2nd half keys for the Mariners

Well, here we are. A day before the start of the second half for the Mariners and we cant all but think "are the Mariners really one game above .500 after the first half"? First off I think the one question we should be asking ourselves is "why are the Mariners only one game above .500"? It was May 10th that the Mariners were 10 games over .500 and it would be the last time they were, since then they have gone 17-26 since then. The month of June wasn't pleasant to the Mariners as they saw themselves losing 19 games, which included losing 8 out of 10 between June 14th and June 23rd. That also saw them lose 6 straight games and I think it was at that point that not only myself but other Mariners fans began to think "how do they keep finding new ways to lose every game"?

Its true, the Mariners were finding new ways to lose or find ways to lose games during that tough stretch. Where it would come off a bad outing, one single error, or one play that defined the whole game; also at one point terrible calls by umpires but that's another story. The M's did find some light during their last home stand where they only found ways to win. They won 7 out of the 9 home games they played and took the series from the St. Louis Cardinals and swept the Baltimore Orioles in a slug fest. Though that home stand was short lived as after they left Safeco Field the misery began again, starting with getting swept in a 4 game series against the division rival Houston Astros, but the Mariners did take a 3 game series and the season series from the Kansas City Royals thus ending their first half.

So here we are, a day before the start of the second half, the Mariners are one game above .500, 8.5 out of first place in the AL West, and 5 back in the Wild Card. Didn't think the Mariners would be in this position did you? The M's only wish that June never happened that way they may have been still sitting at 10 games over .500 and still in first place in the division. So I think a lot of people are wondering what this team HAS to do, I can emphasize "has to do" enough, to make a run for the postseason and end 15 straight seasons of no meaningful baseball in October. First things first, get and stay healthy! Boy is that the biggest key for the Mariners in the second half. The M's have had both their top two pitchers Felix Hernandez and Taijuan Walker out for some time. Felix has had a calf injury and Walker has had an issue with foot tendinitis in his right foot, but both are due to return from the disable list and Felix should be making his first start in awhile against the Chicago White Sox.

Another problem the M's need to address is Wade Miley for one. Miley hasn't had the season to remember, in fact I'm a bit surprised that Miley still has a job with the Mariners. With a 6-6 record and a dreadful 5.44 ERA Miley has shown that he can't be trusted to go on the mound and give the Mariners bullpen a day of rest. In Miley's last 7 games Miley has gone 1-4 with a 6.87 ERA......not what you need in a starting pitcher. Hopefully the Mariners can take away from Mike Montgomery's last start against the Royals and make a move there. Nathan Karns has already been demoted to the bullpen due to his uncanny ability to fail to go into the 6th inning. Montgomery has been a big part to the Mariners bullpen this season, he's appeared in 31 games with a 3-3 record with a 2.06 ERA so I have the funny feeling that maybe Montgomery gets his chance to be a starter once again.

Also in the bullpen is an "8th inning specialist" who hasn't been special at all, in fact he's been nothing more than a headache to watch go out and nearly cost the M's games. I'm of course talking about Joaquin Benoit, who has a terrible 4.57 ERA in 23 games. Benoit has to go, plain in simple. The Mariners star rookie Edwin Diaz is making a great case for himself to either be the setup or closer for this team possibly during the 2nd half. Diaz has appeared in 17 games and all he's done has strikeout 34 batters and throw heat. With Steve Cishek facing some scrutiny about his role as the closer due to blowing 5 saves, though he does have 21 saves so he's not going anywhere. Though Diaz is making a pretty good effort to take either one's job.

