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3 key takeaways for the Mariners from the Yankees series
What can the young Mariners' squad learn from being handily defeated by a legitimate World Series contender?
The Mariners were simply outclassed by the Yankees this week. After an 11-2 walloping to start the series, a baserunning gaffe cost them the second game and Seattle managed to escape with a narrow one-run win in the final game. The two losses pushed their AL West deficit to five games and their chance to make the playoffs is now just 5.0% according to FanGraphs. So, what do we garner from this rough stretch of outings?
1. The young pitchers aren't quite ready to handle the big bats just yet
Bryan Woo has been great all year. After 110.1 innings, he's sitting at a 2.85 ERA and 0.88 WHIP with an elite 2.6% walk rate and top-decile 4.9% barrel rate. However, his performance against one of the most menacing lineups in baseball showed that he's still got a long way to go before leading any rotation at the major league level. Over 4.2 innings against New York, he conceded nine hits and seven earned runs, including two home runs. He ran into similar issues against the Guardians in June and when he's at his best, his low whiff (22.4%) and strikeout (20.8%) rates leave him vulnerable to guys who excel at making great contact.
200th career HR.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 18, 2024
40th HR of the season.
Homered in every ballpark.
Juan Soto. @budweiserusa x Yankees pic.twitter.com/eTAvpodlxB
Other young arms like Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock have immense promise but haven't yet gotten to the point where they'd be reliable presences on the mound against playoff-bound competition. On the bright side, they've got time to figure things out.
2. The squad's baseball IQ seems to falter under pressure
There were two decisions that left spectators dazed and confused in this series alone. The first was Victor Robles attempting to steal home in the first game. Stealing home is a bold decision and works great if you've got a decently speedy guy, the pitcher is a lefty, and the timing is just right. Unfortunately, Robles has an average sprint speed, Luis Gil is a righty, and the timing didn't make any sense at all. With two outs, Gil was struggling to find his command against Justin Turner who was already up 3-0. As Gil turned his back briefly, Robles took this as a green light and took off, giving the Yankees enough time to tag him out at home. Even Justin Turner seemed confused.
Luis Gil catches the Mariners attempting to steal home on 3-0 count 🤯#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/AxQGYCivGK
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) September 18, 2024
In game two, the Mariners took the Yankees to extra innings and were down by one in the bottom of the tenth. With runners on the corners and no outs, it seemed like Seattle had a good chance of walking it off. Randy Arozarena lost his bat on a big swinging strikeout against Yankees reliever Ian Hamilton and the bat flew to third base, causing Julio Rodriguez to come off the base to get out of the way. Unfortunately, he didn't have the awareness to return to the bag and was quickly tagged out, killing essentially any chance Seattle had of winning the game. This double play gave the Yankees an additional 56% chance to win.
Wow.
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) September 19, 2024
Randy Arozarena strikes out swinging here in the 10th inning but in the process also sails his bat down the third-base line near Julio Rodríguez ... While jumping out of the way then gathering himself, he’s then picked off. pic.twitter.com/mn7xDlrPzl
Was this a simple misunderstanding? Probably, but the consequences in this case were dire. Could the series have been different if these two mistakes hadn't been made? It's hard to know for sure, but they demonstrate how brief lapses in judgement can lead to disastrous results
3. Some guys are still setting important individual milestones
In the face of all of the cumulative disappointment from this year, there are still a few bright statistical spots to appreciate. Cal Raleigh hit 30 home runs for the second season in a row, Dylan Moore recently stole his 30th base, Julio's 75+ home runs and 80+ stolen bases in his first three major-league seasons puts him in elite company, and Logan Gilbert surpassed 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career.
We all know that baseball is a team sport and individual accolades can be somewhat forgotten in the grand scheme of things but these numbers go to show how talented the Seattle Mariners really are. While it's rare for everyone on the team to get going at the same time, so many players on this roster have incredible upside. Many of the aforementioned names are under team control for a few more years which gives the organization a little more time to make use of their elite pieces. Maybe 2024 wasn't the year, but who's to say the team won't be competing more seriously in 2025 and beyond?