Seattle Mariners weekly recap: April 9th- April 15th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners entered week two of the season against the two-time defending AL champions Texas Rangers and then returned home to face the Oakland A's. The Mariners this week once again took care of the Oakland A's winning two out of their in their opening homestand that continues into this week. The Mariners like they did last year took a licking in Texas losing three out of four to the Texas Rangers despite some quality starting pitching that went to waste in that series. The Mariners for the week went 3-4 dropping their season record to 6-5 now. Since this was a losing week I'll be going over the good(starting pitching and key bullpen arms), the bad(most of the offense) and the ugly(Miguel Olivo and the domination the Rangers have had on the Mariners).

The Good:

The good this week was the Mariners taking it to a division rival the Oakland A's as they are now 5-2 on the season against the A's. The Mariners also saw their key trade piece Jesus Montero have a big week as he hit his first of many home runs for the Mariners and also had an eight game hitting streak. The Mariners bullpen duo of Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen continues to be lights out for the Mariners in late innings. The starting pitching this week was pretty good as well. The Mariners also had their home opening ceremonies which saw Mike Cameron throw out the first pitch. Cameron also signed a one day contract so he could retire a Seattle Mariner the team he made his lone all-star appearance with. It was a touching moment and the next games afterwards was nice to see. Blake Beavan pitched great this week who was acquired in the Cliff Lee trade. Also on Saturday in the Mariners 4-0 victory over the A's saw Montero drive in three runs as Hector Noesi threw eight shutout innings giving the Mariners early returns on the Michael Pineda trade. The Mariners still struggled against the Rangers but at least early on they are showing they aren't the worst team in the division. The Mariners have beat up on the A's to start this year which was the positive of the week.

Good Hitting:

Jesus Montero: 7-20(.350), HR, 2 runs, 4 RBI's
Alex Liddi: 2-8(.250), RBI
John Jaso: 2-4(.500), run, RBI, triple
Kyle Seager: 6-24(.250), HR, 3 runs, 4 RBI's
Ichiro: 7-28(.250), 2 runs, RBI

Good Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 1-1, 13.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 7 K's
Kevin Millwood: 6 IP, 1.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 7 K's
Felix Hernandez: 0-1, 7 IP, 2.57 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 6 K's
Luke Luetge: 1-0, 1.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 2 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 3.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 3 K's
Brandon League: 2 saves, 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 K's

The hitting as you can see struggled with only Montero hitting over .300 which was nice to see. Montero went from a top tier organization in sports and a hitting ballpark to let's face it a bottom tier organization in sports and a pitchers park. There will be some adjustment period for Montero who has displayed already great power as his home run was a line drive to deep centerfield at Safeco Field.

The Bad:

The Mariners once again this week proved they aren't ready to hang with the big boys quite yet. The Mariners lost three of four down in Texas where they have been dominated since 2008. The Mariners hitting reverted back to last season where most of their early season surprises went back to their usual ways of hitting bad. Felix  Hernandez although pitched well in his start his fastball still is topping out at 91 miles per hour which has to concern every Mariners fan whether they want to admit it or not. Another problem is the fact that manager Eric Wedge continues to put Miguel Olivo out there every game despite his terrible defense and offense. The Mariners simply can't afford to punt any spots in the lineup and yet they are with the catcher position plus many other guys who have slumped in the past slumped this past week as well.

Bad Hitting:

Chone Figgins: 4-27(.148), 3 runs, 7 K's
Dustin Ackley: 5-23(.217), 2 runs, RBI, 4 K's
Justin Smoak: 6-26(.231), HR, 3 runs, 3 RBI's, 8 K's
Brendan Ryan: 3-18(.167), HR, 3 runs, 2 RBI's, costly error, 5 K's
Munenori Kawasaki: 1-6(.167), run, RBI
Casper Wells: 1-7(.143), 3 K's
Michael Saunders: 2-17(.117), run, RBI, SB, 7 K's
Miguel Olivo: 2-20(.100), 2 RBI's, 6 K's

Bad Pitching:

Hector Noesi: 1-1, 11 IP, 5.73 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 9 K's
Jason Vargas: 0-1, 6.2 IP, 5.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 6 K's
George Sherrill: 1.1 IP, 20.30 ERA, 3.00 WHIP
Steve Delabar: 1.1 IP, 13.50 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 2 K's

The hitting has been a problem for the last few years. After a nice little start by Saunders and Figgins they have gone back to their old form of sucking. While Olivo has just been awful since June of last year and yet Wedge continues to play him every day.

The Ugly:

The Mariners went 3-4 this week so this week wasn't a total disaster but there was some pause for concern. The Mariners were once again beaten up by the Texas Rangers down in Arlington. Last season the Mariners went 1-9 at Texas while this year they went 1-3. The Mariners also seen the return of George Sherrill to the team and he is looking washed up at this point. Sherrill has been lit up and is now on the 15 day DL. Feel good story Steve Delabar has also been getting lit up like a Christmas Tree as of late as well. Then you have Miguel Olivo who every start he makes seem to find one to two balls hitting the backstop since he can't catch despite his position being called catcher. That alone should have him benched then when you factor in that he can't hit either and Montero happens to play some catcher while left handed Jaso does as well makes no sense to keep playing him. Wedge even played Olivo Sunday afternoon after a Saturday night game. It's like Wedge is putting Olivo out there in spite of us fans much like McLaren did with Vidro in 2007 and 2008. The Olivo saga needs to be addressed as he is offering nothing to the team and hasn't for quite some time now.

Ugly Hitting:

Miguel Olivo: 4-36(.111), run, 3 RBI's, 8 K's. Hitting .111/.135/.139 . Since June 6th of last year heading into Sunday's start courtsey of Jeff Sullivan of lookout landing Olivo has an OBP of .212 and has 96 strikeouts to just five walks in that span. Yet Eric Wedge last year called him the most professional hitter on the team. Despite two better options on the team Wedge continues to go with Olivo despite facing a right handed pitcher in 9 of the 11 games so far this season.

Justin Smoak: 8-43(.186), 2 HR's, 5 runs, 5 RBI's, 12 K's. Hitting .186/.239/.349 dating back to last years struggles most were hoping Smoak would get off to a good start. Smoak entering his third season as a Mariner now is no longer this up and coming prospect it's definately now time for Smoak to start producing or else that trade looks worse and worse every day.

AL West domination:

The Mariners have been dominated by the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim since 2008. Below I'll post the raw numbers which aren't pretty.

Vs Texas:

2008: 8-11, outscored 101-94
2009: 8-11, outscored 79-70
2010: 7-12, outscored 101-51
2011: 4-15, outscored 95-53
2012: 1-3, outscored 20-12

Totals: 28-52(.350) outscored 396-280 during that span.

Vs LAA

2008: 5-14, outscored 98-84
2009: 9-10, outscored 85-71
2010: 4-15, outscored 100-62
2011: 7-12, outscored 70-48

Totals: 25-51(.328), outscored 353-265.

Hard to win when two teams in your division have kicked your ass the last four seasons as the Mariners have yet to beat them in a season series or even outscore them which is pathetic.

Al West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 8-2, first place
Seattle Mariners: 6-5, 2.5 GB
Oakland A's: 4-6, 4.0 GB
LAA Angels: 3-6, 4.5 GB

The Mariners still have a winning record which is good. The bad news is they can't play the Oakland A's every game and this week will take on the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Whitesox at home in what should be a nice test for the Mariners. Unlike the A's neither team will be a pushover while unlike the Rangers neither team is a bad matchup for the Mariners like the Rangers were. Wedge needs to pull the Olivo experiment quickly if the Mariners wish to progress at all this year. While the return of Figgins and Saunders appears to have been short lived as both returned back to their normal crappy ways. Hopefully King Felix can get his fastball back before it's too late for him this year. The Mariners have a winning record though so there are still some positives on this extremely young season.

Seattle Mariners weekly recap: March 28-April 8th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners season has finally begun and the Mariners came out of the gate strong defeated the Oakland A's three out of  four games. In the longest series in franchise history which started in Japan then took a week off to do spring training then resumed in Oakland the Mariners found themselves 3-1 for the first time since 2006. In the two games in Japan both teams had strong pitching performances while over here in the states the Mariners hitting finally woke up. The Mariners also saw two guys who have struggled mightly in the past have a big two game set in Oakland in Chone Figgins and Michael Saunders. The atmosphere in Japan was incredible way to start the season while in Oakland it was business as usual. Like I did last year when the Mariners have a winning week I'll go over the good(the hitting), the bad(there was some hitters who slumped), and the awesome(the great week by Chone Figgins). The Mariners who are now in year two of Eric Wedge as manager are hoping the hitting has improved from last season which ranked last in almost every hitting category. The Mariners are hoping these four games weren't a fluke but just a sign of things to come in the near future for this young ball club.