James Paxton though has made his mark in the starting role with several impressive starts, though he really could have used some run support. Jerry Dipoto should consider making at least a move or two to help boost both either the starting rotation or the bullpen and the lineup. There was talk on Twitter yesterday about a possible trade, Paxton for Andrew Miller and Brett Gardner......interesting trade proposal huh? At first I'm thinking that its either a good/bad trade. I mean lets face it, Paxton has shown us that this year after his first bad outing that he wants to prove that he is ready to show us the hype that we have been hearing about. On the other hand though, trading Paxton for an excellent arm in the bullpen plus speed on the base paths and the outfield and a decent bat would certainly help the Mariners out in a huge way, as they are looking to make a push for the playoffs during the second half.

Adam Lind, lets talk about him shall we? I made a comparison to Richie Sexson, and I mean that Lind will strikeout and flop out most times but then comeback and hit a home run that will help us later. Lind so far this season has been a huge bust from what he did last year. By the end of the first half of last season Lind was batting .293 with 15 home runs, this season Lind has managed to hit 13 home runs but bat a very sad .232. Dae-Ho Lee on the other hand has managed to hit .288 with 12 home runs and drive in 37 while having 65 less at bats than Lind has. Lee has been getting more playing time due to his ability to consistently hit but the M's should consider looking at a possible replacement for Lind. Lind's WAR, wins above replacement, is at a very sad -0.4! The next to last in WAR for the Mariners is Nori Aoki at -0.2.

Things need to change with those two as both Lind and Aoki have been a first half bust for the Mariners, but you never know they could very well have breakout second halves. Mariners manager Scott Servias has already noted that Aoki maybe coming back to the ball club, but on the other hand who wants to see Aoki imitate George of the Jungle in the outfield again? Aoki and Lind's failures have come on both offense and defense. Aoki has been a bust defensive wise and hitting wise where as Lind has been very good defensive wise but is dismal offensive wise. In hind sight that Mark Trumbo trade that Dipoto made has truly hurt the team. Getting back though to the Lind/Aoki problem, coming from me I don't think bringing up Aoki is the best move for the Mariners. Currently the Mariners star Cuban defective Guillermo Heredia is currently in Triple-A Tacoma, and lets just say that coming up from Double-A Jackson didn't faze him a bit.

Heredia has done nothing but keep tearing the cover off the ball since he's been with the club. During his time with Double-A Jackson Heredia hit an impressive .293 with 2 home runs and 40 RBIs, not to mention that in his first 30 games in Double-A Jackson Heredia was hitting .274 with 19 RBIs and a homer to boot. During his brief time in Triple-A Tacoma Heredia hasn't cooled down one bit, as he's hit .323 in only 15 games, and to make things even better D.J. Peterson got a call up as well and has hit .341 with 3 home runs and 14 RBIs since his call up. So right now, I'm thinking that maybe both or just one maybe getting the call up very soon to replace either Lind or Aoki, only time will tell.

In the lineup currently there's not one complaint coming from me. Kyle Seager is having a career year so far and is on pace for his first 100 RBI season, Robinson Cano as well is having the best year as a Mariner, but Cruz on the other hand is having some troubles with the slider and can't seem to come up when the time is needed. Hopefully though the Mariners struggles with hitting with RISP, runners in scoring position, change now that the second half is about to start. The Big 3 for the Mariners have been nothing but huge for the Mariners this year, though Seager had a rough April but eventually picked things up, it seems that the Mariners only problem this year has been one thing and that's staying healthy as a unit. Ketel Marte and Martin both went down with injuries during May and it hurt the M's somewhat but the pitching has been the biggest concern as both the Mariners top pitchers have been having trouble avoiding the injury bug.

Again, lets just hope that the All Star break has done this team some good and that we'll see a new Mariners team, hopefully a team that doesn't fall apart, in the second half of this season. The Mariners are gonna open up the second half with a chance at redemption against the Astros, as Houston comes into Safeco for 3 games. Lets hope our boys can pay them back for that 4 game sweep. Again Felix is set to make his return on the 20th of July against the White Sox and there is a possibility that Charlie Furbush could return by August, which would indefinitely help the bullpen out. Currently I am hoping that with Felix and Taijuan coming back fully healthy they can both help this team make a huge push for the Wild Card if not the AL West. Only thing us Mariner fans can do is hope that this team and their manager can find new ways to win, comeback, and push our team into the postseason. Currently the Mariners postseason drought is the longest in MLB right now at 15 years, the last time they made it to the playoffs was during their incredible 116 win season.

