Mariners Struggle To Cash In: RISPy business

Five games into the 2017 regular season, the Seattle Mariners have issues, but not necessarily the same issues they’ve had in seasons past. In the last few years, we’ve seen a ton of solo home runs that should’ve been 2 or 3-run shots instead (at least it feels that way).

It seems year in and year out, the Seattle Mariners see solid production from Cruz, Cano, and Seager, but a lack of impact from the other hitters have sunk the team.

This year, the Mariners have seen the other hitters get on base with abundance, but haven’t been able to get them home. They aren’t 1-4 because of a lack of scoring opportunities. The Mariners are second in ABs with Runners In Scoring Position with 43.

Also with 43 ABs are the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona is 4-1 and the Mariners aren’t. Why is that?

Seattle has collected just four hits in those 43 plate appearances, totaling an abysmal .093 average. The Diamondbacks have 17 hits, resulting in the league-leading .375 average with RISP. It’s pretty simple. If you get guys on base, but can’t bring them home, you don’t score, and you don’t win.

Against Houston, Seattle faced quality pitching. Dallas Keuchel looked like his 2015 Cy Young-winning self, Lance McCullers showed his promise by holding Seattle to one run in six innings, and Charlie Morton notched his first quality start of the season. So maybe that is somewhat to blame for the miserable numbers at the dish.

That said, against Los Angeles, the Mariners faced Jesse Chavez, a journeyman fifth starter who has a career ERA of 4.51 and got just 4 hits. Three of which came in the sixth inning when he was pulled.

The problem that most Mariners fans want to ignore is that they are the common denominator in these equations. Five different pitchers, but five similar results.

So where do they go from here?

Well, the first option is the “do nothing” option. They can just leave the lineup like it is and hope that Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, and Kyle Seager stop hitting like they are: combined 8-for-60. Until the sample size gets bigger, the team can deem this just a slump, but there’s no way to know if this slump ends soon, or ever (yikes).

This approach seems a little whimsical and could really go either way. Possibly Cruz, getting older, feels his age and has an awful season. Maybe Cano plays like just another bad second basemen. Seager, who has always been a mixed bag at the plate, could pull a lot of the bad this year.

Possibly, though, this is just a slump, and the heart of the order will rebound soon, and they will all have solid seasons.

Verdict: The variables and possible cost outweigh the potential good of the club. For the time being, I don’t think the Mariners can just hope things are going to get better.

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I think the best option for the Mariners right now is to shake up the order. Stick Martin or Dyson at leadoff, they’re not hitting phenomenally right now, but, no one really is. They can get on, and steal bases like Servais said they were going to.

Put Haniger at two. He’s shown his pop through the five games. Stick Segura in the three spot. As bad as the Mariners have been at trades in the past, the early indicator is that Jean Segura is the real deal.

Fit Cano, Cruz, and Seager in some order in the 4/5/6 spots. Then round out the order with whichever of Dyson/Martin didn’t get used as the leadoff, Valencia, and Zunino. I think a lineup switch up will kick the Mariners into gear.

At the worst,  they acknowledge a problem exists and are working on a solution. If/when the big bats rebound, they can switch it back. Something just feels better than nothing in this case.

Next: Mariners What We Learned Last Night

Maybe this is just an early slump. Maybe the team finishes this weekend’s series hot and the bats come alive. Only time can really tell, but here’s to hoping the M’s can get it figured out before they slip too far in the standings.