The Good:

The Mariners went 3-1 against the A's so there was plenty of good. For starters the hitting especially when the series shifted back to Oakland started to pick up. In the first game of the season over in Japan Ichiro playing back in his homeland went 4-5 with an RBI which was a thrill for the future hall of famer. Jason Vargas began the season with two quality starts while Brandon League already has two saves. Felix Hernandez on opening night went 8 innings allowing just one run. The Mariners offense came out of the gate which was nice to see. The Japan series was especially good for Ichiro like I stated he was playing in front of his home fans and responded that series by going 4-9. Dustin Ackley won the game MVP in the first game as over in Japan they reward an MVP each game. In that game Ackley went 2-5 with a home run and also the game winning RBI to earn the game MVP.

Good Hitting:

Chone Figgins: 7-17(.412), 2 runs, 4 RBI's, SB. Hitting .412/.412/.588
Kyle Seager: 4-11(.364), run, 2 RBI's, SB. Hitting .364/.417/.364
Ichiro: 6-17(.353), 2 runs, 3 RBI's, SB. Hitting .353/.368/.471
Dustin Ackley: 6-19(.316), HR, 4 runs, 3 RBI's, SB. Hitting .316/.316/.474
Michael Saunders: 4-13(.308), HR, 3 runs, RBI, SB. Hitting .308/.400/.615
Brendan Ryan: 3-10(.300), 3 runs. Hitting .300/.364/.500

Good Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 1-0, 11.2 IP, 2.31 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 6 K's
Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 14.1 IP, 4.40 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 13 K's
Tom Whilhelmsen: 1-0, 4 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 5 K's
Brandon League: 2 saves, 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 2 K's

The hitting has been great as you can see the Mariners have six regulars right now who are hitting above .300 which may be due to a short sample size. After last seasons failures in hitting this is still a pleasant surprise to see.

The Bad:

Not all was good for the Mariners in their 3-1 start. The Mariners have three regulars including two guys who the organization is hoping to be a cornerstone of the franchise get off to a slow start. Add in the blown save in the second game of the year you'll see a couple of bullpen arms make the list as well. As for the hitting Miguel Olivo isn't hitting at all or is he catching well with already two pass balls. With the trade of left handed John Jaso and facing nothing but righties it was puzzling to see Olivo start all four games this year so far. With the team going 3-1 though it is hard to complain too much. The team played well and players will always be slumping but it was frustrating to see Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero come out of the gate struggling. Both guys are prized prospects who the Mariners gave up some pitching to acquire both. This is Smoak's third year in the major leagues as this appears to be a make or break year for him. So far he has gotten off to a slow start despite the home run over in Japan. For the players hitting well and same with the players doing poorly at first this is just four games into a long 162 game schedule.

Bad Hitting:

Jesus Montero: 3-15(.200), RBI, 2 K's, Caught Stealing. Hitting .200/.188/.200
Miguel Olivo: 2-16(.125), run, RBI, 2 K's. Hitting .125/.125/.125
Justin Smoak: 2-17(.118), HR, 2 runs, 2 RBI's, 4 K's. Hitting . 118/.167/.294
Mike Carp: 0-4(.000)

Bad Pitching:

Shawn Kelly: 0-1, blown save,  0.1 IP, 27.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP
George Sherrill: 0 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 homerun

Hopefully this week in Texas will awake the bats of Smoak and Montero. Jack Zduriencik's tenure as Mariners GM will be measured up to how those two perform since he traded all-star pitchers Cliff Lee and Michael Pineda for them.

The Awesome:

Chone Figgins in the past has been a pain in the ass for the Mariners. He was a pain in the ass to the Mariners when he played for the Angels too as he was their leadoff hitter constantly getting on base and causing havoc on the Mariners. Then the Mariners signed him moved him to the #2 spot in the order and he was again a pain in the Mariners ass as he never got on base. Last year he hit below .200 as they were having drink specials based on his batting average. Well this year Figgins is hitting leadoff and in exchange for that he is playing everywhere on the field. He was the opening day third baseman and due to Mike Carp getting hurt in left field Figgins is now playing left field which is allowing Kyle Seager's red hot bat to play third base. The Mariners are hoping this isn't just some small sample size instead the return of Figgins. They also saw Michael Saunders who was once a top 100 prospect according to baseball america continue his hot spring training hitting into the major league season.

Awesome Hitting:

Mariners team: Hitting .266/.291/.385 with 3 HR's averaging 4.8 runs per game

Chone Figgins: Figgins has had back to back three hit games for the Mariners something he has only done twice now in his career. Last year in 81 games Figgins had only one three hit performance. He is playing the outfield now and leading off. Figgins is finally starting to hit and hopefully he is due for a big year.

Michael Saunders: Saunders is getting what feels like his last chance in Seattle. With Franklin Gutierrez out due to injury Saunders is starting in his place. Saunders so far has had a terrific spring training and has started off well this year. His home run came off of a lefty where he has struggled in the past.

The Mariners hitting numbers aren't great but they are day and night better than last season. The Mariners have beaten up on the Oakland A's the one AL West team they seem to do well against the last few years. Now comes the real test as they take on the Texas Rangers down in Arlington in a nice four game set.

AL West Standings:

Seattle Mariners: 3-1, First Place
Texas Rangers: 2-1, 0.5 GB
L.A.Angels: 1-2, 1.5 GB
Oakland A's: 1-3, 2.0 GB

The Seattle Mariners are looking to go 4-1 for the first time since 2001. If the Mariners go 4-1 it will be how that 2001 team did as well winning the opener, dropping the second game then winning three in a row. As we all know that 2001 team won 116 games and is the last Mariners team to play in the postseason. Before we get ahead of ourselves it was nice to see the Mariners playing well coming out of the gate especially hitting. This is a big week as the Mariners take on the two-time defending AL champions Texas Rangers a team who has owned them the last four years and then return home for the home opener which should be pretty special. If the Mariners can keep up their hitting they could possibly surprise some people as they hope to compete for a winning season which they have only had two since 2004.

If I ran Major League Baseball.....

By Kshell

The Major League baseball playoffs are currently going on and just like they have in the past are getting killed in the ratings by the NFL. Baseball recently announced that the Houston Astros are moving from the National League Central to the American League west. Now every division has five teams but the problem is the leagues now each have 15 teams. The problem with this is that interleague play will be going all season long. Two teams will start the year off with interleague play while two other teams will end the season with interleague play which will piss off every old school baseball fan. Baseball is also expanding the playoffs to five teams. I think these are good ideas and in this following post I'll explain how I can solve the baseball season.

To solve the interleague problem I would expand the league to 32 teams. The two cities I would hand pick assuming they could get a stadium would be Las Vegas, Nevada and Portland, Oregon. Baseball doesn't have enough western teams as the teams out west constantly rack up the miles in travel. Las Vegas is a great sports city and have supported the 51's for years. The fear with Las Vegas is the gambling aspect. I understand that fear but with cell phones and the internet if you are going to bet on games that is very easy to do so. I also picked Portland even though it is a bad triple A baseball city but I feel has a passionate fan base. The city of Portland has shown great love for their Portland Trail Blazers and now Portland Timbers who are both leagues that is below Major League Baseball. I also added them to create more rivalries going forward. With these two teams I would be like the NFL where I'd have eight divisions of four teams. Like the NFL I would also have each league have six playoff teams with the top two seeds receiving a bye week. The first round would be a best of three, second round best of five then LCS and World Series play would be best of seven. I would also make sure both leagues are on the same page so either both have the DH or neither has the DH.

