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3 moves the Mariners need to make to turn the season around
With the early struggles from the entire Mariners team, we take a look at 3 moves the team needs to make right now.
This is not what we expected at all for the Mariners through the first 12 games of the season. This team has looked like a bottom team in all of baseball and it sure doesn't look like they are anywhere near a playoff spot. There are a lot of issues with this team and there are no moves that will just completely fix this team altogether.
The pitching has been surprisingly bad and the offense has been one of the worst in all of baseball with a team strikeout rate over 30%, something that the Mariners apparently emphasized in the offseason.
Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander did a lot of work to overhaul this roster heading into 2024 and I expected there to be an adjustment period for the lineup, but this has been brutal. No one in the lineup (save for Mitch Haniger and Josh Rojas) have been producing at an actual major league level and it is constantly just costing the Mariners games.
After series' against Boston, Cleveland, and Milwaukee, they have played maybe two playoff teams and have been noncompetitive in those series. The Mariners aren't a reactionary team, but they may need to make one (or all 3) of these moves to make this team more competitive sooner rather than later.
Find a roster spot for Samad Taylor
The 2023 Mariners roster was a very predictable one; the team either hit a home run or struck out. It seemed like there were only two outcomes as the team produced some historic (and not in a good way) strikeout numbers. The 2023 Mariners were one of the most frustrating teams in recent baseball memory as they constantly had scoring opportunities but couldn't capitalize due to the insane strikeout rate.
The Mariners thought that they had addressed their strikeout issue, yet we sit here a couple of weeks into the season and the Mariners team strikeout rate is astronomical yet again. Not only that, but they seem to be in a similar "boom or bust" type of offense that they relied heavily on in 2023.
Samad Taylor, perfect bunt.
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) April 6, 2024
Scott Servais pregame: “I have a feeling Samad will do something, whether it's on the bases, in the field, good at-bat. He'll do something to impact the game in a positive way.” pic.twitter.com/0Xypg27G7e
Samad Taylor would provide this offense a completely different dynamic that the team hasn't had in quite some time. The offense has lacked someone willing to drop a bunt down, steal bases at will, and just wreaking havoc on the bases; that is exactly what Taylor does and it's time the Mariners make room for Taylor on their roster to change things up and provide something that the team just hasn't had.
It's time to shake up the lineup
The Mariners pitching was going to carry the team this year, yet they have struggled. The ace of the staff has been awful in three starts, Kirby has been up and down and Bryce Miller has been the best Mariners pitcher.
With all of those struggles and inconsistencies, the offense has been even worse. They have scored the fourth-fewest runs this year; they are barely hitting over the Mendoza line, and they only have three stolen bases. One of the biggest detriments so far has been the strikeout issue. For a team that placed a significant emphasis on cutting back on strikeouts, the Mariners currently have the second most strikeouts in all of baseball; it is just not working.
When you look at this lineup, it is all the unsuspecting players that are hitting so far. Josh Rojas and Ty France are two of the best hitters for the Mariners so far with Rojas hitting .360 and France surprising with a .333 average. Dominic Canzone leads the team with three home runs; the production just isn't there from the big name guys.
Now, I am not saying to move J.P. Crawford and Julio down to the eight and nine-hole, but Rojas and France should certainly be moved up, at least in the short term. Ty France hasn't produced a lot of power but looks way more comfortable at the plate. I would really like to see France move back up into the four through six-hole spots. I would also like to see Rojas get some opportunities at the top of the lineup, however Servais makes that work, to provide a certain spark that this team is lacking.
Move Emerson Hancock to the bullpen and find a #5 starter
It's time to give up on the Emerson Hancock experiment. This team is not playing well enough right now to let the Hancock experiment continue on, hoping to recapture some of the magic that had the Mariners select him sixth overall in the 2020 MLB Draft.
Hancock has only made five major league starts over the last two years, with two of them coming this year, but he just doesn't look like a pitcher who possesses the stuff to work through a lineup two or three times on a regular basis. Hancock's fastball seems flat and ineffective a majority of the time, sitting in the 92-95 range, while his off-speed offerings include a fringy changeup and slider; that combination just doesn't bode well for a starting pitcher.
Two parts to this could result in a win-win scenario for the Mariners. The first is moving Hancock to the bullpen; no, he won't become a Matt Brash and be a high-leverage option, but he could become a valuable reliever. Let Hancock focus on working in one inning to longer relief appearances (maybe two or three innings max), while focusing on trying to maintain 94+ velocity for multiple relief innings, and maybe he can sit 95, while touching 96-97 in relief.
He will need to develop at least one off-speed offering to become valuable, but Hancock as a solid long relief option who makes 50-60 appearances and throws 80 effective innings, is going to be more valuable than the fringy number six starter that he looks like right now.
The second part of this is a relatively (hopefully) short-term fix. The team should call up Jhonathan Diaz or Dallas Keuchel to replace his spot, at least until Bryan Woo returns. Diaz offers a little more upside than Keuchel but has some strikeout stuff. Keuchel is the "been there done that" veteran who has been a part of some winning teams and could light a fire in this pitching staff. One of these two would be better off making the next three or four starts while sending Hancock down to work out of the bullpen, while the team waits for Bryan Woo to return.