Battle Tested Early: Mariners Have A Tough Schedule To Start 2014

Feb 25, 2014; Mesa, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners third baseman

(15) runs the bases during camp at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The Mariners Will Quickly Become Road Warriors:

Only three teams in the AL have it worse, and by worse I mean the Mariners have a brutally tough schedule to start the 2014 season. According to the Buster Olney Blog on ESPN Insider, the Mariners have the 4th worst schedule to start the 2014 season behind only the Minnesota Twins, the Chicago White Sox, and the Tampa Bay Rays, respectively.

Of the first 41 games of the season, only 18 are played at home, and 27 are played against teams that finished with records of .500 or better in 2013… This is primarily because the M’s start the year with 16 straight games against the Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the Texas Rangers.

Let’s break down the first quarter of the season and see just how important it may be for the Mariners to start the year strong.

Feb 25, 2014; Mesa, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners second baseman

(22) takes fielding practice during camp at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The First 41 Games:

Yes, Robinson Cano is correct– the first 16 games are played against the three top teams in the AL West from last season. Seven straight on the road to start.

This is how the first forty-one games of the 2014 Mariners schedule shakeout:

• March 31-April 2 at the Angels
• April 3-6 at the Athletics
• April 8-9 versus the Angels (I strongly dislike the two game series)
• April 11-13 versus the Athletics
• April 14-17 at the Rangers
• April 18-20 at the Miami Marlins (the first reprieve of the season)
• April 21-23 versus the Astros (well, yeah they’re in the AL West still)
• April 25-27 versus the Rangers
• April 29-May 1 at the New York Yankees (Cano’s homecoming of sorts should be very interesting)
• May 2-4 at the Astros
• May 5-7 at the Athletics
• May 8-11 versus the Kansas City Royals
• May 12-14 versus the Tampa Bay Rays
• May 16-18 at the Minnesota Twins

Those are the first 14 series of the season. (14 is my lucky number.)

Sure, the Angels didn’t win a lot of games last year, but they are too talented not to be considered a serious threat. Aside from those few games against the Astros and the Marlins, the Mariners will be proving early whether or not this is going to be a season worth watching.

Versus the Athletics it’s a Sprint, NOT a Marathon:

After the May 7th game against Oakland, the Mariners will have already played 10 of their 19 games against the A’s for the entire season. For those keeping score at home, that’s 52.6%.

(On an aside: how is Eric Sogard in the semi-finals for MLB’s #FaceofMLB? To keep him from winning it all somehow, vote for King Felix Hernandez in the semifinals against the Mets’ David Wright).

These 10 games against the A’s are important for a lot of obvious reasons. First off, they won the division in 2013, and an even a 5-5 record against them to start the year would prove that: 1) either the M’s might be going somewhere or 2) the A’s aren’t built to win in 2014 (and you know the A’s are going to win games).

The A’s over the last several seasons have been built on great pitching depth and smart, fundamental baseball. The Mariners need to take notes in these early season games, and get after it and show the A’s, the AL West, and the MLB that the youngsters are going to perform and that this team will be hanging around come September.

Especially because the Mariners will be relying on young starting pitching, they need to give the A’s a taste of their own medicine and make a statement early in the season.

Jan 18, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Aerial view of CenturyLink Field (right) and Safeco Field in advance of the 2013 NFC Conference championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Home Sweet Home?

Of the first 34 games, only 11 will be played at home. That is especially difficult for such a young team that is also one of the most traveled every single season.

It’s been a couple of years since the M’s have started  the season at home, and this time around in 2014 the M’s start down in Anaheim against the Angels.

Of course each game is only ‘one game’, but this first series could prove paramount to the mental makeup and swagger of this team. If Felix can go out and win opening day, that can really start to set a tone. Game two will be the real test, seeing as Hisashi Iwakuma is unlikely to start with his finger injury. Does that mean Taijuan Walker will get the start? Scott Baker? Maybe Ervin Santana? Who knows at this point.

What’s important is that the Angels will be better this year. And the M’s will be better too. The question will be which team is willing to assert itself early as the 3rd best team in the division.

The Rangers/Athletics mountain will be much tougher to climb.

Feb 13, 2014; Peoria, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners pitcher

(left) talks with manager

during team workouts at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

How Will the M’s Look After 41 Games?

Let’s jump back through that schedule and I will give my vague, biased, and wholly optimistic predictions to the start of the season.

Because let’s face it, it’s hard not to want to throw your team an extra win or two, I will break up my records predictions in two: the Pessimistic and the Optimistic Charlie’s. The Mariners really are starting to give me split personalities disorder.

Pessimistic Charlie:

• M’s 1-2 … April 1-2 at the Angels
• M’s 2-4 … April 3-6 at the Athletics
• M’s 4-5 … April 8-9 versus the Angels
• M’s 5-7 … April 11-13 versus the Athletics
• M’s 6-10 … April 14-17 at the Rangers
• M’s 8-11 … April 18-20 at the Miami Marlins
• M’s 10-12 … April 21-23 versus the Astros
• M’s 11-14 … April 25-27 versus the Rangers
• M’s 11-17 (Cano has a poor showing in the Bronx and the M’s get booed out-of-town, the Yanks forgetting they ever had Robbie in pinstripes) … April 29-May 1 at the New York Yankees
• M’s 12-19 … May 5-7 at the Athletics
• M’s 14-21 … May 8-11 versus the Kansas City Royals
• M’s 15-23 … May 12-14 versus the Tampa Bay Rays
• M’s 17-24 … May 16-18 at the Minnesota Twins

Wow ok I don’t like pessimist Charlie one bit. If the M’s come out of the gate 17-24 the season won’t, in theory, be over.

BUT– the fans and Major League Baseball at large will write us off and call the Cano signing a failure and consider baseball dead in the Pacific Northwest.

The M’s cannot have this sort of showing to start the 2014 season, even if they have a tough schedule to start.

Optimistic Charlie:

• M’s 2-1 … April 1-2 at the Angels
• M’s 5-2 … April 3-6 at the Athletics
• M’s 6-3 … April 8-9 versus the Angels
• M’s 7-5 … April 11-13 versus the Athletics
• M’s 9-7 … April 14-17 at the Rangers
• M’s 11-8 … April 18-20 at the Miami Marlins
• M’s 13-9 … April 21-23 versus the Astros
• M’s 14-11 … April 25-27 versus the Rangers
• M’s 17-11 (I think Cano will come back with a vengeance and help the M’s to sweep the Yankees in New York) … April 29-May 1 at the New York Yankees
• M’s 18-13 … May 5-7 at the Athletics
• M’s 20-15 … May 8-11 versus the Kansas City Royals
• M’s 21-17 … May 12-14 versus the Tampa Bay Rays
• M’s 23-18 … May 16-18 at the Minnesota Twins

Ah, isn’t that a little bit more bearable? If the M’s played this well to start the year I think ESPN would start to listen. I think those 12th Man Seahawks fans would start donning our 10th Man campaign gear– by the way, jump on the Seattle Mariners 10th man wagon!

And seeing as Iwakuma will likely be out for some of those earlier games, the M’s would get out of a tough stretch to start with better health, momentum, and some youngsters ready to perform at the Major League Level.

Even if the M’s are sitting at 20-21, or 21-20, they will still be in good position to compete in the AL West.

Stick around .500, battle and battle and battle, then make a push when you need to and fight in September for a spot in the playoffs.

That’s what baseball is all about.

That’s what the Mariners need to do to start the year so people will not only watch and listen, but also believe in this team.

Potential is sky-high, and disaster is always a hairs-breadth away. I cannot wait to see what these 2014 Mariners are made of.