SEAside Thoughts: Roller Coaster Ride Continues for the Mariners

Another week, another batch of blown leads

What has been the most frustrating part of this 10-12 start is the fact that the Mariners have given away so many wins. The M's have 12 losses, and they have blown a lead in 9 of those games…9! On top of not being able to hold onto leads, Seattle is 3-5 in one-run games and a staggering 0-4 in extra innings. These are far worse percentages than what we've seen in the previous two seasons.

It's important to remember that the Mariners were 29-39 at one point last season, there's still a long road to travel, but the same tightrope the players and Scott Servais have managed to back-to-back 90-win seasons is failing them right now.

Part of this is the rotation being not as strong beyond Luis Castillo, the bullpen missing Munoz (although still posting a 3.15 ERA), and the 7-9 hitters being as bad as any trio in baseball.

It's frustrating, but these are things that can be fixed.

Goodbye Flexen?

Not trying to be mean, but one of the first things they can do is move on from Chris Flexen. With Robbie Ray's injury, Flexen was forced into a starting role much earlier than expected, and the results are like a horror movie.

Flexen is sitting on a 0-4 record, a 8.86 ERA, and an awful 1.97 WHIP. 

As great as Flexen was in 2021, this team is in a much different place than in 2021. There's too much talent in the system to not send Flexen down to at least get some stuff figured out. The Mariners have played well enough to win in 3 of his starts, but he just wasn't able to keep the game in a competitive state.

What’s on deck?

We talked the past few weeks about how important the homestand was going to be, as a difficult road trip was on the horizon. The Mariners went 6-4 but could have easily been 8-2. Now they will head to Philadelphia and Toronto to take on some of the best offenses in baseball.

With a series against the Las Vegas A's after it'd be nice to go at least 3-3 against some powerful opponents.

Go M's