Game Twenty Recap
Boo, 9-11.
That’s four losses in a row to two bad baseball teams. First time the team has lost on Felix day all season. Yeah, I don’t expect this to be a fun comments thread.
Nothing overly interesting to say tonight. Felix struggled with command problems, though how much of that was the rain we’ll never know. His stuff was good enough to get a ton of groundballs (14, to be exact), but enough of them found holes that it created some problems. Obviously, though, he’s not at fault tonight.
The offense, once again, sucked. The line-up doesn’t work when Figgins and Bradley aren’t hitting, and even with his late 9th inning double, it isn’t enough. On nights where those guys make seven outs in eight trips to the plate, runs won’t be very plentiful. The Mariners built this team to score despite a lack of power, but they can’t also overcome a lack of getting guys on base. There’s nothing the team can do but wait for those two to start hitting.
We’ve talked enough about Griffey, so I’ll leave that alone. I’d imagine a few leashes got shorter tonight, though.
Two more walks for Rob Johnson, giving him seven so far. He still can’t hit, but his improved approach at the plate is a boon. A lot of bad hitters never realize that they need to swing less frequently, but kudos to Johnson for figuring that out.
Greinke vs Snell tomorrow. Not really what you want to see when you’re coming in with a four game losing streak.
The Mariners have ZERO hitting and our hijacked basketball team is getting national praise as they play the Lakers.
Yup, Seattle sports are AWESOME.
It’d be nice to root for WINNING teams again, not gonna lie.
We always lose like this against the Royals. I swear to god. I hate watching us play at KC because we always flounder. Getting owned by KYLE DAVIES!? Pathetic.
The Mariners are wasting great efforts by their starters and it’s getting tougher to watch this offense.
Figgins isn’t hitting and he really hasn’t hit since the Oakland home opener series. That is really not helping, then Bradley being half injured and not hitting, that pretty much leaves us with an near exact carbon copy of last year’s offense. It was painful to watch at times last year and it’s been very painful to watch for most of this year. The M’s have blown 4 games they had no business losing and if some changes don’t happen soon, then it won’t matter what Lee and eventually Bedard do, their quality starts will be wasted just like the last four nights where Fister, Vargas, and Felix all deserved the win.
Hopefully this is the straw that breaks the stubborn mule’s back. Although I doubt shuffling the lineup will do much good tomorrow against Grienke.
Does Lopez hitting one to the warning track with the bases loaded solidify his spot as the clean up hitter for one more week?
After this terrible, terrible road trip, we are gonna have a tough home stand against Texas, TB and LA. Life isnt easy.
The White Sox are not a bad baseball team. They are average. Just like the Mariners. The Royals are a bad baseball team.
Realistically, did we expect any more out of this line up even before the end of spring training? When Hanahan went down in spring, I think that was the monkey wrench in our gang. That is why Sweeney in on the roster (Garko’s non hitting glove not withstanding). That is why Tui is on the roster. That is why they went to a 7 man bullpen. We, collectively, as a fan base, have to realize they broke camp with the best players they felt they could put together. The options we have are limited, and none of them are going to solve the offensive (natch) problems the team has.
They sure….
Oh, I was going to say something pessimistic and snarkey, but instead I’ll be positive. LOOK! UNICORNS!
Oh, wait, that’s just the cat with an empty tequila bottle stuck to its forehead.
I know that doesn’t make any sense. Neither did our lineup tonight. Should we call it a draw and promise to do better tomorrow?
Maybe the Royals’ fans war drum that was really obnoxious in the top 9th knocked us out of our offensive rhythm.
That could be true if the the M’s had an offensive rhythm.
Does Taps have a rhythm?
I swear to The Baseball Gods if we have the same lineup tomorrow (see Lopez/Griffey in the middle of it) I am going to do more than just throw things!
If the lineup is the same tomorrow then Greinke will be licking his chops.
I’m calling 3 hits, 0 runs against Greinke tomorrow. And, someone of moderate significance gets injured. Worst. Roadtrip. Ever.
I was at the game tonight. Cold. Rainy. Bad baseball. I’m going to bed.
Yeah, I don’t really like Johnson as a baseball player, but he’s learned how to work a count nicely, and it’s admirable. He’s doing the best with what little talent he has. Which, as long as the organization remains irrationally infatuated with him, is good to see.