New Divisions:

AL Northwest:
Seattle Mariners
San Francisco Giants
Oakland A's
Portland Beavers

NL Pacific Division:
Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels
San Diego Padres
Las Vegas Snake Eyes

AL Midwest Divison:
Kansas City Royals
St.Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs
Chicago Whitesox

NL Mountain Division:
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamond Backs
Texas Rangers
Houston Astros

AL Southern Division:
Tampa Bay Rays
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Washington Nationals

NL Northern Division:
Detroit Tigers
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins

AL Atlantic Division:
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
New York Mets
Toronto Blue Jays

NL Atlantic Division:
Balitmore Orioles
Cleveland Indians
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates

In conclusion, take a time to digest that and look at all the natural rivalries in the divisions. There wasn't enough southern teams so I had to split up the Orioles and Nationals same with Indians and Reds. Just as a Mariners fan look at our division you would have Seattle-Portland then the Bay Area teams. In the NL west you would have the LA teams with the Padres and Las Vegas all within four hours of each other. I think the attendance would increase as there would be more rivalries plus with having six playoff teams that is 37.5% of the league makes the playoffs so more playoff races will be involved. I know this is probably a long ways from happening but I think baseball should embrace the NFL model. I know a Seattle-Portland game at Safeco Field or down in Portland would be a packed house and the thought of that has me excited. Not to mention going on a road trip to Las Vegas to watch the Mariners play. Hopefully someday this dream of mine can finally become a reality.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 29th-September 4th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners appear to have given up on the season as they finished the week losing four games in a row to go 2-5 on the week. After splitting at home with the rival Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the Mariners were swept down in Oakland to the Oakland Athletics. The Mariners have lost 7 of their last 10 games and appear headed towards another last place finish with 90 plus losses. The Mariners once strong pitching staff has fallen apart with the exception of Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda. The Mariners hitting just isn't hitting anymore besides a few youngsters. The Mariners are playing like a team who is just playing out their season as they were swept by a team they had dominated all season long. The Mariners fall to 58-81 on the season which just won't get the job done at all. This week I'll talk about the good(Felix Hernandez), the bad(the slumping Casper Wells) and the ugly(Jason Vargas disasterous second half once again). The Mariners need to go 15-8 to avoid 90 losses which I don't see the team doing as it appears the team has packed it in.

The Good:

The Mariners just completed a 2-5 week but there was some positives to draw on. The Mariners saw ace pitcher Felix Hernandez defeat the Angels star pitcher Dan Haren 2-1 in which Hernandez threw a complete game to earn the win. The Mariners also saw youngsters Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp who were slumping break out of their slumps. The Mariners also saw the face of their franchise Ichiro continue his red hot hitting as he is trying to record 200 hits. Ichiro currently needs 40 hits in his last 23 games to have 200 hits this year something he has done the last 10 seasons. The Mariners bullpen saw some guys pitch lights out once again which was nice to see. The Mariners had some guys produce this week like Justin Smoak returned from the DL to produce this week. Unfortunately the Mariners just didn't receive much help from anyone else besides these guys. Lately the only good pitching performances have been by just Hernandez and Michael Pineda even though Pineda can't seem to buy a win lately. Even though the Mariners are slumping they still have plenty of guys who are doing well. Just need to have a week where more than a handful of guys are doing their jobs.

Good Hitting:

Ichiro: 9-30(.300), 4 RBI's, 4 runs, SB
Mike Carp: 7-27(.259), HR, 5 RBI's, 2 runs
Justin Smoak: 4-12(.333), run
Dustin Ackley: 11-25(.444), HR, 6 RBI's, 5 Runs, SB. .500 OB%, 8-game hitting streak

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 9 IP, 1.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 9 K's
Michael Pineda: 0-1, 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 7 K's
Brandon League: 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 K's, save
Jamey Wright: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 1-0, 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 3 K's

Felix Hernandez last 7 starts: 5-2, 51.1 IP, 2.63 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 56 K's, 9.81 K's per 9, 6 Quality Starts
Felix Hernandez season: 29 starts, 13-11, 209.1 IP(7.1 IP a start), 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 204 K's, 8.77 K's per 9, .237 BAA. 5 CG's, 20 quality starts.

Felix Hernandez is having another terrific season which is being wasted. I discussed this topic a few weeks ago when I wrote a post about Felix being wasted which you can read by clicking this link Wasted Talent . It has been a shame seeing the Mariners waste such a terrific arm in Felix Hernandez. I do think fans should appreciate Hernandez more and I'm not talking about the Kings Court chanting "Larry". I'm talking about feel fortunate to see one of the games best pitchers who hasn't even entered his prime for 33-36 starts a season since 2005.

The Bad:

The Seattle Mariners after splitting with the Angels were swept by the Oakland A's in three games. Whenever your record is 2-5 for the week there is plenty of bad. The fact that I have four starting pitchers on my bad list is a sign this franchise is in trouble. The Mariners did have pitching but no hitting and now they have neither. The "good" news is general manager Jack Zduriencik was told he will return next season. The Mariners hitting has been awful all season long and was pretty bad this week. After starting his brief Mariners career on fire Casper Wells has been in a horrible slump which dating back to last week has him hitting 2-33(.060) in the last two weeks. The Mariners young hitters are slumping badly now and the pitching in particular the three left handers keep getting bombed which has been a horrible trend to pay attention to.

Bad Hitting:

Kyle Seager: 4-23(.174), 2 RBI's, run, 2 K's
Trayvon Robinson: 1-10(.100), 3 runs, 7 K's
Brendan Ryan: 1-16(.062), RBI, run, K, Caught Stealing
Franklin Gutierrez: 5-27(.185), RBI, 3 runs, SB, 4 K's
Casper Wells: 1-18(.055), 5 K's
Miguel Olivo: 5-24(.208), 2 RBI's, 2 runs, SB, 6 K's

Bad Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 0-1, 12 IP, 5.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 3 K's
Charlie Furbush: 0-1, 6 IP, 6.00 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 5 K's
Jeff Gray: 2.2 IP, 16.87 ERA, 3.37 WHIP, K
Josh Lueke: 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, K
Cesar Jimenez: 0.1 IP, 81.00 ERA, 9.00 WHIP, K
Anthony Vasquez: 0-1, 4 IP, 15.75 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, K
Jason Vargas: 0-1, 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 4 K's

Three left handed starting pitchers: 0-3, 15 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 10 K's.

The Mariners can't seem to find a quailty starting pitching from the south side which is a good thing they took Danny Hultzen with the #2 overall pick in the draft. At Safeco Field if you have a quality left handed starting pitcher he can be dominant since Safeco is tough on right handed hitters.

The Ugly:

There has been plenty of ugly for the Mariners this season and for this week. The Mariners lost centerfielder Franklin Guiterrez for the rest of the season with a strained Oblique muscle. This has been a very disappointing season for Gutierrez who began the season on the disabled list and will end the season on the disabled list. Gutierrez was the crown jewel in Jack Zduriencik's big J.J. Putz trade(meanwhile he's kicking ass for first place Arizona Diamondbacks). In fact another player in that trade who has been struggling lately has been Jason Vargas. For the third straight second half Vargas has been down right terrible. There can be plenty of excuses made but when this happens three years in a row that is called a bad trend. In fact Insider Steve explored the problems of Jason Vargas with this post you can read by clicking the link Does Jason Vargas have a future in Seattle? . Which is a curious case and one that needs to be explored this offseason. Zduriencik traded away Bill Bavasi's guy Doug Fister(who is kicking ass for first place Detroit Tigers) meanwhile he kept the guy he acquired Jason Vargas. Vargas is looking horrible and the guys acquired in the Fister trade aren't looking very good either. You have to wonder what Mariners management was thinking in bringing back Zduriencik who other than the draft hasn't show much.

Ugly Hitting:

Franklin Gutierrez: Hit .224/.261/.273 in 322 AB's. Has just one HR, 19 RBI's, 26 runs scored and 13 SB's. This year has been a disaster for Gutierrez and his Mariners future has to be in question heading into the offseason. His bat came around late but two weeks worth of good hitting doesn't make up for the months of terrible baseball.

Miguel Olivo: Hitting .220/.254/.371 in 410 AB's. Has 16 HR's, 55 RBI's, and 45 runs scored. He also has 122 strikeouts to 20 walks. I know plenty of fans are high on him but he simply isn't getting the job done this year. His defense has been below average as well. Time for the Mariners to get serious and go acquire a catcher who has some respect for the strike zone instead of swinging at everything.

