Mariners Weekly Progress Report: Righting the Ship
By Nick Lee
The Mariners have played much better in week two after a miserable road trip, but they still have a distance to climb to make it out of the hole.
This week was a lot more tolerable for Mariners baseball. In fact, it was an above .500 week with an exclamation point in the weekend sweep of the AL West rival Texas Rangers. The Mariners finished the week 4-2 and 5-8 overall.
The Mariners are not out of the hole they dug in week one just yet but they made big strides this week.
Hitting: B
The Mariners averaged 5.2 runs per game in the six games this week. That is a huge jump from the opening road trip. The Mariners climbed out of the cellar of team batting average up to 22nd with a .230 clip. Young guns Mitch Haniger and Taylor Motter led the charge this week. Motter hit two home runs and both were no-doubters. He is hitting .333 in his last 7 games. In the last two games of the Astros series, he collected five hits, all of them were of the extra-base variety in four doubles and a dinger.
Haniger starred on Sunday. With the Mariners down 6-1, he launched a three-run shot to close the gap. He drove in 7 runs this week while hitting .391. Nelson Cruz is starting to come out of his funk. His average is up to .229 after starting the week below .100. He hit his first home run of the season on Friday. However, veterans Robinson Cano and Danny Valencia are still struggling mightily.
Pitching: B+
Without the meltdown of Wednesday’s 10-5 loss to the Astros, this would have been an “A”. James Paxton is demanding and getting attention from the national media with this unbelievable start to the 2017 season. He pitched twice this week, both wins. He led the majors this week in innings pitched (15) and earned runs (0). He is yet to allow a run in his first 21 innings.
Felix Hernandez looked like old Felix in a fun Friday night thriller over the Rangers. He pitched into the 8th inning while only allowing one run and he still has not walked a soul this season. After three starts last season, his walk total was already up to 13.
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The bullpen is still towards the bottom in ERA as a group at 6.31. This is a growing problem. Dan Altavilla had a forgettable outing in Wednesday’s 10-5 loss with three earned runs on four hits and a walk. Edwin Diaz looked like himself on Friday night but when he tried to hold the tie on Sunday, he allowed a home run. If the bullpen can right itself, this team should be above .500 in no time.
Defense: A
Anytime the Mariners go error-less for the week, they deserve an “A” here. Seattle also made a few great defensive plays like Mitch Haniger robbing Joey Gallo of a home run on Sunday. That saved the game for the M’s.
They did drop from 0 Defensive Runs Saved down to -2. Overall, it was a solid defensive week for the Mariners.
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Overall Grade: B+
The Mariners took strides in righting the ship this week. You have to love sweeping the pesky Rangers. They are now only three games below .500 and 3 1/2 games out of the AL West lead. If the Mariners can find a way to go 5-2 this next week against the Miami Marlins at home and on the road in Oakland, the M’s will be sitting at .500 this time next Monday.