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Checking in on the Mariners: How are fans feeling at 10-12 this early in the season?
The Mariners have been all over the place this season. They exit the series against the St. Louis Cardinals with a record of 10-12, but it's been anything but a near .500 start to the season. There's been a fair amount of chaos, as expected, but many fans are struggling with being on the wrong side of it so far in 2023. It stinks, but the baseball gods will not let everything fall your way.
So, as the Mariners fly across the country to play first the Phillies and then the Blue Jays, we decided that it would be a good idea to check in with you, the fans, to see how you are feeling about the Mariners. Off days are a good time for this, and trying to do some of these reflections are something that we are going to try to incorporate more of on the site, including the possibility or doing some live Twitter Spaces to talk about the team.
It's an off day, and the Mariners are sitting at 10-12. How are you feeling about the season so far?
— SoDo Mojo (@SodoMojoFS) April 24, 2023
You can see that the answers were split fairly evenly. Most folks are in the middle two options, with a fair amount still thinkings it's fine (like me!). The folks at the bottom? Well, I choose to leave the trolls alone. There's a reason Twitter has a mute button, after all. Let's go over each of the options and see which one is likely the right feeling to have at this point in the season for the Mariners.
Mariners Option #1: It's totally fine at 10-12
This is where I sit. I think things are just fine for the Mariners. They are sitting here at 10-12 without Robbie Ray, Chris Flexen has been getting shelled, Munoz is on the IL, Moore still hasn't played, no Taylor Trammell yet (but soon), and they've blown a handful of games that they probably should've won. To me, it feels like one of those situations where, if you told us this was going to be the scenario at the beginning of January, we would've been fine with it.
I'm not saying things are good. Or that I'm happy. Those are different. With all those extenuating circumstances, I think things are just fine. I'm not the only one, either.
Proven guys having a slow start sucks, but it is ok. They will bounce back, or we will make moves. Kelnic playing like he is... that is not something you can replace. For a player of his current caliber we would have to give up sooooo much.
— Josh (@Return_O_TheMac) April 24, 2023
Feeling good about the future.
It's April - it's totally fine. I'd rather see steady improvement vs going on a winning streak and tanking after the all-star break. Any long time M's fans understand.
— Cereal Kamper (@CerealKamper) April 24, 2023
There are plenty of fans out there that know things are going to be okay. Like Josh and Camper mention, the team does seem to be slowly improving already, and if Kelenic truly is going to play as a borderline All-Star (or better?) then that is a massive boon to this team. Especially having Haggerty back, Trammell coming soon, and Moore... whenever he is able to make it back.
The Kelenic fact is one that I cannot get past. He is only 23, and is showing all the haters why we never got off the bandwagon. He was one of the top prospects in all of baseball, ranked 4th and one spot ahead of Julio IN ALL OF BASEBALL. He's showing off the power, and if he can continually go oppo, then we are in for a treat for a long time.
Mariners Option #2: Quietly optimistic about 10-12 start
Most things are going Right so far for the @Mariners with the exception of #KoltonWRong
— jeff engels (@jeffsmariners) April 24, 2023
this road trip is big. Astros just swept the Braves so it seems they have finally found traction. Mariners need to keep pace. They don't want to be 14-17 going into 6 straight against the division leaders. Hopefully they can get some easy wins in Oakland.
— mjds (@eckersley429) April 24, 2023
I think it makes sense that this is the group that had the most votes, as it seems like the one that Mariners fans would fall into. The Mariners are coming off of back-to-back 90 win seasons, have added a lot of good players to their roster over that time, and have worked to get better both on paper and on the field.
Complain all you want about Kolten Wong, but on paper, it seemed like a great move to make. He had multiple 3+ WAR seasons, and was a great teammate and player on both the Cardinals and the Brewers. He's always been able to hit, so it's been outside the norm and really odd that he hasn't been able to produce yet this season. He did put together a three-hit game in the finale against the Cardinals, so maybe he is going to get back on track.
@eckersley429 is right. The Mariners need to play well, and over 500, over their next three series. Yes, they have Philly and Toronto, but then they have Oakland. If they can go 3-3, then 2-1, it wouldn't be an awful spot. We can hope for a 4-2 stretch over the first two and to sweep Oakland, but managing realistic expecatations is the safer route to go to avoid any overreactions or thinking that the sky is falling.
Mariners Option #3: Kind of worried about the 10-12 start
Need a DH. Specifically, a good one.
— Snyder (@Snyder6204) April 25, 2023
I am worried, Texas looks good, all that money they spent is paying off, Angels are... the Angels, and Astros it's only a matter of time before they start rolling, mean while the M's keep trotting out subpar offense and the Pitching has been a bit erratic.
— Grayfox3d (@grayfox3d) April 24, 2023
Uggh. The DH spot. I'm glad that Snyder brought that up. It's been awful. It seems like you could just stand there and guess fastball every single time and have more success than the Mariners have had out of that spot this season from the likes of Tom Murphy, Tommy La Stella, and Cooper Hummel. Sam Haggerty is back, Cooper Hummel is down, and Jose Caballero looks intriguing, so hopefully it is trending in the right direction (just like the aforementioned Kolten Wong).
Texas has looked good, and they spend a lot of money to do so. Between Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Jacob DeGrom, Jon Gray, and some other pitchers, they spent over $800 million in the last two seasons. That's a ton and a risky investment that has to pay off, or else they look incredibly foolish. Still, Seager is hurt, and that pitching staff is a tweaked bat at the senior citizen's line at the buffet from being in trouble. (yes, I know they can be dominant, but I think you get it.)
The Mariners offense hasn't been great, but this stems from guys performing below expectations. They upgraded at RF, 2B, Kelenic, and should've had a deeper bench. It just hasn't happened everywhere, although Teo is hitting quite well and things are starting to swing upward. The Chris Flexen thing is worrying, and they might need to replace him if he has a couple more bad starts.
Don't worry about the bullpen though. Anyone who does is being negative and ridiculous. They're 7th in ERA, and that's without Munoz. Plus, Brash has an insane BABIP of .550. League average is .291. The bullpen is going to get even better without doing anything different.
Where do you stand on the season so far? Are you worried about the Mariners? Or, like me, do you think that things are going to be fine? Shoot, it's totally reasonable to be sitting in both of those camps. Let us know, and as always, go Mariners.