Mariners Weekly Rundown: Who’s Hot & Who’s Not

Jul 31, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Seattle Mariners second baseman Ketel Marte (4) in the dugout in the second inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Much like the rest of baseball, the Seattle Mariners were very active at the trade deadline on July 31st. Seattle said goodbye to Dustin Ackley, J.A. Happ and Mark Lowe. It may have been hard to see these veterans walk out the door, but the M’s received numerous prospects in return. Only time will tell who won these trades, but it was the right decision at the time to move these players.

This week also saw the Mariners promote top prospect, Ketel Marte. The 21-year-old shortstop is expected to play short, second base and center field over the final months of the season. The early returns for Marte have been very promising. He is hitting .333 with a pair of walks across his first 3 Major League games. Marte had a 3-hit ballgame on Sunday afternoon in Minnesota.

The changes made this week suggest that the Mariners have thrown in the towel on this season, and are now looking towards 2016. This seems like a wise decision, as the M’s went 2-5 last week. Seattle was swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks early in the week, but managed to split a 4-game set with the Twins. Seattle scored 3.7 runs per game this past week, and remarkably, they allowed 3.7 runs per game as well.

Now we will turn our attention to who stood out for the Mariners in the last 7 games. Let’s begin with Nelson Cruz, who had quite a week for the M’s.

Next: Whoa Nelly!