Ugly Pitching:

Jason Vargas 2011 second half: 10 GS, 1-7,  53 IP, 7.13 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 27 K's,  .336 BAA
Jason Vargas 2010 second half: 14 GS, 3-8, 85 IP, 4.66 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 48 K's, .265 BAA
Jason Vargas 2009 second half: 3 GS, 0-3, 28 IP, 7.39 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 13 K's, .292 BAA

Do the names Dave Flemming, John Halama, Ryan Rowland-Smith mean anything to you? Well they should because they were all fly ball pitchers for the Mariners who enjoyed success at first. Then the league rocked them in the second half of the season. Then the league featured them out and kept rocking them where they spent the rest of their baseball careers in the minor leagues. It appears that is Jason Vargas destiny because as you can see three straight bad second halfs shows he isn't cut out for the long haul.

Charlie Furbush: 2-4, 31 IP, 6.39 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 20 K's, .277 BAA

He was acquired in the Doug Fister trade along with the slumping Casper Wells who is currently doing his best Chone Figgins impression. Another lefty who can't seem to keep the ball down which means he is getting pounded all over.

Anthony Vasquez: 1-1, 9.1 IP, 11.57 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 3 K's, .372 BAA

He simply isn't a major league pitcher and might not ever be one. It's actually an insult to the major league players on the roster that he is starting games for the Mariners. The Mariners have to have someone in Triple A who is better than Vasquez who you can't tell the difference between his fastball or his changeup. He is to pitching what Carlos Peguero was to hitting which is to say he is overmatched.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 80-61, first place
L.A. Angels: 76-64, 3.5 GB
Oakland A's: 64-76, 15.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 58-81, 21.0 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners appear to have mailed it in this month. They aren't putting out a major league starting pitcher four of the six starts. Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda who will be shut down after two more starts are the only pitchers in the rotation currently who belong on a major league rotation. When you check out the hitters only Ichiro going into the season was a major league hitter. The team is rebuilding yet young guys like Trayvon Robinson can't seem to find AB's. The Mariners for the eighth straight season are just playing out their season in the month of September. For the eighth straight September the city of Seattle is tuning out the Mariners and focusing on football. The Mariners are in serious danger of losing their fan base because despite all those gimmicks the best gimmick of them all is simply winning. The Mariners aren't winning and until they do the fans will keep decreasing by the season.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: August 1st-7th edition

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed a successful week that saw them go 4-2. The Mariners swept the Oakland Athletics in a three game sweep then dropped two out of three to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Mariners saw much improved hitting this week as well as the pitching was fantastic. The Mariners starting pitchers were great in all six starts this week which was nice to see. The Mariners once again are entering a tough stretch on their schedule so it was nice to see them having a winning week. The Mariners played great in sweeping the A's then allowed just four runs in the series loss to the Angels. The Mariners won four out of six games and their two losses were by a single run. It was nice to see the team playing competitive unlike that disasterous 17 game losing streak. So this week I'll talk about the good(tons of players), the bad(not many players) and the awesome(the guys the Mariners have called up or traded for).

The Good:

The Mariners had plenty of good this week as they went 4-2. The hitting finally stepped up in the series sweep of the Oakland A's. The pitching was terrific all week as all six games saw the Mariners starting pitchers earn a quality start. This week also saw all-star pitcher Felix Hernandez dominate his opponents striking out 21 batters in just 14.1 innings. The Mariners have received great pitching from Blake Beavan this year as well as he broke Michael Pineda's record for starting his Mariners career with six straight quality starts. The Mariners already have seen great return on their trades with Charlie Furbush, Casper Wells and Trayvon Robinson. It was nice seeing the Mariners playing good baseball with the young kids from Tacoma doing most of the damage.

Good Hitting:

Mike Carp: 10-25(.400), HR, 6 RBI's, 4 runs
Casper Wells: 6-19(.315), HR, 4 RBI's, 3 runs, SB
Brendan Ryan: 6-12(.500), RBI, 3 runs, .571 OB%
Ichiro: 8-26(.307), RBI, 4 runs, SB
Justin Smoak: 2-5(.400), 2 runs, .571 OB%
Miguel Olivo: 5-17(.294), 2 RBI's
Dustin Ackley: 6-22(.272), 3 RBI's, 4 runs, .384 OB%

Good Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 2-0, 14.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 5 K's
Charlie Furbush: 1-0, 5 IP, 1.80 ERA, 0.40 WHIP, 3 K's
Brandon League: 3.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 2 K's, 2 saves
Josh Lueke: 2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 3 K's
Jamey Wright: 4.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 4 K's
Jason Vargas: 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 3 K's
Felix Hernandez: 1-1, 14.1 IP, 2.51 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 21 K's

As you can see the starting pitching this week was terrific. The starting pitching this week went 4-1 with an ERA of 1.57 while throwing 40 innings(6.2 innings a start) for the week. The starters had a WHIP of 0.97 with 32 strikeouts. The starting pitching despite trading away two guys this past week was terrific. The hitting was pretty good as well with the Mariners having five guys hit over .300 on the week. This was the best week the Mariners have had in a few months.

The Bad:

The Mariners didn't have much bad this week which was refreshing. The bad did take place against the Angels where the Mariners saw their starting pitching go 22 innings allowing just 3 runs(1.22 ERA) with just one win to show for it. The hitting was once again silent down in Anaheim and there is one hitter in particular who could be in jeopardy of losing his job. The Mariners this past trade deadline traded for three outfielders and two are already up. THe Mariners have already shipped out one slumping outfielder and another could be next. The Mariners with these trades have put Franklin Gutierrez on notice. The pitching this week was terrific minus two bullpen blow ups which happens during a long season. The Mariners were also reminded this week why Jack Wilson never plays because he showed he is a terrible hitter. The roster is changing and some of the dead weight will be shipped out of town before opening day next year.

Bad Hitting:

Franklin Gutierrez: 4-19(.210), 2 RBI's, run, 4 K's
Adam Kennedy: 2-15(.133), 2 RBI's, run, sb, 6 K's
Greg Halman: 0-4(.000), 3 K's
Jack Wilson: 3-16(.187), run, 7 K's, CS

Bad Pitching:

Dan Cortes: 0-1, 0.1 IP, 27.00 ERA, 9.09 WHIP
Jeff Gray: 1.2 IP, 16.19 ERA, 2.99 WHIP, 2 K's

Greg Halman was sent down after hitting 2-28(.071) with 13 strikeouts and no walks. His second half line was .071/.103/.179 which won't cut it at the big league level.

The other player who is put on notice is Gutierrez. Guiterrez for the season is hitting .195/.237/.236 on the season with just one home run and 11 RBI's in 220 at bats on the season. He is slowly hitting better but that isn't enough to make up for this piss poor season he is having. I predict if Gutierrez finishes the season under .200 he won't be back next year.

The Awesome:

The awesome this week is all the Mariners who weren't part of the opening day roster who are contributing. The Mariners two best hitters right now are Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp. The Mariners also saw Casper Wells and Trayvon Robinson do well this week. The pitching of Blake Beavan and Charlie Furbush makes fans say Doug Fister and Erik Bedard who? The Mariners are getting some good seasons out of Tacoma players. If you include Michael Pineda who is a rookie the Mariners future appears to be bright. Now the Mariners will ultimately have to add to this nucleaus but at least a foundation appears set in place.

Awesome Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: Hitting .301/.368/.529 in 153 AB's. Has 5 HR's, 23 RBI's, 21 runs. Ackley has been a huge lift this season and his glove has been great. He's been consistent all year and his slumps when they happen will be very few and far between.

Mike Carp: Hitting .311/.372/.476 in 103 AB's. Has 3 HR's, 15 RBI's, and 9 runs. Carp since his second call up where he is getting consistent playing time is hitting .368/.394/.588 in 68 AB's. He has 3 HR's and 15 RBI's during that stretch. I don't know why Eric Wedge decided to play Carlos Peguero over Carp when the Mariners were still in a playoff chase.

Casper Wells: Hitting .304/.360/.435 in 23 AB's with the Mariners. This is small sample size but with Detroit he also hit .257/.323/.451 in 113 AB's. For his career he is hitting .288/.343/.485 in 229 AB's which isn't much to judge but it sure is better than what the Mariners have been getting all year long.

Awesome Pitching:

Blake Beavan: 3-2, 41.1 IP, 2.83 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 17 K's, .245 BAA . Beavan is looking like the best player in the Cliff Lee trade. He has pitched a quality start in all six starts and is averaging almost seven innings a start. As you can see Beavan is a pitch to contact type of pitcher(Fister jr). When Bedard went down Beavan took advantage which showed the organization Fister was expendable as they are similar pitchers. Beavan a former first round pick in the 2007 draft has pitched pretty well.

