Week #7 in Review
Ice. Elevate. Rest.
Wednesday night while I played softball, the third base bag grabbed me by my cleats and spun me around and threw me to the ground in a move that would impress most fans of World Wrestling Entertainment.
Today my ankle and heel are colors of black and purple I don’t remember ever seeing in my 128-crayon box from 1st grade. I should be able to avoid the disabled list and be day-to-day. Will Carroll can provide the details.
And I’m choosing not to speak with my Yankee-fan sister this week. But because I am a Mariners fan, and thus choose to accept the bad with the good, I will relive the moments of the last week, though it may give me bad dreams…
Vital Signs
As of today the Mariners are 13-21, making pleasant company with those leftover cans of peaches from Y2K in the cellar of the American League West. A brutal week, but the M’s lost just a game on the division-leading Los Angeles Angels, and they are now 6 out of first place. They have been outscored by their opponents 160-141. It’s not the worst run-differential in the division, and according to adjusted standings of Baseball Prospectus, the Mariners are underperforming by a single game, and interestingly enough, the division should be a lot tighter at this point. The Mariners are 10th in the league in runs scored, tied with the Angels. They are 11th in on-base percentage, and 13th in slugging percentage. Their 102 walks rank 8th in the league, and their 23 home runs rank 13th in the league.
Some challenging offense this past week has brought the Mariners’ run prevention back under the influence of gravity. While their runs allowed is still second only to the Angels in the division, they have fallen to 8th in the league. The gloves are still outstanding, but the M’s slipped to 3rd in the league turning 71.4% of balls in play into outs.
Key pitching stastic: Starters ERA – 5.46. Bullpen ERA – 2.64.
Another week, another victory. There was a time not so long ago when roadtrips to northeastern America provided some of the best baseball games of the season. This week it was more like the scene from middle school where the acne-covered fat kid gets kicked in the junk and has his lunch money stolen. The Mariners were outscored 41-27. While they were out-homered 8-6 and out-walked 17-16, they simply surrendered more total hits to the opposition 65-49. It’s May 13 and the Mariners have won twice this month.
It’s plain not fair when you score more runs in the first inning on Wednesday than you’ve scored in 2/3’rds of your total games all season and still lose. I hate the Yankees.
Heroes
Ichiro! led the team in batting .400/.429/.600 with 15 total bases. (Kudos to a solid week from Adrian Beltre, too, .333/.385/.583, 3 doubles and a homer).
Eddie Guardado, Shigs Hasegawa, Julio Mateo and J.J. Putz combined for 14.1 innings and allowed only a single home run to Jorge Posada in the 8th inning Wednesday. They allowed just 6 hits, walked 1 and struck out 10.
Not-so-much Heroes
If Aaron Sele’s days as a Mariner aren’t already numbered, they should be. The Yankees carved him like a Thanksgiving turkey, as he recorded only 8 outs. In his 2.2 innings, he allowed 8 hits, walked 2 and surrendered 7 runs. His ERA presently stands at 6.31 through 35+ innings.
Mariner wins in May: 2. Contribution from Miguel Olivo: 0-for-21. Coincidence? Whatever.
Coming to a Stadium Near You
It’s like Groundhog Day all over again, only the M’s get to wear the white uniforms this time. Red Sox Friday-Saturday-Sunday. Yankees Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday.
And I swear, the next time I see David Ortiz take a swing, I’m making like Buster Bluth and dropping into the fetal position.
Comments
15 Responses to “Week #7 in Review”
and John Donovan of SI has officially declared Beltre to be Free Agent Bust #1, after a whole 6 weeks
I really enjoy these Week in Review’s Peter. Always good to add your take to that off the other excellent contributors here. Take care of that ankle.
Peter, you’re an exceptionally graceful writer, witty and literary in the finest East Coast tradition. Good to see more of you here of late. Keep a big bag of frozen peas on that ankle.
Good stuff Peter. Hope your ankle feels better soon.
I’m wondering how many more starts Aaron Sele’s going to get before the M’s finally throw in the towel. I’ll put the over/under at 3.
Another good review, Peter.
However, not to make things even more depressing, but the Mariners have only won 1 game thus far this month. Unless you want to count their victory over the A’s on April 30 as a May victory.
Geeze David, why don’t you kick him in the ankle while your at it! 😉
Luis Ugueto was suspended today. He’s on roids.
So I thought we’d be a .500 team this year with some promise to start contending again next year. What do you think the odds are of that actually happening?
Please cite your source, Corco.
#8, #9: Here’s the link:
Former Mets player among four suspended for violating drug policy
making pleasant company with those leftover cans of peaches from Y2K in the cellar of the American League West
yer killing me man…
Jim,
What is it? you don’t think that us westerners can writ ok?
If they could get Ortiz to back the hell off the batter’s box line then maybe we wouldn’t have to worry about him so much.
I hope Piniero beans Ortiz until he figures out he’s cheating.
Thank goodness for the bullpen. Julio Mateo has a mere 0.41 ERA after Friday’s game against the Sox. (But I should also mention that Villone’s ERA is rocketing up towards its normal level.)
Thanks SI! Maybe they’re responsible for “un-jinxing” Beltre and getting his bat on track! I remember when people at that magazine could write….