Seattle Mariners weekly recap: September 5th-11th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just finished up a 3-4 week which saw them lose two out of three down there in Anaheim while splitting up here in Seattle with the Kansas City Royals. The Mariners kind of went back to the first half Mariners where the pitching staff was terrific but the offense was horrible. During the week the Mariners averaged just 2.8 runs per game. The Mariners did see Justin Smoak return from the DL last week and this week he started to hit the ball. This was Smoak's best week in a few months which was nice for the Mariners as he factors into the future plans. The Mariners pitching staff was terrific this week led by once again Felix Hernandez who has been a dominant ace for the month of August and September. The Mariners also saw pitchers Jason Vargas, Blake Beavan, and Charlie Furbush have nice bounce back performances which they all desperately needed. The Mariners only have 16 games remaining on their schedule as they are just playing out the season. This week I'll go over the good(the pitching staff), the bad(the hitting) and the ugly(all the losses). The Mariners have just three weeks left in the season if anyone is still paying attention to this club.

The Good:

The Mariners had some good things this week despite going 3-4. One of those good things was the recent hitting of Ichiro who has been on fire now for about five weeks. Ichiro this week displayed some power and also showed that he still has some speed left in his game. For having a "bad" year Ichiro is still having a productive season he simply isn't having an Ichiro season is all. The Mariners also saw their pitching staff pitch extremely well this week anchored by Felix Hernandez. Hernandez is now 6-2 in his last eight starts. The Mariners starting pitching this week went 3-4 but in seven starts managed to throw 47.1 innings with a 2.85 ERA and 29 strikeouts. The Mariners pitching staff who had been struggling lately was nice to see them turn it around this week. The Mariners bullpen pitched pretty well too. Overall the Mariners pitching didn't have a single pitcher appear on the bad list. The Mariners hitters only had three regular players which was Ichiro, Justin Smoak and Miguel Olivo. The Mariners hitting which had been improving hit another disasterous slump this week. At least the pitching staff came to play to salvage the week by going 3-4. The Mariners pitching which has been terrific all seaosn long was terrific this week as well.

Good Hitting:

Ichiro: 8-29(.276), 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 3 runs,  5 SB's
Willy Mo Pena: 2-7(.286), RBI
Miguel Olivo: 6-20(.300), HR, 2 RBI's, 3 runs
Justin Smoak: 9-27(.333), 2 HR's, 6 RBI's, 4 runs

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 8 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 7 K's
Jason Vargas: 1-0, 6 IP, 1.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3 K's
Blake Beavan: 1-0, 6.1 IP, 4.26 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 3 K's
Charlie Furbush: 0-1, 7.1 IP, 3.68 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 3 K's
Anthony Vasquez: 0-2, 11.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 5 K's
Michael Pineda: 0-1, 8 IP, 3.37 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 8 K's
Jamey Wright: 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.40 WHIP, 6 K's
Shaun Kelley: 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 2 K's
Tom Wilhemsen: 2.2 IP, 3.37 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 2 K's
Brandon League : 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2 saves

Felix Hernandez last 8 starts: 6-2, 59.1 IP(7.2 IP a start), 2.27 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 63 K's(9.55 K's per 9).
Michael Pineda last four starts: 0-3, 26 IP(6.2 IP a start), 3.46 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 28 K's(9.69 K's per 9).

As you can see Hernandez has been dominating lately and is finally racking up the much deserved wins. Meanwhile you may read that Michael Pineda hasn't won since July 30th and see he went from 6-2 to 9-10. Pineda simply isn't getting the run suppor but he is still pitching extremely well down the stretch while setting a career high in innings pitched with 167(previous high was 141).

