6 takeaways from the Mariners vs. White Sox series

Mariners takeaway no. 5 – We struck out way too many times

One of the biggest concerns for the team this series was the enormous number of strikeouts. The Mariners struck out 37 times in just three games. The White Sox struck out just 26 times.

Granted the Mariners faced some really good pitchers in Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, and the White Sox bullpen, but 37 strikeouts are unacceptable. I was particularly angry with game one, where the team faced Carlos Rodon who is the White Sox’s fifth starter.

Rodon struck out nine M’s hitters in just five innings, and the bullpen struck out six. A lot of our household names just struggled with two strikes and it symbolized how game one went. Kyle Seager and Dylan Moore struck out three times. Mitch Haniger and Ty France struck out twice. And everyone else in the lineup struck out once.

It was a similar story in the 10-4 loss on Tuesday. Seattle struck out 15 times again and Kyle Seager, Evan White, and Taylor Trammell each had three K’s. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that White and Trammell struck out three times because both have issues with the K, but Seager’s back-to-back games with three strikeouts had me baffled.

Right now, the Mariners are in fifth place with 66 strikeouts. High strikeouts don’t always mean lack of success, but when you are a team that doesn’t hit too many home runs, the tradeoff just doesn’t make sense. The Twins and White Sox have struck out more times than the Mariners this year, but they have each hit eight home runs compared to the Mariners who have hit just two.

The M’s can hit the ball hard so they just need to put the ball in play more often.