Through three starts as a Seattle Mariner, Robbie Ray has posted a modest 2-1 record, with a 4.19 ERA and 13 Ks. Nothing earth-shattering. But you have to remember that Robbie Ray is one of those pitchers who needs time to adjust to new places. Zack Greinke is like that, Yu Darvish is like that, Trevor Bauer is like that. So maybe Robbie Ray just needs a little time to adapt to Seattle. He's not horrible so far, but he's far from his 2021.
Meanwhile...the Mariners are off to a pretty decent start so far. Repeating the relative success of their 2021 season hinged upon the core of that team replicating the success. So far J.P. Crawford, Ty France, Mitch Haniger and Logan Gilbert are all in pretty good shape right now. Crawford and France are running the team like they were last year, and the newbies like Matt Brash, Adam Frazier, Cal Raleigh and Sergio Romo are falling in line and supplanting the core. The learning curve that Frazier struggled with in San Diego last year is not apparent, as he's already hitting .294 with 15 hits. Brash is fitting right into the rotation. Raleigh's a great defensive catcher.
The problem so far, though, with this Mariners team is that a glut of the new people who were tasked with really beefing up the lineup are not hitting. Not only imports like Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez, but the rookies like Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez. You know, the two rookie prospects that were touted to rule this team when they came up. They're all hitting below the Mendoza line and only have 6 or 7 hits apiece. Like usual, Suarez's stock is saved a bit by his defense, but what can you say for the others? 'I hope they turn up eventually?' I don't want people to wait so long for these guys to spring up that they lose faith in them. Remember, Juan Soto started hitting the second he made it to the majors. I know not everyone can be Juan Soto, but this team has banked SO MUCH on these two prospects.
Regardless of that, the team's still 7-5, they're still winning tight matches and seem to be on the right track to be a match for LA and Houston. There are some imperfections that I hope get smoothed out, but this is a nice enough sign for the rest of the season.
Coming Tomorrow- One of the pitchers of a generation. And he's still pitching at peak levels as well.
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