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Seattle Mariners: Fantasy Baseball Bench
Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
It’s going to be difficult identifying any positive Fantasy Baseball statistics this week from the Seattle Mariners, but we will do our best. The Mariners finished with only one win and five losses. The bullpen was a mess, and starting pitching couldn’t last six innings to save their life. A lack of points from your Mariners this week, probably earned them some bench time on your Fantasy teams. There were, however, some bright moments. Let’s take a look.
Felix Hernandez should be 4-0, undefeated, and riding high as the number one fantasy baseball pitcher in the game. Well, two of those three statements are correct. Felix is undefeated at 3-0, he owns the top pitching statistics, and he is the best pitcher in fantasy baseball. It literally doesn’t get better than that.
Felix took his talents to the Texas Rangers this week, and he pitched brilliantly. The stat line for The King shows 7 innings pitched, 4 hits, only 1 earned run, and 9 strikeouts. Most teams would take those numbers into the eighth and ninth inning for a win, but not on this day. The bullpen ended up blowing the save; keeping Felix from winning his fourth straight start.
Felix will start two games this week, and you will keep him on your roster for both of them. He will be taking on the league’s worst Houston Astros on Monday, and then calendared to play again on Sunday against the same Rangers he dominated this week. Felix isn’t the type of pitcher to play down to his competition, so expect the same overriding form on both those nights.
If you have Felix on your fantasy squad, you are looking at a Cy Young award style year. If you don’t, you might want to brew up a sweet trade offer and get those stats on your team. Below are your projected numbers for The King this week.
WEEKLY FANTASY PROJECTION: FELIX HERNANDEZ
18 IP, 2 W, 17 K, 2.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP
The Mariners were shut out three times this past week, but there were some individual offensive performances that deserve some Fantasy looks. Robinson Cano finally hit his first home run for the Seattle Mariners. A three run blast off the Rangers. His batting average did however take a dive. Gaining only 4 hits for the entire week, and dropping his individual play to a .254 BA.
Those who picked up Mike Zunino in their keeper leagues have to like his major upside. Zunino currently has a .283 BA with 9 RBI, and second on the team with 3 HR. It’s great to see how this late round Fantasy draft pick is paying off already for 2014. If he keeps up this pace, he could be worth a consistent start at your catcher position.
Dustin Ackley has been the surprise performer thus far in 2014. He leads the team with a .293 BA, and shares the team lead with 9 RBI. Ackley is owned in only 35% of Fantasy leagues and still has 2B fantasy eligibility. Grab him off the free agency wire if your current second baseman isn’t cutting it, and enjoy his numbers during the early hot streak.
The rest of the Mariners’ players are tough to carry on your Fantasy roster. Looking up and down the lineup, it is borderline impossible to find a batting average over .250. In fact, there are starters with averages under the Mendoza line.
There is good news around the corner. The Mariners return home to play both the Astros and Rangers. Let’s hope that returning to Seattle will help wake up the bats and get statistics back on a positive note for your Fantasy Baseball teams.