Charlie Furbush: 1-0, 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 K's, .150 BAA. Furbush looked great in his first start with the Mariners. Granted it was a day game with the shadows against the Oakland A's but still he looked pretty good out there. Furbush is a fourth round pick in the 2007 draft and will be given a chance to start the rest of the season to earn a spot in next years starting rotation.

Josh Lueke: 1-1, 12.2 IP, 9.24 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 14 K's, .327 BAA. I'm sure your wondering why I included Lueke on here. Well he wasn't ready in April that is for sure but he went to Tacoma and made the PCL all-star team. Since he has been called up he has been lights out as well. In the second half Lueke has pitched 6.1 innings, 1.42 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 6 K's, .208 BAA. Lueke has been terrific so far since his call up.

I've been and will continue to be critical of Jack Zduriencik. I also wouldn't be doing a good job if I didn't point what he has appeared to have done right. Ackley was his draft pick which anyone could have made but the other players I listed he has traded for in the past calender year. Now if Zduriencik can just use his eye for young talent on major league talent and acquire some major league hitters in free agency the Mariners could finally have a team.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 64-51, First Place
L.A. Angels: 63-52, 1.0 GB
Oakland A's: 51-63, 12.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 49-64, 14.0 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners got better for the future with their trades and for now. Manager Eric Wedge actually has some options to work with which he didn't before. The Mariners have some decent hitters in the outfield which has been nice to see. The Mariners face a tough schedule for the rest of the month. I remember at the start of July thinking the next 60 games is going to be tough on this team. I'm glad the Mariners still have some fight in them but they need to be more consistent to avoid another long losing streak. It has been nice seeing guys who weren't on the opening day roster contributing.

My interview on "Steady as she goes" with Jeffs Mariners

By Kshell

On Wednesday August 3rd I conducted yet another interview on seamheads with Jeffs Mariners. I discussed the Mariners recent three game sweep of the Oakland Athletics. Just as I had predicted the previous week when I said we'll be talking about a winning streak the Mariners are on a three game winning streak and have won four of their past five games. There was plenty to talk about in this podcast as we discussed the many trades that Mariners had. We discussed the players we got in the Erik Bedard trade which includes Trayvan Robinson who actually was called up the following day after the interview. We also talked about the Doug Fister trade which has seen immediate return with Casper Wells hitting so well and Charlie Furbush getting the win against the Oakland A's. In this following post I'll post a direct link to my interview so you guys can check it out which I'll appear at the 90 minute mark.

Listen to internet radio with Seamheads on Blog Talk Radio

In the broadcast we discussed the trades at great length. You can listen to the broadcast by clicking on this link which I appear at the 90 minute mark. It was nice seeing Charlie Furbush go five innings of two hit ball to record a win in his Mariners debut. I discussed that trade last week. I think that trade was tough to swallow giving up Fister but the Mariners added some nice pieces. Combine that with the Bedard trade and the Mariners did all right at the trade deadline. Like I said click the link and you'll hear Jeffs Mariners and myself talk about the franchise for a good half hour.

In conclusion, it is always quite the thrill to be on radio. When it comes to sports I can talk forever and if I made a decent living being a sports talk show radio host I'd be very happy. Talking comes more natural to me than writing does I've felt over the years. I wish the Mariners were playing better so I wouldn't come off so negative and we can talk about a playoff race. That isn't the case this year instead we are stuck talking about rebuilding plans yet again and the prospects we acquired. Hopefully next year the Mariners will have turned things around so I can be positive. I'll be on next Wednesday at 7 p.m. for those of you want to listen just go to seamheads.com then click on podcasts. I'll be on with Jeff Mariners Wednesday at 7 p.m. so hope to hear some feedback on how I did. Until then hopefully the Mariners continue to play better to give me positive things to talk about.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: July 4th-July 10th edition

By Kshell

Well that was a fun ride while it lasted. The Seattle Mariners this past week officially answered the question on whether they should be buyers or sellers with an emphatic sellers! The Mariners after going on the road to take two out of three at Oakland to defeat the Athletics they found themselves swept on a four game road trip to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Mariners lack of hitting has caught up to them for a month now. The Mariners who were once 37-35 after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies two out of three find themselves now 43-48. The Mariners who were once a half game out of first place now find themselves 7.5 games back of the Texas Rangers and Angels. This week I'll break down the good(not much besides Felix Hernandez), the bad(basically the entire offense) and the ugly(as I dive more into the offensive woes). The Mariners after overachieving much of the first half saw their lack of offense finally catch up to first year manager Eric Wedge.

The Good:

When a team goes 2-5 you have to stretch to find some good. The starting pitching was pretty good this week as the Mariners received six quality starts out of seven. The Mariners saw rookie Dustin Ackley put up another good week as he is showing he is the best hitter on the roster. Ackley's defense so far this year has been pretty incredible as well. The Mariners also saw all-star pitcher Felix Hernandez dominate this week yet came up empty in the wins column. Jason Vargas also followed up his complete game shutout last week with another complete game this week only he lost 2-0. The Mariners pitching has carried them all year and this week was no different.

Good Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 8-26(.307), HR, 2 RBI's, 5 runs, SB, .357 OB%
Brendan Ryan: 7-29(.241), 2 RBI's, 4 runs, SB
Ichiro: 7-28(.250), RBI, run, 2 SB's

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 15 IP, 1.80 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 16 K's
Blake Beavan: 6.1 IP, 2.84 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, K
Jason Vargas: 0-1, 8 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 6 K's

The Bad:

There was plenty of bad this week for the Mariners. The Mariners season basically ended in Anaheim. The hitting which has been terrible all season long and I was worried the minute the pitching went from dominant to good a long losing streak would follow. The Mariners looked helpless at the plate this week. The strikeouts were racking up as the bats were silent. The Mariners who were getting production from Adam Kennedy and Justin Smoak aren't getting much from them. In fact Justin Smoak has been pretty bad since June. The Mariners pitching was solid but saw two key guys slump for them in David Pauley and Michael Pineda. Pineda has been rough in his last three starts hopefully this isn't a sign of arm fatigue. The Mariners went 2-5 so therefore I'm going to have a ton of guys on the bad list this week.

Bad Hitting:

Justin Smoak: 3-26(.115), 2 RBI's, 7 K's
Carlos Peguero: 2-15(.133), RBI, 9 K's
Adam Kennedy: 4-23(.173), 3 RBI's, 4 K's
Greg Halman: 4-18(.222), run, 2 SB's, 6 K's
Kyle Seager: 1-12(.083), 3 K's. Hit .083/.214/.083 his debut week in the bigs
Franklin Gutierrez: 4-19(.210), 3 runs, 2 SB, 4 K's
Josh Bard: 2-9(.222), HR, RBI, run

Bad Pitching:

David Pauley: 0-2, 2.1 IP, 11.59 ERA, 2.14 WHIP, K
Michael Pineda: 1-1, 11 IP, 6.54 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 14 K's

The Mariners aren't getting much hitting from certain guys as everyone in the lineup not named Dustin Ackley has their averages dropping.

Justin Smoak got off to a hot start in April hitting .284/.393/.527 with four HR's and 17 RBI's with 18 K's to 14 BB's. In May Smoak saw his hitting drop to .229/.333/.417 with four HR's and 14 RBI's with 27 K's to 14 BB's. In June Smoak was hitting similar to May as he hit .226/.318/.419 with four HR's but just nine RBI's with 16 K's to 12 BB's. So far in July Smoak has been terrible hitting .118/.179/.176 with no home runs and just three RBI's with 9 K's to 3 BB's. Not trying to pick on Smoak but he is a big part of the offense now and for the future.

The Ugly:

The ugly this week was the fact the Mariners won't be playing a meaningful game in August for the fourth straight season. The Mariners won't be playing a meaningful game in September for the eighth straight season. The Mariners hitting has been terrible this season and the overachieving bullpen is coming down to earth once again. The Mariners are finding themselves rebuilding yet again. The Mariners are years away from being a good team with the current offense and judging by the minor league system. Dustin Ackley and maybe Justin Smoak only youngsters I'm excited about. Kyle Seager could be a good hitter but he is a year or two away. The Mariners have nothing in their outfield as we are witnessing with Greg Halman and Carlos Peguero's non stop strikeouts. The Mariners need to get tons of depth as they have way to many holes offensively.

