Seattle Mariners: Time to Panic?
By Ben Renner
The Seattle Mariners walked off last night, but still sit at 3-6, tied for last in the division. Is it too early to panic, or will the struggles continue?
The Seattle Mariners ended a five-game losing streak with a walk-off home run by Dae-Ho Lee yesterday to salvage one win from their opening homestand. They scored a total of 11 runs in six games and wasted useful starts from Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma. The bullpen couldn’t hold leads or keep the game tied and the offense couldn’t take advantage of multiple chances against the Oakland A’s and Texas Rangers.
The three-game sweep at the hands of the A’s was particularly disturbing. Three little-known pitchers held the Seattle Mariners to four runs in those three games, snuffing any hope of resistance against last year’s AL West basement-dwellers. The “Control the Zone” philosophy brought in general manager Jerry Dipoto hasn’t produced results in the win column yet.
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For those who don’t know, “Control the Zone” is a statistical mindset and formula that emphasizes walks and strikeouts by pitchers and hitters: (Mariners hitters BB + Mariners pitchers K) – (Opponent hitter BB + Opponent pitchers K). Last season, the Seattle Mariners hitters drew 478 walks and struck out 1,336 times, while pitchers walked 491 batters and struck out 1,283. The team scored a minus-66 on controlling the zone.
Let’s run the numbers for the first nine games of the Seattle Mariners 2016 season and see where they come out: (30+93)-(23+71)= plus-29. Wait, what?
Despite the Seattle Mariners’ six losses in nine games, they are plus-29 on controlling the zone. Their pitchers are first in the American League in strikeouts and their hitters are first in the league in walks. That’s right, first in the American League. If Dipoto and his stat-heads are right, the wins will start rolling in with numbers like that.
So even though the Mariners are one extra-innings game from going winless at home in their first homestand of 2016, they are controlling the zone well. If they keep up their current strikeout and walk ratios at the plate and on the mound, the wins will come.
Are you panicking? Let me know your thoughts on the Mariners start in the comments section.