SEAside Thoughts: Mariners Drag What’s Left of Them Home

Mariners SEAside Thoughts: Week 25

• The terrible, no good, dirty, rotten road trip
  • There’s no way around it. The Seattle Mariners got their butt kicked on this 10-game road trip.
  • You lose 3 of 4 in LA, and lose both series against Oakland and Kansas City. Those three teams have a combined 273 losses on the season.
  • This embarrassing road trip reached its climax on Sunday, as the Mariners squandered an 11-2 lead to Kansas City, by giving up 11…11…ELEVEN! runs in the 6th inning.
  • The Mariners needed a day off and they needed to come home.
  • The starters didn’t do enough, but tough to blame them
    • All year the Seattle Mariners have leaned on their pitching, and up until this point, they have been pretty damn good. We’re starting to see cracks though.
    • Castillo, all of the sudden, can’t get past the 5th or 6th inning. I love the contract extension and believe it is an absolute coup by the Mariners, but Seattle needs him to be a 7 inning maestro.
    • The rest of the staff has continued to struggle against weaker hitting teams. I do wonder if it is the taxing of the arms, the lack of focus or respect towards their opponents, or the empty ballparks. Something isn’t right these past two weeks.
    • The bullpen is taxed
      • Because the rotation is struggling, the bullpen is 100% being overused right now.As Seattle heads home and has a day off, a big start by Robbie Ray against the Rangers could possibly refresh the bullpen for the final 8 games.
      • It’s important to remember, the sooner the Mariners clinch, the sooner they can rest starters and their bullpen. This group being fresh could be the difference in how far they can go in the playoffs.

      

      • Injuries piling up
        • The injury bug bit again, as we saw Winker get hit in the arm on a pitch from his former Reds buddy Amir Garrett.
        • Winker has been awful but has played well in the past week, which is a real bummer. Hopefully, he won’t miss too much time. A good Winker bat could be useful in October.That puts Julio, Suarez, and Winker all in question for the postseason. And that doesn’t even include the injury cloud surrounding Ty France and Mitch Haniger.
        • Seattle needs all of these guys to be somewhat healthy and on the roster in October to have a chance.
        • Kelenic arrives
          • We talked about the return of Kelenic this week and how he could potentially be a spark. It may have not shown up in a series win against Kansas City, but I don’t think Seattle wins their two games this week if they didn’t have JK.
          • Kelenic, as tweeted by Joe Doyle of Prospects Live, is 6 for 16, with a home run, with three doubles, two walks, and only three strikeouts. He is smacking the ball all over the field.
          • Hopefully, this lineup can get healthy, and we can see him paired with our stars for the final push.

          

          • How will they respond at home?
            • I’m very nervous about this week.
            • The Astros helped the Mariners by beating the Orioles twice this weekend, keeping them 4 games back of stealing the final spot. The Mariners are getting in, but they’ve made it so much harder than it needed to be.
            • The team will be heading home to take on three more terrible squads and should have packed crowds awaiting them. This team is days away from breaking the curse, and the fans will feel that same energy. Seattle can come out today, kick the crap out of the Rangers, and set the tone for a two-week celebration at home. They could also lose, and allow the crowd and the city to slowly turn on them if the worst were to happen.
            • There’s a lot of pressure on the Mariners this week.
            • This week’s SEAside Thoughts Player of the Week is Jarred Kelenic. I’m so happy he’s back, and I hope this ends up being the beginning of many playoff runs with Kelenic and Julio.
            • This week’s Mariners Music Mojo is Above the Water by RIVVRS

            Don’t lose heart, Mariners fans. By this time next week, we’ll all be relieved of this great pain, dread, and despair we’ve carried for 21 years.

            It looks dark right now, but like they said in the Dark Knight.

            “The night is darkest, just before the dawn”