Seriously, has anyone ever had as many plate appearences end in weak groundouts to the right side as we’re seeing from Griffey this year? If they kept a stat on that he’d probably have one more to add to the record books.
Dave-My leash with Jr did get shorter tonight, which is tough for me to say. I was 7 years old and at the game when Edgar hit the double and Jr scored from 1st in ’95, so Griff was my hero growing up. I was totally thrilled when he signed with the M’s again. My leash is to the point where if the roster can upgrade then they should do something with him. I want Jr on the roster but not starting. My leash ends once a trade for something better opens up. When do you think that will happen? With the Ryan Howard deal today is Jason Werth an option?
Other teams seem to be able to get the big hit once in awhile. Couldn’t we do that? Or a hit with a runner in scoring position? Or a sac fly? For crying out loud… Too many weak hitters in the lineup to be contenders.
I am really looking forward to Friday’s game and seeing Cliff Lee on the mound. Watching Jose Lopez (et. al) fail at the plate tonight was beyond frustrating.
So with the M’s offense facing Greinke tomorrow, can we expect a perfect game, or just a no-hitter?
Surprised that Hernandez signed for five years. After a couple so-so decades you have to assume that players who really want to win — Johnson, Varitek, A-Rod, and I expect a dozen more names could be added — a ring leave Seattle. Players who like the area and the easy paycheck stay. Watched Lee pitch Sunday. Salt Lake put a lot of wood on his pitches. Players at the next level will do the same thing, only better.
Wak apparently thinks Sweeney isn’t getting enough AB’s! (Geoff Baker blog)
Not good news. I’m going to sulk with my Linus blanket now.
See, unlike the losses that began this season, this streak is just annoying (though Chone really should start hitting, I feel as worried as, even less worried than, I was when Beltre joined the team – very little). They should have won two of these, but luck wasn’t on their side. The problems we saw likely have ready solutions. Lee is coming back soon.
While irrationally shaken by the poor start, they are going to lose some this way. I’ll panic if Griffey is still everyday at the ASBreak, and if Chone is still around .200.
Okay – I know its been brutal to watch and that this is probably as good a venue to vent frustrations as any – but I think its a little silly all the negativity I’m reading and hearing.
Yes – the last few games have sucked.
No – our offense doesn’t look good right now.
But guess what – we’re only 9-11. We have gotten some excellent pitching from unlikely sources and have a couple of guys on the way back who are going to stabilize the rotation in a way that will make the pitching success we’ve seen thus far sustainable throughout the season. We’re 9-11 featuring one of the worst offenses in baseball over that stretch and a rotation made up a bunch of guys who’s own mothers haven’t heard of them. I’m sorry, but I’ll take that record right now.
The season is young. We need to make changes and adjust the line up, move some roster pieces around – all of that is true. But lets keep the “Seattle sports suck – always a huge let down – nothing good ever happens” talk to a minimum. If that’s how you really feel then why even bother? We’ve been through far worse in a 20 game stretch than what we’ve just witnessed to start this season.
The front office wants to win – they just need to realize they were wrong about a couple of guys on the roster and move on. They will, and this team will win. We just have to have a little faith.
Interesting point brought up on the post game tonight regarding Figgins. His splits this season are absolutely absurd, he’s batting .321 right handed and .086 left handed. Hopefully what ever is wrong with his swing from the left side corrects itself soon since the Ms are going to see right handers the next three games at least.
How do you know this? Maybe the ones who stay want to win here in Seattle. Maybe they appreciate the fans here, not just an “easy paycheck” as you put it.
And what do you mean by “easy”? It would seem harder doing one’s job and trying one’s best on a losing team.
It is darkest before the dawn. Sun comes up on Friday.
Randy Johnson and Jason Varitek didn’t leave in free agency, they were traded.
I would think he meant ‘easy paycheck’ in the same Milton Bradley meant it. He said Seattle was different from Chicago because he didn’t have (paraphrasing) ’10guys with a camera in his face.’
Seattle fans don’t ‘boo’ home players often. Remember Sexson, Vidro, etc? This city has patience and doesn’t turn on players often. For instance Javier Vazquez has already heard the yankee faithful shower him in ‘booooooo’s’ Major city markets like Chicago and New York are ruthless. Seattle is a lot easier to deal with.