Ugly Hitting:

Seattle Mariners: .224/.290/.331 which is a terrible statline for an individual much less a team. The Mariners rank dead last in all of baseball in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, hits and runs. The Mariners rank 29th out of 30 teams in RBI's, 28th in doubles and 26th in home runs.

Carlos Peguero: hitting .199/.250/.376 on the season. Peguero has struck out 52 times in 141 AB's which is 34.2% of the time. Peguero has only walked seven times this year for just 4.6% of the time. His "power" isn't that great either as he homers one in 23.5 at bats. Wedge needs to stop playing him and send his ass down.

Franklin Gutierrez: hitting .187/.218/.227 on the season. Gutierrez has just one home run in 150 AB's on the season. He is only walking 3.8% of the time which is a terrible percentage. Basically he is a hitter who doesn't walk or hit for power.

Chone Figgins: hitting .183/.231/.244 on the season. Figgins has been a disaster for the Mariners. He like Gutierrez doesn't walk or hit for power either. Figgins during his all-star season with the Angels two years ago was walking 13.9% of the time while now he is walking only 6.0% of the time. He is only stealing bases at a 60.0% clip which isn't that good and leads the team in errors with 10.

The Mariners offense is pretty terrible and are constantly throwing out three hitters who are hitting below the mendoza line. The Mariners offense is awful and if not for the pitching like in 2009 the team would be having a season like they did in 2010. The Mariners are on pace to win 76 games right now and considering I predicted 72 wins before the year I don't feel so bad. Look for the Mariners record to get worse after they trade away some decent pieces as well.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 51-41, first place
L.A. Angels: 50-42, 1.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 43-48, 7.5 GB
Oakland A's: 39-53, 12.0 GB

The Mariners have their work set out for them for the rest of the year. The Mariners can't afford a rebuilding season so don't expect a complete fire sell. The Mariners also don't have many tradeable pieces as they either have guys that makes no sense to trade, over priced bad players, cheap guys under club control and very few veterans that typically get traded this time of the year. The first half ride was fun while it lasted but that 5-1 collapse to the Washington Nationals turns out to be the turning point of the season. No longer does Eric Wedge look like a genius instead just a manager who allows his pitchers to walk hitters on three balls. The Mariners in the second half need to develope the young guys but just remember other than Ackley, Smoak and Seager the other hitters won't be on this roster by 2013. Just like the past three seasons the Mariners will be sellers at the trade deadline.

Seattle Mariners weekly review: April 18th-24th

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners completed another losing week as they dropped two of three to the Detroit Tigers then split four games with the Oakland Athletics. The Mariners should be thankful for the A's as they are 8-15 on the year but 4-3 against the A's. The Mariners saw some good pitching this week but other than one 13 run outburst saw little to no hitting. The week saw Felix Hernandez bounce back while Michael Pineda continue his dominating start to his career. The week also saw Ichiro get back on track which was good to see. The Mariners had some bullpen meltdowns this week costing them two games. The Mariners once again continue to draw poorly as they at one point had seven consecutive games dating back to the Toronto series where they drew less than 15 thousand fans. The Mariners will now head on the road to Detroit then Boston this week. This season continues to be a work in progress. As I've done in the past I'll break down the good, the bad and the ugly for the week.

The Good:

Well from the starting pitching staff there was plenty of good this week. In seven starts the Mariners pitchers gave them five quality starts including back to back shutouts by Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda. The Mariners busted out against the Detroit Tigers in their one win of the series they scored a season high 13 runs. The Mariners saw plenty of great pitching this week it was hard to pick just three good pitchers so I went with five and felt like I snubbed a few. As for the hitting Ichiro had a big week this week along with Adam Kennedy. The Mariners are at least competing now just need to find some offense as the pitching staff has been pretty good so far.

Hitting Leaders:

Ichiro: 13-30(.433), 3 RBI's, 4 runs, 4 SB's
Adam Kennedy: 7-23(.304), 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 3 runs
Michael Saunders: 6-21(.286), 4 runs, 3 doubles

Pitching Leaders:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 7.2 IP 0.00 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 8 K's
Doug Fister: 1-0, 12.1 IP, 2.18 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 12 K's
Michael Pineda: 1-0, 6.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 5 K's
Brandon League: 2 saves, 2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.28 WHIP
David Pauley: 5.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.38 WHIP, 2 K's

Michael Pineda on the season is now 3-1, 25.1, 1.78 ERA, 1.07 WHIP with 21 K's.

The Bad:

The bad was the Mariners having another losing week which seems to be the theme for a team destined to lose over 100 games. The Mariners still can't score any runs. After erupting for 13 runs the Mariners the next five games scored just 10 runs. I feel as if I keep putting the same people on the slumping list and that is mostly true. For pitching I had to stretch to put people on the slumping list. For the hitting it was hard picking just three guys. This week saw the slumping Josh Lueke sent down after he blew up this week yet Chris Ray is still on the roster. Jack Cust who provides nothing is still on this roster somehow which I don't understand. Hopefully his time as a Mariner ends very shortly.

Hitting Slump:

Jack Cust: 2-19(.105), 2 RBI's, run, 8 K's
Miguel Olivo: 3-16(.188), RBI, 5 K's
Chone Figgins: 5-25(.200), 3 RBI's, 5 runs, SB, 4 K's

Pitching Slump:

Josh Lueke: 0-1, 1.1 IP, 47.37 ERA, 6.77 WHIP, 2 K's
Jason Vargas: 0-1, 11 IP, 6.54 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 7 K's
Aaron Laffey: 0-1, 4.2 IP, 5.79 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, 3 K's

Josh Lueke like I mentioned was sent down. On the year Lueke was 1-1 in 6.1 innings pitched. He had a 17.05 ERA, 2.84 WHIP and struck out eight batters.

The Ugly:

The hitting of Miguel Olivo, Jack Cust and Chone Figgins has just been awful all year long. All three guys OPS is around .400 which is awful and all three guys are Jackie Z signings. For all the excuses of what Bill Bavasi did which is very true and valid he isn't helping his cause. The three worst hitters on the team were signed by Zduriencik and have been total busts.

Ugly Hitting:

Jack Cust is hitting .171/.326/.186 on the season. The Man was brought in for power and is slugging below .200 which is awful. He has just one extra base hit on the season.

Chone Figgins is hitting .160/.207/.247 on the season. He was supposed to get on base along with Ichiro and create runs. Instead his on base percentage is barely above .200 again awful. Plus his defense has been horrible as well.

Miguel Olivo is hitting .164/.224/.180 on the season. I know Olivo failed in Seattle six years ago maybe he'll succeed again? Nope! Olivo like Cust is slugging worst than Figgins who is terrible. Olivo's OPS is .404 which is horrible considering John Olerud and Edgar Martinez would have on base percentages higher than that.

Seattle Mariners as a team is hitting .226/.309/.320 which for a single player is a terrible season. For a team this could be historically awful this year. Maybe paying 27 million a year to two leadoff hitters isn't a good recipe to score runs after all. The fans will continue to ignore this team at this rate and I don't blame them.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 14-7 First Place
LA Angels: 12-10, 2.5 GB
Oakland A's: 11-11, 3.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 8-15 7.0 GB

We all knew this was going to be a long year. I'm sure Eric Wedge had an idea that this team wasn't going all the way when he was hired. When Justin Smoak was gone this week due to a death in his family this lineup was awful. Pretty sad that the team leader in home runs is Ryan Langerhans with just three or that Ichiro is second on the team in RBI's with nine. The Mariners have some nice young pieces that will be exciting to look forward to. Unfortunately this year just like last year is going to be painful. I wouldn't let the Mariners waste your summer days go out and have fun in the summer. There is no need to waste three hours of your day on this team. Unless Pineda or Hernandez is pitching this isn't a very fun team to watch. So the week has finished and the Mariners find themselves already seven games back after just 23 games. Pretty incredible how a team can burry themselves after just one month. Well when you feature three every day hitters who can't even hit .180 that is going to happen.

The week that was Seattle Mariners edition: April 1st-10th

By Kshell

Unlike previous sports where I write a game recap on each game with baseball I'll just do a simple week that was post. For the Seattle Mariners they started the week off pretty good winning their first two games on the road at Oakland. Then after that it was all downhill for the team as they have lost seven games in a row. During that seven game losing streak the team has scored just 18 runs. This week has already brought the team some excitement with the debut of Michael Pineda, Ichiro breaking Edgar Martinez franchise hits record, Felix Hernandez receives his Cy Young after pitching a complete game on opening day. Then there was some lowlights like the seven game losing streak, Erik Bedard's era, the terrible defense and the Jack Wilson saga. I'll break all this down in the upcoming post.

