Mariners: Three Surprising Stats so Far

We’re only 15 games into the 2016 season, but what can we learn about this mysterious Mariners team from a few surprising statistics?

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This year’s Mariners squad had many pundits and analysts, including me, scratching their heads coming into the season. With so many new faces, a new manager, almost an entirely new coaching staff, and a new general manager, no one knew what to make of this team or knew what to expect. I was optimistic in my predictions, projecting the revamped Mariners to go 85-77 and make the playoffs. With the Mariners now 7-8 after a win yesterday in extra innings, the mystery continues. Will this be a club that hovers around .500 or will we see a drastic shift to the winning or losing side as the season progresses? Here are three strange or unexpected statistics so far for this Mariners team that may shed some light on the future:

A 1-5 record at home, 6-3 on the road. These weird road/home splits are likely to even out, but in 15 games so far, the Mariners have looked lost in the friendly confines of Safeco Field and appear ready to bash teams in their home parks. The 1-5 home record is the result of one disastrous homestand in which they were swept by the Oakland A’s and were headed for an 0-6 home record until pinch hitter Dae-Ho Lee blasted a high fastball over the left field fence for a walk-off victory over the Texas Rangers. After leaving town, they handled the Yankees and Indians in two out of three games each. Their run production at home is troubling, especially after general manager Jerry Dipoto brought in hit-it-in-the-gap-and-run players like Leonys Martin and Nori Aoki to try to play to the dimensions of the Safe.

Third in the American League in home runs, 10th in total bases. Since every home run is four bases, it’s tough to fathom why the Mariners are in the bottom third of the league in total bases despite sitting at third in the league in home runs with 19. Hitting home runs is great. The ability to end or change the game with one swing is extremely useful up and down any lineup, but this discrepancy between home runs and overall run production (the Mariners are right in the middle of the league, seventh, in runs scored with 59), betrays a reliance on the longball. They will have to at least get more guys on base to make that approach work all season long. Remember when they hit a ton of solo home runs last year?

Robinson Cano has been crushing the ball in the first 15 games, leading the Mariners with six home runs and 14 RBI. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

Four wins by relievers. It’s an oddity when a team gets 57% of their wins from their relief pitchers. This is likely another symptom of a team that can’t score consistently enough to give their starters wins when they go five innings. It also could be a symptom of a team that has hit relief pitching well, fueling late-game comebacks. Thankfully these wins haven’t come from (that many) late-inning meltdowns and subsequent recoveries by the offense.

Overall, there are areas of concern for the 2016 Mariners so far this season. The offense has been sluggish at times, especially at home, and too reliant on the longball. On the other hand, the Mariners bullpen has been excellent (with the exception of Joel Peralta and his daily 8th-inning gopher ball), and both Taijuan Walker and Felix Hernandez (despite his 13 walks already this year) have been excellent starters amidst an otherwise up-and-down rotation (Wade Miley: down).

Next: Mariners Take Two of Three in Cleveland

Climbing out of the hole the Mariners dug for themselves after the first homestand of the year with winning baseball on the road has me optimistic again. We’ll see where the above strange statistics go from here when the Mariners face the Los Angeles Angels tonight at 7, the start of another road series.

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