SeaSide Thoughts: Hey Mariners, Spring Training is over, right?

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We're officially ten games into the 2024 Seattle Mariners season, and if you look on social media, it looks like the season is already over. The Mariners are sitting at a disappointing 4-6, and are pretty fortunate to have more than 2 wins at this point.

After winning the opening game of their home series against the Guardians, the Mariners offense, defense and pitching looked inept, as the M’s lost the series even with Castillo and Kirby pitching.

Heading to Milwaukee and hoping a controlled climate might get the team kick-started, the Mariners lost two out of three against the “rebuilding” Brewers. A nice victory on Saturday was sandwiched between a brutal 4 BB’s walk off by Andres Munoz on Friday and a 12-4 drubbing on Sunday.

Let's go over some of my thoughts on what has been a brutal start to a pivotal season in Seattle.

Mariners' SeaSide Thoughts: Week 2

No Offense but…

This offense stinks so far. There's really no way around it, the offense that was supposed to be more consistent and more about contact than power-hungry, has been arguably the most disappointing in baseball so far.

If they wanted less power, they accomplished their goal. The Mariners currently sit tied for 25th in baseball, with just 7 home runs. The Mariners are 23rd in average, 28th in OPS, 25th in runs, 26th in walks, and 3rd in strikeouts.

JP Crawford, Julio Rodriguez, Jorge Polanco, Mitch Garver, Luke Raley, and Dominic Canzone are all hitting below or just barely above .200 right now. That's just simply not going to cut it. Getting Ty France back from paternity leave should not get me as excited as I currently am.

At least the pitching staff will sav…

Oof, this week was arguably the worst we've seen the Seattle Mariners rotation in the past few years.

Luis Castillo has continued a very concerning trend, going back to his disappointing September last year. Through two games, Castillo is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA. In 10.2 innings, Castillo has allowed 16 hits, 8 earned runs, and 2 home runs. Which has resulted in an ERA+ of 53 so far. When you add in last year's brutal ending, this is starting to look like a concerning trend. A bounce back in a pivotal series opener at Toronto today feels like a must right now.

George Kirby is going to have a great season, but he did not have a great day on Wednesday. In Seattle’s embarrassing 8-0 loss to the Guardians, Kirby had arguably his worst outing of his career, going just 3.2 innings while giving up 8 runs on 10 hits. Some of those hits can be deceiving (we'll get to that), but when you absolutely need a win early in the season, you need to trust in Castillo and Kirby (even Gilbert as well, who struggled in Milwaukee) to right the ship. They all failed to do so.

All is not bad

Bryce Miller absolutely dazzled in Seattle's line win at Milwaukee, going 7 shutout innings, striking out 7, and giving up 3 hits on just 78 pitches. He's still growing and learning how to be a pitcher instead of a thrower, but Saturday was a peak into why Seattle has been so hesitant to trade him for a young bat. He silenced a hot Milwaukee lineup like Paul Atreides in Dune.

This team has a chance to be great. The goal is to get to October, because we believe the rotation could carry this team to a World Series. I still believe that, but the rotation has to stand up while the offense is trying to find itself.

A small tinker without panicking

To be honest, I don't have a ton more thoughts on the week that was. This offense has looked putrid minus a nice inning here or there. Personally, I'd like to see Julio hit lead off and move JP down the lineup. This is not as much a frustration with Crawford’s slow start, but rather looking to get a boost in the lineup using your star player. The Mariners were at their absolute best last year in August thanks to Julio becoming the best player on the planet for a month, in the leadoff spot.

As much as I prefer to see Julio up with RBI opportunities, he may be best suited in that catalyst role, where he's the spark plug for those around him. You got Cal Raleigh and Ty France coming back to the lineup, feels like the perfect time to make a tweak.

Next the next two weeks to be become a cushion period

As frustrating as the start of this season has been, it's early and the Mariners have not fallen too far behind. Remember, this is on paper about as weak of an American League as we've seen in over a decade. I still believe in this roster and the potential for the team to make a legitimate run to and through October.

That being said, the time to wake up starts today. A three game series in Toronto against a Blue Jays squad that is currently disappointing as well. You have your big 3 going on the mound, you need to win this series.

After Toronto, the Mariners come home for a 6 game homestand against the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, before a road trip begins with the lowly Colorado Rockies. This is a 12 game run where Seattle needs to find a way to win at least 7 games and get back to and over .500.

It's important because it means the Mariners woke up, but it also gives the team a little cushion before a brutal 12 game run that features the Rangers, Diamondback, Braves and Astros. If things don't get better in the next two weeks, the following two could sink the season by mid May.

A small tinker to the lineup, a reboot from Castillo and the horses, and the hopeful return of major bullpen pieces and this team can be right back on track.

Go Mariners!

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