The Good:

The good for the week was the 2-0 start where the Mariners had some terrific starting pitching. The Mariners starting pitchers went 15 2/3 innings allowing only three runs while striking out 11. The Mariners also scored 11 runs the first two games. Ichiro recorded four hits in the first two games to pass Edgar Martinez as the all-time hits king. Felix Hernandez pitched the first complete game win in Mariners history on opening day.

Hitting Leaders:

Jack Wilson: 6-18(.333), 3 SB, 2 runs, RBI
Adam Kennedy: 5-16(.313), 2 Doubles, 2 runs
Ichiro: 9-36(.250), 2 runs, 4 RBI's, 3 SB

Pitching Leaders:

Felix Hernandez: 1-1, 16 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 11 K's
Doug Fister: 0-2, 11.2 IP, 2.31 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 5 K's
Jamey Wright: 4.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.46 WHIP, 4 K's
Brandon League: 2.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.38 WHIP, 2 K's, one save

The Bad:

There has been plenty of bad for the Mariners this season. The Mariners are currently on a seven game losing streak. The Mariners as a team are hitting .215 with just four home runs through nine games. The Mariners have scored just 18 runs during this seven game losing streak which is an average of 2.5 runs per game.

Hitting Slump:

Chone Figgins: 5-37(.135), HR, 3 RBI's, 2 runs, SB, 6 K's
Brendan Ryan: 3-21(.143), 2 RBI's, 4 runs
Jack Cust: 6-32(.188), 3 RBI's, 3 runs, 11 K's
Ryan Langerhans: 3-18(.167), 2 HR's, 3 RBI's, 2 runs, 8 K's

Pitching Slump:

Erik Bedard: 0-2, 9 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 9 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 2.2 IP, 13.50 ERA, 2.63 WHIP, 4 K's
Josh Lueke: 2.2 IP, 13.50 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 4 K's
Chris Ray: 1-0, 1 BS, 3.1 IP, 8.10 ERA, 1.8 WHIP, ZERO K's

The Ugly:

This team appears to be falling apart inside the clubhouse as well. First with Jack Wilson who made two costly errors on a game against the Texas Rangers. Wilson then asked out of the game because he felt he was hurting the team. After the team Wilson said Eric Wedge pulled him from the game which Wedge didn't take kindly. In fact Wilson didn't play at all in the three game sweep to the Cleveland Indians. Then during Saturday's game Milton Bradley apparently was being heckled by his own home crowd. It got to the point where he was batting with earplugs in his ears. The Mariners like I said are currently riding a seven game losing streak.

Ugly Hitting:

Seattle Mariners team: 64-298(.215), .285 OB, .597 OPS, 4 HR's, 27 RBI's, 69 K's. 29 runs scored(3.2 runs per game).

Standings:

Texas Rangers: 8-1 1st place
LA Angels: 5-4, 3.0 GB
Oakland A's: 4-5, 4.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 2-7, 6 GB

As you see despite only play nine games the Mariners already find themselves six games back in the division. The Mariners after taking two of three from the Oakland A's got swept by the Texas Rangers then the Cleveland Indians. The Mariners despite the season just starting already feel hopelessly out of the season. Just a matter of time before Jack Wilson is released. I predict by June you'll see Jack Cust and Milton Bradley shown the door. The Mariners I'm sure are desperately trying to trade Figgins if anyone wants him. For now just sit back and enjoy Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda. The bright spots on this team very few and certainly far between. The Mariners completed the first week of the season going 2-7 and still can't score any runs. This looks like a team headed towards their third 100+ loss season in four years. Hopefully this team can give the fans something.

Ichrio sets franchise hits record in Mariners 5-2 win over Athletics

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners(2-0) scored three runs in the ninth inning behind Ichiro's franchise setting base hit to defeat the Oakland Athletics(0-2) 5-2. The Mariners for the second straight day were led by great starting pitching and took advantage of the A's mistakes defensively. The Mariners were led by Ichiro who recorded two hits which passed former teammate Edgar Martinez with 2,448 career for most hits in franchise history. The Mariners improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2007 and look to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 1995. The Mariners at no point last year were two games over .500 . Eric Wedge has to be thrilled with the starting pitching he has received. Last night everyone expected Felix Hernandez to be dominant but Jason Vargas followed up that performance. Vargas went 6 2/3 innings allowing just one run and striking out six. The Mariners are playing small ball and actually resemble a major league ball club. Wedge through two games has his team playing the game the right way.

Just like the previous game the Mariners pitcher found himself in trouble early on then settled down. In the third inning Vargas found himself in a second and third, one out jam. Vargas got David DeJesus to ground out which allowed a run to score. Then Vargas struck out Josh Willingham to keep the damage at 1-0 after the third. Vargas wouldn't allow another hit until the seventh inning as he dominated a weak Athletics lineup. The Mariners would rally in the sixth off of A's starter Brett Anderson. After recording the first two outs Milton Bradley would single to left. Then Bradley stole second base. Former A's hitter Jack Cust was at the plate who had walked three times the previous game. Facing a 3-0 count Cust was given the green light and ripped a base hit to centerfield scoring Bradley to tie the score up at 1-1.

In the seventh inning the Mariners offense would strike again. Once again the Mariners allow they didn't score on the A's starter worked the pitch count so Anderson could only last six innings. New Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan doubled to lead off the inning. Then Jack Wilson followed that up with a single to shallow rightfield to give the Mariners a first and third nobody out for youngster Michael Saunders. Saunders hit the ball to centerfield scoring Ryan from third base to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead. Vargas in the bottom half of the inning was pulled with a runner on and two outs. Vargas would end up going 6 2/3 innings, five hits, walking one and allowing just one run. Vargas would also strike out six batter. Jamey Wright would relieve him and get out of the inning protecting the 2-1 lead.

In the eighth inning Wedge handed the ball over to new setup man Chris Ray. Ray's Mariners debut wasn't a good one. Ray allowed a bunt single to Coco Crisp to lead off the inning. Then he allowed a base hit to give the Athletics a first and second nobody out situation. DeJesus then grounded out to Jack Wilson for a fielders choice. That play was confusing as the Mariners thought Wilson caught it and if he had trapped it the runner at second base should have been out. Instead it was first and second just one out. Crisp then stole third base to give the Athletics first and third one out. Willingham then singled to right field scoring Crisp which tied the game up. For the sixth straight season the Mariners have blown a late inning lead in the first or second game of the year. Ray would eventually get out of the inning with the score still tied at 2-2.

In the ninth inning facing the Athletics closer and former Mariner Brian Fuentes the Mariners had a scoring rally. The inning begin when Jack Wilson singled to left field. After a sacrifice bunt by Saunders allowed Wilson to reach second Wedge pinch hit for Adam Moore with Miguel Olivo. Olivo singled to left field giving the Mariners first and third with one out. Ichiro who had tied Edgar Martinez earlier with an infield single had a good spot to pass Martinez. With the infield in Ichiro hit it to the first baseman who had to come home. The throw was off which allowed Wilson to score and because of the throwing error Olivo went to third base. The Mariners had taken a 3-2 lead on that base hit. Then Fuentes threw a wild pitch which allowed Olivo to score and Ichiro to reach second giving the Mariners a 4-2 lead. Ichiro then stole third base and Chone Figgins last night's hero hit a sacrifice fly scoring Ichiro from third to give the Mariners a 5-2 lead. The Mariners by taking the extra base scored three runs they wouldn't have if they hadn't been aggressive. The Mariners would then hand the ball to closer Brandon League. League would retire the side in order to record the save and give the Mariners a 5-2 win.

The Mariners despite not hitting the ball all that great have found a way to score in the first two games. It helps that the Athletics have committed six errors. The Mariners are taking the extra base which is winning baseball and will be counting on their pitching staff to win games this year. Vargas was pretty dominant today striking out six batters which he hadn't done in his previous 13 starts dating back to last season. The Mariners have improved to 2-0 under Wedge which is the best start for a Mariners full-time manager since Chuck Cottier in 1985 who began his Mariners career 6-0. This may just be game two of a 162 game season but for a club that lost 100 games last year they needed some confidence. All wins count the same eventually which is good to see the Mariners off to a good start.