I don’t know that I can even watch the game tomorrow. Today with Felix on the mound this offense did jack SQUAT and I’m not expecting anything different for the next two games. Wakamatsu…. please fix your lineup at the very least. If you aren’t going to put the right team out there at the very least have them hitting in the right order.
Assume 90 wins, at least, to win the west. 6 month season. So, team needs to average 15 wins a month.
Do you think it’s likely this team will even get 2 more wins the rest of this week?
Can you tell me where exactly the surge in offense is going to come from, in the 40-man roster not just the current 25, to put together the win streaks that will lead to months where the Ms win 17, 18, 19 games?
Can you tell me what trade pieces the Ms have that could pick up a bat at the trade deadline, if by some miracle the Ms are within 3 games or so of the lead at the ASB?
Are you ready for what the team we’ve seen so far this year will look like playing the likes of Tampa Bay, New York, Minnesota?
How do you like how this lineup will fare against any of the other teams in the division, even supposedly lowly Oakland?
I mean, really. There’s optimism, there’s realizing there’s a whole 5/6ths of the season yet to play… then there’s just settling for mediocrity. Again. Still.
This series is made all the more painful because it forces me to deal with the fact that Yuniesky Betancourt is currently hitting better than Ichiro.
We’re only 20 games in. I hope Wak and Jack are patient enough not to freak out quite yet. I know I’m not.
Let me ask you – do you honestly believe that Chone Figgins is a .190 hitter? Do you think that Jose Lopez wOBA right now of .269 is the best we’ll get from him all season? We don’t need a “surge of offense” – we just need some. I can honestly tell you that I expect some regression to the mean – we aren’t going to be this bad offensively all year.
As for the influx of talent that we need to contend and put a run together well – we do have a decent group in the minors. They may not be sexy, but when Michael Saunders bat does heat up (and it will) he will be worthy of a roster spot on this team. There is a lot more depth in the system than there was a year and a half ago and in case you hadn’t noticed the guys we have running this thing seem to have a pretty good idea of what they’re doing from a talent evaluation standpoint. (Griffey Jr. and Mike Sweeney aside.) You also seem to forget that this is the same front office that pulled off a trade for Cliff Lee this summer with a package of good but not great prospects. And a deal that got us Franklin Gutierrez a summer earlier.
The current team isn’t going to be able to take on the elite in the AL and come out favorably – no. You are correct in that. But they are going to get better as guys get healthy and players start to play closer to their true talent level. My point was simply that, given how poorly things have gone thus far, being 9-11 isn’t all that bad. Its a hole, yes – but its not insurmountable. Not with a good front office and decent team that is simply under-performing.
But your right – we should just go ahead and call it a year. I mean, its not like we have any reason to believe that the people running the organization have any idea what they’re doing. We might as well just hang it up now and start demanding resignations.
I mean, really, there’s skepticism and there’s rooting for you own team to lose.
And A-Rod never really wanted to be here in the first place — since there aren’t enough cool rock stars or movie stars for him to hang out with in Seattle.
I still don’t understand why the M’s seem to bring the best out of their opponents?
“But this is a better team than 2008” was a dead meme halfway through 2009. And as far as position players go, once you’ve brought up Langerhans, Hannahan and Saunders, that’s really it for usable depth.
That’s true. But multiple batters need to all get it going at once to make it work. And regression applies to everyone in both directions; the pitchers won’t always be lights-out too, and when some of them regress to the mean, this offense needs to be able to score more than 3 runs, score earlier than the 6th, score more than one or two runs an inning, etc.
I concede that it could be a lot worse (hello, Texas and esp. Boston). I disagree on how big a hole it is though, again with the reasoning I provided before. I’m not confident that regression to the mean from multiple hitters, and sustained performance from the starters, and less freak instances from the bullpen like the Chicago series, will all combine to make a team that is on track for 11 wins or so in April to be a team that can win 17, 18 or more in May or June.
You are right in that the “at least we’re better than we were in 2008” mantra no longer applies. Expectations were raised over the off-season and that is, simply put, that. However, we have yet to see the team as it was intended. The trio of usable talent that is Langerhans, Hannahan and Saunders is a significant upgrade (offensively and defensively) over our current bench trio of Byrnes, Sweeney and Tuiasosopo. Three guys producing quality at bats as opposed to automatic quick outs will make a lot of difference on this squad – especially if we can get Saunders out in left starting most days and move Bradley to the DH where we can hopefully preserve him some. We do also have guys like Mike Carp, Brad Nelson, Matt Mangini and even the afore mentioned Tuiasosopo (though he needs more AAA time as his issues have been magnified in this offense) – all of which can be contributors at some point this season – all of which have the ability to put the bat on the ball and give productive at bats. Like I said, its not a sexy group, but they can all be productive bench/role players.
