15 and Counting...

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.