Waste Deep

 

The Seattle Mariners had a year where their top four starters made nearly all of their starts without letting their ERA rise over 4 or their WHIP rise over 1.2, and they still missed the playoffs. Bill Nye seems to think pitching wins championships, but the best rotation in baseball couldn't stop this team from failing, yet again, to make the playoffs. It's two years of this. Firing Servais didn't work. Bringing on actual hitters didn't work. 

It just feels like this team wasted amazing years from not only the rotation but Julio and Cal. Cal Raleigh had his best season to date, and at times felt like he was carrying the whole team. There's a small chance he squeaks out 100 RBIs before the year's up, but he at least walks away with 31 homers, which is great. Julio got so hot in the last third of the season, and finishes with a 20-20 season and 64 RBIs. Even J.P. Crawford is ending with a pretty solid year by-and-large, with continued defensive success boosting his appeal. And they somehow figured out how to revitalize Victor Robles, and make him a great contact guy again.

But...all for naught. So many people on this team were hired to hit and didn't. Mitch Garver and Mitch Haniger were both brought back to boost the team's power numbers, and neither did. Garver, a year after being a steady power DH for the Rangers, sunk under the pressure and hit .171 with 14 homers and 50 RBIs. Haniger, in his big homecoming to Seattle, managed to stay healthy for most of the year but only hit .209 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs. Others, like Jorge Polanco and Luke Raley, did well enough but took forever to really get going. And you ultimately just have a lot of guys who hit around .220 and played great defense without really making much of an impact in scoring. 

I really hope that the Mariners' pitching has a similar year next year, considering they're all pretty much in their prime, and hopefully being on all year didn't cause any wear and tear. But if they are able to recreate the rotation energy, even with a more durable bullpen, this team needs to figure out how to reverse its lineup issues. It cannot be just Cal and Julio doing everything, it needs to be a full team effort. If they do bring on new contracts or new hitters, they need to gel with the central momentum, and they need to get things going on a decent schedule. Because, like the Cubs, the fans aren't gonna be able to take a third year of this. The 2022 team is looking more and more like a distant memory, and this Mariners team needs to ensure a playoff success wasn't a fluke. 

Coming Tonight: He eventually recovered from an injury, just in time to be a key figure in a forthcoming playoff run.