I agree that there are a lot of guys that need to get it going – I’m simply trying to say that I have confidence that they will. You are also correct that Vargas and Fister won’t continue to pitch with such outstanding results – what I was trying to get at here (though didn’t really get there) was that they don’t have to keep pitching like all-stars because when Cliff Lee and eventually Erik Bedard do come back those two will likely carry over the performances we’ve seen from guys like Vargas and Fister. The true talent level of Vargas/Fister isn’t this high – but the true talent level of Lee/Bedard is. I know no one is comfortable putting too much faith in Bedard – and I don’t expect him to stay healthy all year once he does come back – but we saw last year that if we can get 70-80 innnings from him those innings will be extremely productive. Its just another piece to the puzzle.
Look we’re all frustrated. Its not just you. I’m simply trying to remain optimistic and not count us out just yet. Its an uphill battle at this point – but I think you and I will simply have to disagree on how steep the incline is. (Its not like we play in the AL East – or even the Central for that matter.)
Maybe just don’t watch the next few games. Give yourself a vacation from watching a bad offense and 1 run losses. Come middle of May I expect this team to be showing signs of life and to begin producing results – and I suspect we won’t be in such bad shape in the standings either. We just need to keep it close while we scuffle.
We may still be a bat or three away – but there are options out there. There always are. You can get talent with a couple of prospects and a major league caliber starting pitcher (we have depth with each). I’m just holding out the hope that Jack Z sees the holes and makes in season adjustments. They’ve earned the right to expect that from us.
Against bad teams. We’ve had an easy schedule to start the year and we’ve squandered it. This is not a good start, not even an almost-okay start – this is a terrible start to the season.
See, this is the frustrating part. You’re right that those quys would be an upgrade, but I’m not so sure you’re right that they are part of the team “as it was intended.” Since, y’know, there’s no reason all three couldn’t be on the roster right now if that’s what the team wanted. Hannahan was hurt to start the year, but he’s playing now.
It’s true that Figgins should start hitting better, probably Lopez and Bradley too (if Bradley can stay healthy). And Lee will make the rotation better. But those upgrades only apply to player’s on-field performances. They don’t apply to managerial fubars. Wak’s bullpen usage isn’t going to regress to the mean. Regression to the mean isn’t going to move Griffey down in the lineup, give him fewer ABs, and a coach coming off the DL isn’t going to put an end to the keystone cops baserunning (though that seems to have tapered off a bit lately, perhaps because you need baserunners in order to make baserunning blunders).
This team has has some bad luck, which should improve, but it has also made some incredibly bad, inexplicably bad, strategy and tactics decisions. Hard to fathom when they make other very smart moves. How can the FO that trades for (and locks up) Franklin Gutierrez end up carrying a bench like ours a month into the season?
Every day they wait to make the obvious moves means that much less chance the obvious moves will do enough good to matter.
What am I supposed to say? “Your right. My bad. I’ll pack up my optimism and hit the road.”?
Yes – we have started poorly. Yes – things look bad offensively. But we are only 3 games out of first and while our schedule will get tougher so too will this team. Its not over, but if your ready to call for Wak’s head on a platter and hang it up for 2010 then by all means be my guest.
None of us have any power to make the necessary changes to this squad to get better results and the guys that do have it have demonstrated (to me anyway) that they can and will make appropriate changes that will contribute to winning.
I don’t know when it will happen and no it won’t help Wak’s line-up issues and bullpen management – but I do think changes are on the way and Wak, as well as anyone, knows that things aren’t necessarily working right now. I don’t know how long the leashes are on Sweeney and Byrnes (or Griffy for that matter) but I do know that expectations are for this team to win. Jack Z knows that and won’t sit around patiently forever while we suck.
