Dead SEA

 

The Astros catching up in the standings at the exact moment that Julio Rodriguez and J.P. Crawford hit the IL just confirms the fact that somewhere, some deity absolutely despises the Seattle Mariners.

Clearly, this week is a clean slate week for the Mariners. With Rodriguez and Crawford out for a while and Ty France surprisingly DFA'd, the lineup needs to be completely restructured. Now the heart of the team needs to be people like Cal Raleigh, Luke Raley and Josh Rojas, who, while good, aren't especially central figures to me. You're also seeing a ton of placeholders trying their best to wind up above replacement level. Tyler Locklear is back at 1st, and the hope is that he eventually starts hitting over .206. Leo Rivas is getting infield reps, and is looking like an eventual step up from Jorge Polanco. Jonatan Clase is getting OF reps in Julio's absence, but he's still not looking MLB ready, similar to Ryan Bliss.

The one highlight of this team's hitting in the last month has been Victor Robles, a man who refused to hit for the Nationals for four straight years. Robles, since coming over, has been hitting .375 with 18 hits and 7 stolen bases. Some respectable contact energy on a team that just cannot get things going at the plate, even with Mitches Garver and Haniger trying their best to hit for power. The Astros clearly have no trouble hitting, so if you're gonna stand there and go 'you try and take 1st' and then get nothing done, you're gonna look silly. The Angels swept these guys this week, and that's a team that arguably has more lineup holes than they do. 

Yes, it's great that the pitching staff is still pretty overpowering, but it really needs to be more than that. Gilbert, Kirby, Castillo, Miller and Woo are gonna walk away with seasons to be proud of, but they're still seasons that don't mean much more than dominant pitching, because the lineup didn't show up for most of the season. Woo is back from the IL, and he's still in decent shape, even if his ERA has ballooned to 2.54. The other four are still doing exactly what they've been doing since the start of the season, and while it's good stuff it's just a pity that the wins don't mean much. Andres Muñoz has 16 saves and a 1.35 ERA, which is pretty great, but he's only needed if the offense can match what they allow, and that's a tall order when the heart of the lineup is either hurt or ineffective. 

Look, the Rangers are catching back up, the Astros have first again. Unless this team puts something together they'll fall right out of the narrative, just like last year. And nobody wants that, especially after everything this team was supposed to be. I sincerely hope they can change things up, because this is just depressing.

Coming Tomorrow- Though the Mariners could have it worse. Only 3 or 4 major pieces are injured. This guy has to start in place of an MVP candidate, and he's not the only one making up hours.