Seattle Mariners Rant Week: Looking Back at 2018 – Herb Nightingale

Disappointment

I was especially disappointed at the end of July. Back in May, the playoffs looked so good, now like every other year they are out of it when the Seahawks start playing the pre-season games. Of course, the die-hard fans are going to keep going, but the rest will turn over to football. Just when things were about to be a different, fans said they turned into the same old Mariners.  Some said that ownership doesn’t care, as long as they make their money. That is the farthest from the truth.

We will see some veteran players leaving, however, the problem is the Mariners farm system is not where it should be. There isn’t a prospect ready to go. The M’s don’t want to rush the top prospects when they aren’t ready like Jackie Z. did with Dustin Ackley and Mike Zunino.  It would be nice to find a couple more players in the mold of Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura.

The pitching in the second half the earned run average went up from 3.71 per game to 4.25 per game. I believe much of it had to do with James Paxton and Marco Gonzales, the top two winners, missing time. In fact, Felix Hernandez had to go back into the rotation again when Paxton was hit on the elbow. Felix had been moved to the bullpen due to his poor pitching. Of course, his performance plus missing time were another reason the Mariners started losing. We will have to see things go with Felix during the off-season.