When I left work on Friday, the Mariners had lost 12 games in a row. Since I didn't have any time to blog about it over that night I secretly hoped that they would get swept by the Red Sox at Fenway so that I could talk about the absurdity of a 15 game losing streak come Sunday night. Well, wouldn't you know it - they allowed this blog post to be timely and lost #15 in a row.
There are so many things one could say about the streak, but the one that sticks out to me is the pitching that this team has. If your team is lucky enough to have a bonafied ace in your rotation, then you know every fifth day your team has a wonderful shot at winning. It doesn't matter if the team loses 3 or 4 in a row - aces stop losing streaks. The Mariners not only have the 2010 AL Cy Young Award Winner King Felix, but Michael Pineda looks like a future ace as well.
Bottom line - over the 15 game losing streak, these guys both pitched 3 times which means Seattle should have won at least 3-4 of those games. It is absolutely shocking that neither pitcher has stepped up during the streak and willed the team to a win.
Prior to the streak, King Felix was 8-7 with a 3.22 ERA while Pineda was 8-5 with a 2.58 ERA. During the streak, King Felix is 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA while Pineda is 0-2 with a 11.00 ERA. To me that is the most shocking thing.
With that being said, let's take a closer at the ineptness during the streak. We all know about their offensive woes - ranked 30th in MLB in runs, batting average, slugging and on-base percentage. During the streak the team is hitting .226 with 31 extra-base hits and Ichiro is hitting .225. The have scored a total of 40 runs. It's simply dreadful. However, as you could probably guess, their pitching hasn't been much better, giving up 87 runs. Their starters have an ERA of 6.00 while their bullpen has an ERA of 5.65.
It has been a perfect storm of terribly consistent hitting and horrid pitching that has taken the team from 2.5 games out of 1st (43-43) to 14.5 games out of first (43-58). I don't call myself a Mariners fan, but I thought at the very least this team could be exciting to watch with Pineda, Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak and of course King Felix. Right now, they are nothing more than a pathetic joke. And to those who want to get rid of another manager, I want to tell you to stop. Eric Wedge is a fine manager who is doing the best with what he was given by Jack Z...this team has some bright spots, but overall it is wretched.
Like Seattle cares about a winning baseball team. We love our Mariners win or lose. This team is not "wretched", this team is the Seattle Mariners. Don't confuse us with a "baseball town".
ReplyDelete-East Coast JWill
Are you sure the city loves them whether they are losing or not? I thought the Seahawks were the big ticket since 2004, the M's in the late 90's and the Sonics in the early 90's...please tell me if I'm wrong
ReplyDeleteAre you sure the city loves them whether they are losing or not? Yes. This team has made the playoffs, what, four times since 1977? We lost 101 games last year and still averaged ~25,000 people per game. Is that good? No. But "wretched"? No.
ReplyDelete-East Coast JWill
Ok, so you have taken obvious offense to my use of 'wretched'. I don't mean to call the franchise as a whole wretched - in fact, as of July 1, they were a decent team, but the fact is that this 16 game losing streak has removed the curtain from their magic act. They have been terrible since July 1 and last night started Miguel Olivo, Adam Kennedy and Mike Carp in 4-6 spots. Until Smoak recovers from whatever is ailing him and until both Felix and Pineda can turn it around, this is a pretty terrible team.
ReplyDeleteMy main problem is the bashing of this team. Here are the last two headlines on the Seattle Times website: "Mariners lose 16th in a row with little suspense" and "Is this the most embarrassing point ever for Mariner franchise?". Phrases like "wretched", "embarrassment", and "nadir" (looked it up: lowest point of adversity or despair). What did you people expect? It was never going to be a good season. Should the team be held accountable? Yes. Do writers title the headlines to get readers? Yes. Is it news cause the Mariners are not winning? No.
ReplyDelete-East Coast JWill
thanks for the lesson on nadir...
ReplyDeleteLook, I don't like to defend the Times' writers, but for the first headline, was there any suspense in last nights game? NO, they were down 8-1 after the 4th inning, so it is a perfectly legitimate headline. It's not like the game was tied in the 8th.
As for the second, ok, maybe it is a bit unfair to use the word embarrassing, but it is officially the teams longest losing streak ever and the longest in the big leagues in like 5 years...the season as a whole won't go down as embarrassing, but this singular moment in time has to be considered as such.
I appreciate your use of the word 'you' in "What do you people expect?" but I doubt any professional writer would want me grouped in with them. I have a silly little blog that is read by 15 people a day...
Glad to be in such a select group of people.
ReplyDelete-East Coast JWill
knowing my readers, i'm not so sure that should be considered an honor...
ReplyDelete