd send Smoak down (Figgins I hope is odd man out when Guti returns). I hope Oliva isn't back to being everyday catcher - we've been better without him and he isn't part of the future. Probably the best split would be Oliva catching and Montero DHing vs LHP and Montero and Jaso splitting time between C/DH against RHP with Oliva on the bench.

vs RHP
C/DH Montero/Jason
1B Carp/Liddi
2B Ackley
3B Seager
SS Ryan
LF Carp/Wells
CF Saunders
RF Ichiro

vs LHP
C Oliva
DH Montero
1B Liddi
2B Ackley
3B Seagar
SS Ryan
LF Wells/Carp
CF Saunders/Wells
RF Ichiro

--If Smoak can put together a solid month or so at Tacoma and/or Guti we'll have a better idea who deserves more playing time and who deserves a demotion.

[Blue387]

Mariners score 21 runs, beat Rangers 21-8.

[Blue387]

Brendan Ryan: best defensive shortstop?
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...-about-ms-ryan

[Seattle1]

Another gem by Felix last night. Thirteen strikeouts, complete game shut-out. Sickening that he had to wait until the very last play of the game for the Mariners offense to eke one run across for him to get the win. Imagine if he had pitched that well and got a no-decision! Dude never gets any run support. WTF.

[Edgartohof]

So different look to this team lately...

No more Ichiro (wow) and hey, the team is winning!

No, it is not all because Ichiro is gone (though sure, maybe in part). The young guys are turning it around and actually hitting at home (what a thought). They have already shown to be able to score on the road but now that they can do it at home, there is hope for them yet!

And now they are sitting on a 7 game win streak - 2 straight series sweeps and 14 out of 20 games! They have scored in the 1st a lot lately which mentally is great for everyone, hitters and pitchers included. But lately they have also continued that up by tacking on runs throughout the game, almost looking like a real professional baseball team.

You cannot look at these players lines right now as they still are quite sad (the team is hitting .234) but lately, this has not been the case. I do not have the numbers in front of me but since the All-Star break, they M's have outscored their opponents nearly 2-1! That is great hitting, pitching and fielding all thrown together. Lots of hard work paying off for this young team whose average age is around 28 years old. And when you take Ichiro and Figgins out of the equation (please take Figgins out completely, ASAP), they are even younger.

This is Brendan Ryan and Felix's team now. Speaking of Brendan Ryan, he has been hitting .320 the past 16 games! (.289 the past month). And do not forget Mike Carp who since coming back has hit .367!

Seven games does not change the standings much for us but they sure can do something to change our view of the team. I am once again getting excited for this teams future. Yes, we are still in the AL West with Powerhouses in the Texas Rangers and the Angels too (and what about those red-hot A's!). I have to say, it sure is nice to be rooting for a team that at least can stay competitive.

[Blue387]

You cannot look at these players lines right now as they still are quite sad (the team is hitting .234) but lately, this has not been the case. I do not have the numbers in front of me but since the All-Star break, they M's have outscored their opponents nearly 2-1! That is great hitting, pitching and fielding all thrown together. Lots of hard work paying off for this young team whose average age is around 28 years old. And when you take Ichiro and Figgins out of the equation (please take Figgins out completely, ASAP), they are even younger.

This is Brendan Ryan and Felix's team now. Speaking of Brendan Ryan, he has been hitting .320 the past 16 games! (.289 the past month). And do not forget Mike Carp who since coming back has hit .367!

Seven games does not change the standings much for us but they sure can do something to change our view of the team. I am once again getting excited for this teams future. Yes, we are still in the AL West with Powerhouses in the Texas Rangers and the Angels too (and what about those red-hot A's!). I have to say, it sure is nice to be rooting for a team that at least can stay competitive.

I wonder how the Mariners would fit in the National League.

I bet Felix can outhit certain batters in the Mariners lineup.

[Edgartohof]

I wonder how the Mariners would fit in the National League.

I bet Felix can outhit certain batters in the Mariners lineup.

Well, he (Felix) sure can out pitch just about anyone as he throws a 2-hit CG Shutout today against the Yankees!!!

This is his 3rd CG Shutout this season, all have come against the best: Yankees, Boston and Texas!

[Blue387]

Well, he (Felix) sure can out pitch just about anyone as he throws a 2-hit CG Shutout today against the Yankees!!!