I have a hard time believing they kept Langerhans and Hannahan around just to let them chill in the minors. They were supposed to be our bench – they got hurt – now they are (in all likelihood) nearing a return to the big club. I’m not going to give up hope on this staff with this front office after 20 games in April. I won’t do it. But if its that important for you guys to be right then by all means rub it in my face at years end if we’re 30 games below .500 with a starting line-up that features Sweeney, Griffey, Byrnes and Wak’s nephew.
I don’t know what your looking for to be honest. I just don’t think jumping off the bandwagon and into the ravine is going to do much for me. Its a personal choice – but that’s just me. If you’d rather live in negative-town then be my guest. Enjoy your stay.
On the slightly kinda relatively not the end of the world side of things – this team is hitting pretty much like last year’s 85-win team did.
Our OBP is .312 (compared to .314 last year) and so far this year we’re better than 4 other teams (we were dead last in 2009). Small sample of course.
In run scoring we’re at a 3.65 runs per game clip (not sure “clip” is the right word) this year – less than last year’s 3.95 pace. But that’s just a run less every 3 games (which would have come in handy last weekend…).
We’ve also been a bit unlucky (1-5 in one run games) so far – but still have a 9-11 record. It’s definitely not good, but not like Baltimore’s amazingly bad start…
Hang in there!
Well, Dave wrote that surviving April while staying in reach is reasonable. That seems to be what’s likely to happen.
The problem is that going into May, it’s REALLY clear we have issues that you could see potentially coming into the season
– the DH’s don’t
– it’s possible that Milton Bradley’s 2009 is his “new normal” (looking at his 2009+2010 so far+2010 ZIPS), which, while not being a complete bust, isn’t all that in LF or at DH. He may be the one turning into the new Ben Grieve, not Kotchman (who is turning into a pleasant surprise, though I still want to see more).
– Wilson isn’t going to be durable either, and the M’s don’t really have proven options to back him up.
I don’t think it’s “abandon hope all ye who enter here”, but I don’t think “hey, we’ll wait for Lee and Bedard to come back and cruise into the postseason” is the way to go here, either. There are some pretty obvious course corrections that need to be made (better backup in the IF, Bradley to fulltime DH, Sweeney to DFA, Griffey to de facto 25th man on the roster, improve LF).
I’m living in constructive feedback land – as a fan, I have no control over what the team does, except to the extent I buy or don’t buy their product. Right now, I’m not buying. I’m okay with a team that struggles, if it’s making smart moves and doing what it can to get better. I’m okay with occasional disaster years.
2004 – I was okay with that. The team basically gave the core from the great 2001 season one last shot. They’d won 90+ games the last two years. Clearly they were aging and the chance of an accross the board collapse was there, but I was okay giving Edgar, Moyer, Olerud etc. another shot. Didn’t work out, season sucked, but I was okay with 2004, it was rolling the dice with some upside, and with success and exciting baseball in the very recent past.
2005-2008? Not so okay with. Just stupid moves from the FO, from the dugout, the bullpen, compounded as the losing seasons piled up.
It really boils down to the team deserving to win. When they deserve to win and don’t, it’s okay because sooner or later luck will turn around. This team hasn’t deserved to win so far. That’s the complaint. Make the moves to deserve to win. That’s the ask.
Shuffling the feet and kicking the dirt asking “when’s Figgins going to start hitting?” That’s an optimistic question – the answer’s “pretty soon.” Asking when Griffey or Sweeney is going to start hitting? Different answer. Different emotion.
JMHawkins:
I can’t argue with your reasoning nor do I disagree with you on most counts. The roster has holes. Griffey/Sweeney/Byrnes aren’t cutting it – nor will they. Wak’s made some pretty questionable calls thus far. These are all things I agree on.
I guess I’m just saying lets keep a chin up. We have a good front office now and while our current manager isn’t setting the world on fire he is keeping the peace and I’m not convinced (especially with the track record in the post-Pinella era) that the next manager we bring in will do much better. I guess my hope is that the current organization is smart enough to learn from mistakes and get this team back on course and contending this year. A task that I don’t see as insurmountable based on the talent we have in the majors as well as in the minors right now.
So I guess I just see a little more potential in our current product from a total package perspective. I don’t think we can sit idly by as an organization – but I do have faith in the guys in charge right now to make adjustments. (More than I could say during the 2005-08 stretch you mentioned.) I think we’ll be okay. And hey, our record could be a lot worse.
Time will tell – I may very well be wrong.