Star of the game:

This goes to Ichiro who broke Edgar Martinez franchise hits record and drove in the winning run. Ichiro was 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored with a stolen base. Ichiro already has three stolen bases on the young season. Ichiro might not be the legend that Martinez is but this is a big accomplishment and fitting he tied and passed Martinez on infield singles. Ichiro has 2,248 hits now and if he keeps up his pace he should go over 3,000 hits in the middle of the 2014 season.

Here is a stat for the weird from Zach Cecil if you haven't already saw he pointed out that Ichiro broke the record on the 10th anniversary of his debut April 2nd, 2001. That isn't the weird part the weird part is that Edgar Martinez passed Ken Griffey Jr. on April 3rd, 2001. So pretty fitting all the way around. Ichiro is starting the year off with a bang so far with four hits and three stolen bases.

Pitcher of the game:

This is clearly Jason Vargas who was just dominant. Vargas went 6 2/3 innings, allowed just five hits and one run. The big thing that made this Vargas start standout was the fact he struck out six batters. Vargas who has improved on his swinging strikes looked pretty sharp last night. Vargas who was considered the fifth best player in the big J.J. Putz trade is now the teams #2 starter. Vargas although against a weak lineup looked pretty good.

All in all the Mariners are playing pretty good baseball which they didn't do last year. The Mariners vastly underachieved last year after overachieving in 2009. Possibly this year can provide some balance for the ball club. The Mariners bullpen proved until David Aardsma they will be scary all season long. The Mariners offense is working the count which is forcing the A's to go to their middle relief. Wedge seems to be pressing the right buttons so far. It also helps a manager when his starting pitchers are going deep into games and dominating the opposition. The Mariners look for the sweep against their division rival on the road. The sweep although early would put them three games up while a loss only puts them just a single game. The Mariners are playing better which after last years disappointing season is great to see even if it's just smoke and mirrors.

Mariners win opener 6-2 over Athletics behind King Felix's CG win

The Seattle Mariners)1-0) start the Eric Wedge era off with a win over the Oakland Athletics(0-1) 6-2. The Mariners who have now won five straight opening day games primarily because of ace pitcher Felix Hernandez(1-0) who set franchise history today. Hernandez the reigning Cy Young award winner became the first Mariners pitcher to pitch a complete game win on opening day. The Mariners scored some runs for Hernandez unlike last year due to five errors by the A's. The Mariners had just enough timely hitting and chased Trevor Cahill to last just 4 2/3 innings. Behind Hernandez who was dominant after the first inning the Mariners just sat back and watched Hernandez finish the A's in just 108 pitches. The Mariners are hoping to rebound from a 100 loss season last year and with Hernandez every fifth day there should be some improvement.

The game started off rough for Hernandez just like he did last season in the first inning. After a single by Coco Crisp to start the game off for the Athletics, Hernandez quickly retired the next two batters. Then Josh Willingham stepped up to the plate. Willingham was a big offensive free agent signing by the A's in the offseason. Willingham jumped on the first pitch which was a fastball grooved down the middle to deep left field for a home run to give the A's a 2-0 lead on the Mariners. Hernandez then struck out Hideki Matsui to end the inning.

In the third inning the Mariners made a two out rally against A's ace Trevor Cahill. First Ichiro reach on an infield single which was the first hit of the season for the Mariners. Then Chone Figgins would get a base hit to right field which was the first ball hit out of the infield for the Mariners. Figgins and Ichiro would then do a double steal to give the Mariners second and third with two outs for Milton Bradley. After getting two strikes on Bradley Cahill lost him and eventually walked him. Then fell behind former Athletic Jack Cust 3-0 but battled back to have a full count. Then on the full count pitch Cahill walked Cust which forced Ichiro to score the first run of the season. Cahill would eventually get Justin Smoak out but the Mariners pulled within 2-1.

The Mariners who kept stranding runners eventually ran up the pitch count on Cahill. Cahill only lasted 4 2/3 innings but did allow just one earned run while striking out eight batters but did allow four hits and four walks. Cahill had also thrown 105 pitches. In the sixth inning the Mariners were facing Jerry Blevins who walked Brendan Ryan. After a Jack Wilson bunt the Athletics pulled Blevins for Craig Breslow to face Ichiro. Ichiro recorded his second hit of the game to left field driving in Ryan from second base to tie the game up. After Ichiro was thrown out trying to steal his third base of the game thunder struck for the Mariners. Figgins who hit one home run all of last season took Breslow deep to left field to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead. That was all Hernandez needed as he was in a groove.

For the Mariners a 3-2 lead felt like a 10 run lead with the way Hernandez was pitching. Hernandez from the second inning through seventh inning allowed just one base runner which was eliminated by a double play. In the seventh inning the Mariners blew the game open thanks to two Athletics errors. Cust led off the inning with a walk then Smoak belted a double to deep center. Miguel Olivo then hit what would have been an RBI groundout but Derrick Barton made a throwing error allowing Olivo to be safe and Smoak to move to third base. Cust scored giving the Mariners a 4-2 lead. Then Brad Ziegler trying to pick off Olivo threw the ball away which allowed Smoak to score and Olivo to go all the way to third base giving the Mariners a 5-2 lead. Ryan then hit a fielders choice which the A's came home with it by a great slide by Olivo he was safe giving the Mariners a commanding 6-2 lead. The only question was if Wedge was going to let Hernandez go the distance.

Hernandez who got out of a jam in the eighth inning had just 94 pitches. Wedge even though this was opening day let his ace finish the game. Hernandez retired the A's in order ending the game by striking out Barton then David DeJesus. Hernandez showed everyone why he won the Cy Young last year. Over his last eight innings he had allowed just three hits. Hernandez finished the game going nine innings, allowing five hits, walking nobody and striking out five. The Mariners are without closer David Aardsma and with Hernandez having a low pitch count Wedge made the right call. Now the Mariners begin the season like they have the last four seasons which is 1-0. The Mariners were helped out by their 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup Ichiro going 2-4 with a run scored, an rbi, two stolen bases and a walk. Figgins was also huge going 2-5 with a home run, run scored, an rbi, and a stolen base. Olivo in his first game back as a Mariner was 2-5 with a run scored and an rbi as well. The Mariners despite striking out 14 times and hit just 1-11 W/RISP did just enough to win. It helps to have Hernandez dealing the way he was.

Star of the game:

No offense to Chone Figgins but this was an easy choice. Felix Hernandez was his dominant self and when he gets any run support that is an automatic win for the Mariners. Hernandez gave up a two run bomb in the first inning but unlike most pitchers quickly found focus and struck out the next hitter. Hernandez only had five strikeouts but had 14 ground outs. Hernandez who had thrown 39 pitches after two innings went the next seven innings throwing just 69 pitches. Hernandez who improves to 3-0 with a 1.70 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 27 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings in four opening day starts. Hernandez like he did in the past came out and dominated on opening day once again.

Unsung Hero:

To me that is Jack Cust. Cust was 0-2 with an RBI but had three walks. In five at bats Cust faced a full count in all five at bats. Cust by doing the little things like working the count allowed the Mariners to raise the pitch count on Trevor Cahill. Cahill despite allowing just one run and striking out eight couldn't even last five innings. Most teams have poor middle relief so better to face them than an ace like Cahill. Cust will drive fans crazy with his strikeouts but he will also work the count as well.

Hitting stars:

This goes to the top of the order Ichiro and Chone Figgins. Those two combined were 4-9, with two runs scored, two rbi's, three stolen bases and a home run. The Mariners are hoping for a bounce back year from Figgins and hope Ichiro does what he always does. Ichiro today moved within one hit of tying Edgard Martinez franchise record for most hits as a Mariner. Ichiro with two hits will be the all-time leader.

All in all, the Mariners just won one game out of 162 but it feels good to get a win after last year. The Mariners with a new manager are hoping to ride the pitching staff this year. The Mariners are hoping on offense to do the little things like I mentioned with Cust. Ultimately this is a long season and to change your thoughts on the team or any individual after one game is just crazy. At least one in five games we get to enjoy the greatness which is watching Felix Hernandez pitch. Hernandez showed why again on opening day he is the best pitcher in the American League. For Eric Wedge his first game as a manager couldn't have gone more smoothly. Now today with Jason Vargas on the hill I have a feeling Wedge will have to do some managing today. Enjoy the win Mariners fans we deserve it after last year. Just remember one in five days we are lucky to watch a great talent like Felix Hernandez entering his prime.