Things currently don't look easy but you know the sane, where there's a will there's a way, and the Mariners need to find a way to win and I mean win a lot of games. Not looking for sweeps, which would be amazing, but right now I think Mariner fans would love to see this team take a lot of series like they were doing in May. That's the best that fans and myself can hope for at this point. As of now, in my opinion, the Mariners are even lucky that they are only 1 game over .500 and I'm honestly surprised that we didn't lose the entire last road trip. Also on another note Dipoto needs to make some serious moves to help this club. As of now the Mariners still have a chance at the postseason and if Dipoto wants to have his team playing in October then he needs to possibly trade for a pitcher, call up Heredia (but that's just what I would do), and let go a couple players who can't seem to contribute in any possible way. Let's just hope JeDi can do this and help this team make the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

Go Mariners.

First place never sounded so good

We're in the 4th week of the baseball season and lets look at the standings. HOLY CRAP! The Mariners are in first place! Really not a shocker to me. Thought I would be shocked huh? Nope I'm not one bit shocked that our Seattle Mariners are in first place at this point in the season. Reason why, simple, this team is postseason bound and bound to be in this spot. Sure the Mariners had a 5 game losing streak to start the season but lets face it, all postseason teams usually have that long losing streak but then they get over it. That's exactly what the Mariners have done, though some players batting average could be better but really there's very little to complain about with this team. 

The Mariners are 9-3 in their last 12 games and have won their last 4 series, as of last night's 11-1 over the Houston Astros. Hey, another good thing to write about, we beat the Astros and took the first series of the season! So again, there are a couple of guys in the lineup that need to get their batting average up, especially Kyle Seager. Seager usually gets off to a slow start but this is ridiculous! Seager has a .133 average with 4 home runs and 10 RBIs. Not a bad line all except the batting average part. Not worried about Seager really, if you look at some of his at bats he's hitting the ball well its just he can't catch a break, he hits the damn thing so hard it doesn't have a chance to fall for a base hit. 

Seager's gonna start picking things up soon, so don't be too hard on the guy. I mean let's face it, who would you rather have a third base? Exactly! Moving on to Ketel Marte, love saying his name! The young short stop has been hot as of late, raising his batting average by 105 points! In the last 15 games Marte has been on fire, batting a nice .273, and in his last 7 games he's batted a scorching .370! You know I actually need to admit that I was a little worried about Marte a couple weeks ago, but a couple of adjustments and possibly some time in the cage with Edgar has helped the young star in the making show off his potential and shut a couple people up in the process. Also, I want to put in that Marte is that guy who can provide the fire for the team. Have you seen him? I mean hell, pumping his fist after throwing out Carlos Gomez (douche bag) and celebrating after sliding in safely last night at home, this kid brings that necessary spark and fire the Mariners need in a player. 

Lets talk about the pitching now eh? In the last 5 games all 5 starters have gone 7+ innings and has really helped give our bullpen a rest! The bullpen though needs some praise as well, cause lets face it without our bullpen helping us out during the last 12 games I don't think we are in first place. The bullpen is ranked as the best in the game so far, really hoping that trend continues throughout the season. Though I have to get on Felix Hernandez's case a little bit. First off Felix, lose the dorky hair. Felix has shown us that at 30 years old he may be losing a step, his velocity is way down this year and he can barley break 90 on his fastball, and during the Yankee game he through a ton of breaking balls and off speed pitches.....that's not Felix's game. Now here's the thing Felix maybe 1-2 but he does only have a 1.80 ERA, but his strikeout ratio is down and his walks are at a career high for this point in the season. 