Bad:

The Mariners this week went 3-4 despite the pitching staff just carrying them. The offense scored just 2.8 runs this week as the Mariners lost two out of three in Anaheim. After winning the first two games against the Royals the Mariners dropped the next two games. The Mariners are going with some youthful pieces who are all slumping at the same time which is hurting the offense. The Mariners also for whatever reason keep on insisting to play Adam Kennedy even though he doesn't factor into their future plans at all. The Mariners pitching was great this week so they'll have no pitchers on the bad list which is rare for a 3-4 week. The Mariners have gone 5-12 in their last 17 games and are headed towards another 90 plus loss season. The Mariners rank towards the bottom in just about every offensive category for the second straight season. This year was supposed to be a rebuilding season for the Mariners but after the hot start the first three months nobody expected to see this team headed towards another 90 plus loss season. The Mariners will most likely finish in last place for the sixth time in eight seasons. During that stretch the Mariners will have lost over 90 games five times in the past eight seasons. The hitting needs to be worked on this offseason or expect another long season next year.

Bad Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 5-24(.208), 2 runs, SB, 6 K's, .321 OB%
Mike Carp: 3-21(.143), HR, RBI, run, 8 K's
Kyle Seager: 3-18(.167), run, SB, 5 K's
Trayvon Robinson: 4-18(.222), HR, 2 RBI's, run, SB, 9 K's
Brendan Ryan: 5-30(.167), HR, RBI, 2 runs, 3 SB's, 7 K's
Adam Kennedy: 2-11(.182), run, 4 K's
Casper Wells: 1-6(.167), 3 K's
Michael Saunders: 0-5(.000), RBI, run, 2 K's
Alex Liddi: 1-8(.125), run, 5 K's

Adam Kennedy 2nd half: Hitting .172/.193/.284 in 116 AB's with 25 K's to just 2 walks.
Casper Wells last 3 weeks: 3-39(.076), run, 17 K's

The Ugly:

The  Mariners are headed towards another crappy finish to a crappy season. The Mariners since the all-star break are now 18-36(.333) which is just terrible. The Mariners are now the fourth worst team in the major leagues. This would be the third time in the last four seasons the Mariners are in the bottom five in all of major league baseball. The Mariners offense currently ranks dead last in batting average, on base percentage, slugging, hits and are second to last in runs scored. The Mariners are going with the youth experiment which is okay but in the process it sure is hard to watch on a daily basis. The Mariners are in danger of losing their fan base with all this losing and lack of hitting. The Mariners are one of the worst teams in all of baseball since 2004. Only the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates have been worse during that stretch.

Ugly Baseball:

2004 Seattle Mariners: 63-99(.389), last place, runs scored: 698, runs against: 823
2005 Seattle Mariners: 69-93(.426), last place, runs scored: 699, runs against: 751
2006 Seattle Mariners: 78-84(.481), last place, runs scored: 756, runs against: 792
2007 Seattle Mariners: 88-74(.543), 2nd place, runs scored: 794, runs against: 813
2008 Seattle Mariners: 61-101(.377), last place, runs scored:671, runs against: 811
2009 Seattle Mariners: 85-77(.525), 3rd place, runs scored: 640, runs against: 692
2010 Seattle Mariners: 61-101(.377), last place, runs scored: 513, runs against: 698
2011 Seattle Mariners: 61-85(.418), last place, runs scored: 500, runs against 600

As you can see the Mariners have been horrible during this eight year stretch and even in their two winning seasons they were still outscored on the year. The Mariners are a franchise who are headed nowhere with no direction. The Mariners claim to be rebuilding yet Adam Kennedy still is finding two to three starts a week. The Mariners have reverted back to the 1980's where winning seems to be an after thought. The Mariners franchise just isn't scoring enough runs and not winning enough games. Where is the public  out cry from our fan base? Why do I feel as if I'm in the minority when I should be in the majority on the Mariners.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 83-64, first place
L.A. Angels: 80-66, 2.5 GB
Oakland A's: 66-80, 16.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 61-85, 21.5 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners are grinding out their season for the eighth straight year. For the eighth straight year nobody in Seattle including myself can give a crap about baseball as football has taken over. The Mariners have wasted the career of Ichiro and appear determine to do the same for Felix Hernandez who is having another terrific season. The Mariners are simply playing out their season and wonder why the fans can care less. This weekend there was so many empty seats and with football going on I can't blame them. Like I showed earlier the Mariners have been one of the worst franchises in all of major league baseball. The Mariners are one of two franchises to never reach the World Series and I don't expect that streak to end anytime soon. The Mariners are just 16 games away from their season ending in disappointment which has been the theme since 2004.