Vogelbombtrack

(I don't have enough energy to start a new music pun streak, so we'll just leave this RATM pun as is)

On April 12th, 2019, the Seattle Mariners were 13-3 after 16 games, and had the second-best record in baseball, as well as a wicked home run streak running.

...it was a simpler time.

I bet the Mariners wish it was still April 12th. Right now, the M's are 19-19, and are in danger of falling under .500 after this series with the Yankees. The main issues with this team have become evident: the atrocious defense, especially courtesy of outfielders like Jay Bruce and Domingo Santana, and the lack of serious win-strength from the rotation, have been sinking games. Only Marco Gonzales has a W/L record of over .500, and lots of strong guys like Mike Leake, Felix Hernandez and Erik Swanson are letting too many runs go by. Thankfully the bullpen is pretty tight, and Roenis Elias seems to be a decent ninth inning choice, but...the rotation is unreliable, even if the guys are throwing strikeouts.

And yes, the hitting isn't especially a problem. Jay Bruce and Edwin Encarnacion both have 11 home runs, a number that both Mitch Haniger and DH-extraordinaire Daniel Vogelbach are creeping up on. Only problem is that there's not a huge emphasis on non-power hitting. Yes, Dee Gordon's contact hitting tendencies help a bit, but a lot of the lineup is guys like Tim Beckham, Domingo Santana and Ryan Healy, who are professional power hitters. And that lack of versatility is making M's games easy to predict, especially if you're the opposing team. You get the picture after a few weeks, and then you plug back a little and try and figure out where they're going. It's not rocket science.

This is still a decent team, and there are some standout hitters here...but the amount of bloated power guys might sink this team. It's a lot of big, strong, older hitters, and even if there's some youth trying to creep in, it's not quick youth. So that may be a problem in games with the still-quick Astros.

Coming Tomorrow- A great pitcher from a team so brimming with good pitching that...he's been spending games in the 'pen.