SEAside Thoughts: Sunshine State Struggle for Mariners

SEAside Thoughts: Mariners Week 4 in Review

“Rough seas make stronger sailors. Tough times build greater people.”

-Robin Sharma

• Logan Gilbert is the Mariners’ ace right now, and I think he’s only going to get better. Gilbert went 2-0 this week, throwing 11 ⅓ dominant innings, giving up only one run. The walks did turn their ugly head a little this week; it didn’t result in runs, but it’s killing his ability to go seven innings, and you don’t want to play with that fire for too long. With a record now of 4-0 and an ERA of 0.64, Gilbert is looking like a cornerstone player that is charging toward his first All-Star selection.
• From a wins & losses standpoint, Gilbert provided the only success for the week. After a dominant win to start the roadtrip over Tampa Bay 8-4, the Mariners were sitting at 11-6 and were getting high praise from the media. Fast forward a week, and Seattle is now 12-10. For this Mariners team to be as good as we all were hoping, they need to do what good teams do: play .500 ball on the road and win their series at home. So far Seattle is 7-2 at home, but 5-8 on the road; hopefully they can turn that around.
• Glad to see that Marco Gonzales is going to be OK. I’d love to give him an extra week of rest and have him back for the homestand, but with the way he dominated the Astros, I expect him to make his next start.
• Mitch has very little injury luck. As Scott Servais stated, Haniger has a grade 2 high ankle sprain. Now, I’m not a doctor, but high ankle sprains usually mean you’re out for a few weeks minimum, so I’m not as hopeful after seeing him end up on the 10-day IL. It’s a long season, but so far this has to be a near worst-case scenario for both the Mariners and Haniger.
• Flexen looked awesome in his start on Thursday. I don’t blame them for letting him come out for the seventh inning, but that loss isn’t on Flex. I don’t know how he’s doing it, but he’s been a solid #4 pitcher for Seattle – so let’s get this dude some run support!
• Tom Murphy has been an on-base machine. Dude has been surprisingly awesome through twenty-two games.

• JP Crawford is an offensive monster right now. Crawford is currently slashing a toasty .372/.462/.628 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in 22 games. With a WAR of 1.6 and rising, Crawford can end up in some major award discussions if he can keep 80% of what he’s doing up…just not the throwing errors part.
• When Jesse Winker left Seattle after getting the game-winning hit in extras over the Royals, he was slashing .154/.338/.173. Heading to Houston tomorrow for an important series, Winker is now slashing .197/.340/.237. The slow and steady climb is begging to slowly accelerate. Winker playing like an All-Star can cover some of the warts this team is displaying, and can keep us in the hunt. I believe that Winker will get the monkey off his back, and crush not one, but two home runs in Houston this week.
• Speaking of warts, here’s some quick thoughts:
  • Ray looked better, then didn’t. Need him to be the guy that ends losing streaks.
  • Kelenic doesn’t just look lost, he is lost. It sucks and I don’t know what the solution is. I don’t know if Tacoma will help, but he’ll be there before the end of the month if things don’t flip quickly.
• Julio Rodriguez was pretty dominant this week. He played good defense, got on base consistently, showed he’s the best base-stealer in the game already, and had one of the best first home runs ever (a 450-foot shot in a clutch situation). His juice has been huge for the ballclub, and he could really ignite this team with a powerful hot streak.
• The Seattle Mariners are 12-10 and are sailing into rough waters. A trip to the house of horrors in Houston awaits, with Justin Verlander on the back end. The sea only gets rougher in May as Seattle will face a daunting schedule that features six games against Houston, four against Tampa and Boston, and three against the Phillies, Mets, and Blue Jays. This will be the toughest 19 game stretch of the season. Find a way to steer the ship through that with a record of .500 or above, and this team will be playing playoff baseball.
• This week’s “Mariners Music Mojo” is “Old Sob Story” by Birdtalker.