All-Star Break Mariner Report

The Seattle Mariners ended the home stand going into the All-Star break beating the Oakland A’s 4-0 behind the pitching of King Felix Hernandez and the hitting of Nelson Cruz who hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning. This leaves the Mariners record at 43-47 with remaining seventy-two games starting this Friday. It seems to me for the Mariners to have any chance at the playoffs they will need to win at least 43 more games so the same amount won at this point. This would give the Mariners 86 wins however ninety wins would be better. The chance of that happening doesn’t look go. The record being 43-47 I will give the Mariners a report card of C- though if it were not for injuries especially to the starting pitchers I would think that they could have had fifty wins. I give the starting and relievers a D for the record. Outside of Nick Vincent the bullpen probably is a d minus or f.

Going around the diamond for each position I start at catcher. Since Mike Zunino had an outstanding June after being sent down to Tacoma in early May and the backups haven’t done will most of the T I will be kind and give them a C. We hope that Zunino will bounce back since he isn’t doing well in July. Having four days off because of the all-star break we hope that he can do better. I don’t expect him to do what he did in July however better than he did before the beginning of May.

First base since Danny Valencia pretty much has played there most of the time though the Mariners figured he would platoon I give him a B. If he had not had a poor April he likely would have been an A.

Second base I have to give an A. Other than the time he was on the disabled list Robinson Cano has had a strong first half and he is going to the All-Star game. Also he is tied in home runs with Nelson Cruz at seventeen. The Mariner offense struggled to while Cano was out. I give him an A as well since he is going to the All-Star game too. He went a month without hitting a home run primarily because of injures however he still was driving in runs which is as important if not more as home runs.

At shortstop I will give the position an A-. Jean Segura has played a solid shortstop and has been hitting very well. I am sure he could have been on the All-Star game if he had not been hurt and put on the disabled list twice. Taylor Motter played at least average at short while Segura was out. He hit well during the first stretch that Segura was out. Mariners often have had players come over to the team and struggle at the plate coming from the National League but that hasn’t happened at all with Segura.

Third base I give a grade of C. Kyle Seager has not missed much action so far however has struggled at the plate most of the season. I wonder if he has been playing hurt without anyone really knowing it. He gets a C because his defense has been solid. He has to start hitting at his normal rate the second half for the Mariners to have any chance to make the playoffs. If he doesn’t than the Mariners chances are not good.

As a unit I give the whole outfield an A. Ben Gamel and Mitch Haniger both have hit the ball well though Haniger not as well as he did before he was lost for a month but still solid. Heredia and Dyson have done a fine job in center. I won’t include Leonys Martin who had a poor April and then was sent down to Tacoma. Boog Powell has down an OK job while being in the lineup as well. It is hard to say at this point because of their jobs I wouldn’t be surprised if Dyson would be traded before the trading deadline depending on how they do during the second part of July and if they can pick up a picture. If that is the case either Powell or Martin will be the fourth outfielder. Both his hitting and especially his defense Heredia deserve to play full time.

The most important thing for the second half is that the Mariners pitching will have a higher record and the rest of the team stay around the same. It is hard to say whether Gamel and Segura will hit at the same rate but there has been a good sample so not surprised if they do continue to hit. Look forward to Friday and go M’s.