This is his 3rd CG Shutout this season, all have come against the best: Yankees, Boston and Texas!

It was a good game by Felix.

[Edgartohof]

M's stop the Rays train from advancing to their 8th consecutive victory with a walk-off hit by Eric Thames (let's hope he keeps up this timely hitting)!

Millwood had a decent game tonight as he threw 7 innings with 8 hits, 1 walk and only 2 ER, both of which came in the 1st inning. After that, he seemed to settle down and even struck out 8 in the game! Despite his good pitching, he did not record the win as he left trailing by 1. The M's scored their 1st run off consecutive doubles by Smoak (who got called up in leiu of Carp's appearance on the DL). The M's too were silenced from that point on until the bottom of the 9th where they had both timely hitting and were able to make a fielding error count for them. Seager led off and singled, Figgins came in to bunt him over and both were safe (1st and 2nd) on the throw by Pena. Smoak drove Seager in and moved Figgins over to 3rd on a SF. And despite a SO by Olivo, Thames was able to come in with 2 outs and a runner on 3rd with the score tied, fouled off a couple balls and singled to Right Field to bring in the winning run!

Edit:
I should mention a couple other things. First, we scored those 2 runs in the 9th off of Rays Closer Fernando Rodney who has been the top reliever this year (0.81 ERA with a league leading 37 Saves). And Stephen Pryor, a recent callup continued his success throwing 1 2/3 of scoreless innings. Aside from the 1 ER he gave up in his first appearance he has been lights out since then.

He received his callup after throwing 20 scoreless innings in his first appearance in AAA. And he is still showing his affinity towards striking out batters, averaging 11.9 in the minors and 12.7 SO/9IP so far in his short tenure in the Majors.

[Blue387]

Felix Hernandez pitched a perfect game.

Mariners win 1-0.

[Chuck The Mets Fan!]

Felix Hernandez pitched a perfect game.

Mariners win 1-0.

I'm happy for him and the Mariner franchise! Congratulations!

[Edgartohof]

It was AMAZING to get to watch that, a master doing his craft!!!!!

Congrats to Felix Hernandez!!!

[Edgartohof]

So Felix is leading the league in CG Shutouts (4), against the: Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers and now Rays! A couple more games like this and he is back in the Cy Young race!

[Edgartohof]

Anyone watching the game tonight?!?

[Blackout]

Anyone watching the game tonight?!?

Ichiro hit two homers...oh woops wrong team

[Edgartohof]

Hey, no worries about Ichiro, I don't think too many (if any) harbor ill will towards him. We got to enjoy the best he had to offer for over a decade and now he gets to go have a chance for a World Series Ring and I hope he gets it! That does not mean I want the Yankees to win, just him... if that makes sense

[Edgartohof]

The Mariners have just won their 5th in a row and 7th out of 8 games! They are now 58-64, only 6 games under as of now. That is definitely better than I thought they would be. Great pitching and solid, timely hitting has helped.

Scoring for the last 8 games has been as follows:
8/11, Won 7-4 against LAA
8/12, Won 4-1 against LAA
8/13, Lost 1-4 against TBR
8/14, Won 3-2 against TBR
8/15, Won 1-0 against TBR *Perfect Game!
8/17, Won 5-3 against MIN
8/18, Won 3-2 against MIN
8/19, Won 5-1 against MIN

Runs Scored: 29
Runs Allowed: 17

Their Sweep of Minnesota gives them a league leading 3 sweeps since the All-Star Break!

I just want to mention Eric Thames right now. He was a big part in the game today, going 3-4 with a double and as RBI. His BA is still not high and he has only hit 1 HR since coming over in the Trade, but he sure does seem to get timely hits... And that is what it is about, getting the hit/run/walk/SB/etc... when you need it.

There is a lot of talk of the Clubhouse Culture being much different lately, players attitudes improving and the desire and expectation to win seems to be building daily!

A lot of the M's success I believe has come from Ackley. Though his season numbers are still low, as of late, he seems to be turning a slight corner. August seems to be his best month so far and is hitting near .400 the past week or so even!

Either way, the M's are playing much better in the second half of the season and who knows, a couple more good series and we could be seeing a near .500 club, something I didn't expect a month ago!