King Felix is going to be King Felix though, he's gone through rough starts and he usually bounces back, but I think this time if continues to pitch the way he is I think we have to consider that maybe his arm might be used up. Either way I have the up most confidence in the King. As for the Prince, Taijuan Walker, WHOA! That kid is pitching like a Felix Hernandez in his prime! Taijuan Walker is coming off an 11 strikeout night against the Astros and is now 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 25 innings, and get this, a 0.96 WHIP! You can't get any better than that can you? Maybe you can, but currently Taijuan Walker is pitching like the pitcher that we expected him to be. Currently I'm thinking that's what has provided his hot start, Walker knew that he had a lot of pressure on him to pitch like this last year and after dropping that notion and deciding to just go out and pitch he has shown his incredible potential. Not trying to make it sound like Taijuan basically said "I'm just going to pitch every start", no what I'm saying is that Taijuan just, wait that is what I'm saying. OK never mind. 

Both Wade Miley and Nathan Karns are coming off good quality starts, Karns having his best start of the season last night and Miley coming off his 7.1 innings of work in Anaheim. Both Miley and Karns got off to very rocky starts but now it seems like both are coming into their own. Miley was expected to give the Mariners 200+ innings and so far his starts has shown it, as he has gone 6+ innings in 2 of his 3 starts. Only thing Miley needs to work on is giving up runs. Miley has given up 4+ runs in 2 of his 3 starts and in those starts he's won one of those games. Karns on the other hand went 7 innings for the first time this season last night, he has only gone 5+ in his previous 2 starts, though he does have a 2-1 record so you can't complain there. Karns has yet to give up more than 5 hits in a game but his walks need to start going down, he's walk at least 3 batters in all three of his starts, but again not going to complain when he has a winning record along with a 3.63 ERA.

Now, gotta talk about Steve Cishek. Not a good start to his season as he gave up a game winning home run against the Oakland Athletics in the Mariners home opener, but since then he has not allowed a run and has saved 5 in a row and won a game. Not bad! Not bad at all, he's way better than that arrow shooting dip wad Fernando Rodney. Funny enough Rodney, who is playing for the San Diego Padres, has a 0.00 ERA and 3 saves for the Padres.......THAT SON OF A!!!!

Don't you hate it when that happens? They leave Seattle and suddenly they can play again. Well how about Robinson Cano? Currently tied for first in the American League with 7 home runs and first in RBI's with 21! Yes he only has a .238 batting average but just wait that'll change very soon. Cano is coming off a career night for the Mariners where he drove in 6 and hit his first grand slam as a Mariner and his 10th of his career! Cano also hit a milestone last night, after his two-run double he hit the 1,000 RBI mark in his career, he currently has 1,004. Another positive note is both Nelson Cruz and Leonys Martin. Both have provided some nice pop to the lineup, Martin was acquired for his speed, and he's shown that off in the outfield, but he has also hit 4 home runs as well. Only thing Martin needs to work on is the same with Seager, that batting average. The Boomstick on the other hand leads the team in batting average with a .286 average, he has also popped 4 home runs and drove in 13. 

Things are so far clicking very well for the Mariners this season, with a win in their next 3 games they will secure their first winning month of April since 2009! How about that? If you all remember 2009, that was the year Ken Griffey, Jr., made his return to Seattle and the Mariners were in the midst of a playoff run through most of the season until a losing streak in September ended that bid. Everything so far is in place for the Mariners to make a run for the postseason, first in the West right now and they have a nice 1 game lead on the A's and Angels. Yes I know its only April but hey gotta report the good stuff right? Tonight Hisashi Iwakuma will try to continue the Mariners hot streak and help push their winning streak to a season high 4 games, and maybe earn his first win of the season. First pitch is at 7:10 so be glued to the TV or if you're going to the game make sure you cheer loud and proud for our boys in northwest green and navy! 

Go Mariners!!!!!