Seattle Mariners: The One Month Awards

The first month of the Mariners season has been a total joy to watch. This Mariners team is everything that makes baseball fun to watch. Their lineup can do everything, straight up mash home runs, play a fun little game of get ‘em on, get ‘em over, get ‘em in and even bleed pitchers to death with 1000 singles. The bullpen has been electric and the starters have been… a work in progress?

As this season rolls along we may not be able to experience as much joy as we have in the first month. So let’s celebrate by handing out some Mariners-themed awards.

The Jay Buhner Award for Non-Baseball Contributions:

One thing that was great about Buhner was that he was seemingly everyone’s favorite and least favorite teammate. A well-known prankster and vocal leader, Buhner brought an element that every team needs. He broke up the monotony of a 162 game season and he made playing baseball more than just a job for his teammates. It’s something that the Mariners have lacked recently, but it’s tangible, and the team has it this year, because of our winner.

The winner of the Jay Buhner Award? Dee Gordon.

Dee Gordon has brought a spark that the Mariners haven’t had in a very long time. His attitude is infectious, his speed is scary and he plays the game like a kid on Christmas morning. Sure he has taken a few bad routes in center field. But in his first season as a center fielder, he’s been better than expected. He’s leading the league in stolen bases and been the table setter that the Segura, Cano, Cruz trio deserved.

Dee, please accept this award.

The Edgar Martinez Award for Most Appearances in Opposing Pitchers Nightmares:

Pedro Martinez once said that Edgar was the hitter he hated facing the most. Edgar’s approach was everything that pitchers hate and it was rare for any pitcher to walk away from facing Edgar saying “that went well.” Mariano Rivera even once remarked “thank God he retired – Edgar Martinez. Oh, my God.” Oh my god, he was a nightmare to opposing pitchers. Just like our winner has been so far this season.

The winner of the Edgar Martinez Award: Mitch Haniger.

Haniger is just so awesome. He’s so freaking good. In the first month of the season, Haniger has posted a 194 OPS+, driven in 27 runs and bashed 10 homers. He’s become one of those players that you just have to stop and watch every time he’s up and a true blue chipper. He is a hitter no one wants to face with the rare combination of plate discipline and power to all fields. Mitch truly is a pitchers nightmare.

Mitch, please accept this award.

The Final Award of the evening, The Edwin Diaz Award for Electricity:

Diaz has been so good to start the year that he gets his own made-up award. He has been unhittable posting a .043 batting average against and an insane 17 K’s per nine. His two-seam fastball averaged 97 mph over the first month and touched 100 mph last weekend in Cleveland (for context the average MLB two-seamer is just over 91 mph). Diaz stuff is so electric that he deserves his own award.

Edwin, please accept this award.

Next: Mariners Win 3 Consecutive Road Series to End April

The best part of being one month into the season is that there is still a ton of baseball to be played and a ton more made up awards to be dolled out. This should be fun!

See you all at Safeco!