These 10 Pitchers have struggled the most in their careers against Mariners hitters

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The series comes to a close after taking a look at the good and the bat on both sides of the coin in baseball. The opponents who destroy the Mariners, and the ones that Seattle always seems to succeed against, whether it is at the plate or in the field. We finish off the series by looking at the 10 pitchers who have struggled the most in their careers against Mariners hitters. This is, personally at least, the best one to end on as there is nothing better than imagining an opposing pitcher getting lit up like a Christmas at the Griswold's.

Rick Bauer: 19 G, 23.1 IP, 9.64 ERA, 2.44 WHIP, 1 SV, 43 H, 14 BB, 11 K

Bauer threw for 7 seasons in the 2000s, and was actually decent over the first 4 with a 4.39 ERA. The Mariners just destroyed him though, hitting .398/.457/.630 against him in 108 AB, with only 11 K, and as many XBH as BB (14). It was easily the best any team did with 20+ AB against him and good enough for a 190 OPS+ against Bauer.

Brad Rigby: 7 G (3 GS), 18.2 IP, 13.98 ERA, 2.57 WHIP, 39 H, 9 BB, 6 HR, 11 K

The Mariners didn't face Riby quite as much as Bauer, but they hit him even better. .424/.482/.728 over 92 AB for a 174 OPS+ with 16 XBH. That's like putting a video game on easy while you're learning how to play. Rigby only pitched three seasons, and the Mariners were a big part of ending his career early.

See, I told you this would be fun. Let's keep going with the guys the Mariners had more repeated success against.

Eric Milton: 10 GS, 49 IP, 9.18 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 72 H, 18 BB, 9 HR, 30 K, 1-6 Record

Big grouping here, and we save some surprisingly good names for the end of this page. We start with Milton, who could never figure out the Mariners across 10 starts. A .346/.390/.572 in 208 AB will do that. Their best year against him was in 2000 when they scored 14 runs in just 7.2 IP.

Scott Schoeneweis: 29 G (8 GS), 52 IP, 9.35 ERA, 2.06 WHIP, 13 HR, 73 H, 34 BB, 24 K, 1-7 Record

It was easy for the Mariners to score against Schoeneweis, since he continually put them on base. Pair that with 18 2B and 13 HR, and his ERA skyrocketed. 40 free passes (34 BB + 3 IBB + 3 HBP) and then 73 hits allowed? Yikes. It wasn't his worst ERA season against them, but 2001 stands out as he had a 8.85 ERA against the Mariners in 4 starts, walking 13 and giving up 5 homers in just 20 innings of work.

Esteban Loaiza: 12 GS, 62.2 IP, 7.32 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 98 H, 20 BB, 39 K

Here's a name more people may know, as the Mariners saw this former Rangers+Athletics pitcher quite a lot. Another great slash line of .355/.401/.565 with 22 2B and 10 HR led to plenty of fun games against Loaiza, capped off by the final season they saw him in 2006. The Mariners faced him three times and posted a 7.47 ERA against him through 15.2 innings. Fun fact, the Mariners never hit worse than .310 in a season against Loaiza, despite seeing him in 7 different seasons.

Orel Hershiser: 8 GS, 45.0 IP, 5.80 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 49 H, 19 BB, 23 K

This was the most surprising name on the list to me. Hershiser was a monster, a 200 game winner, and record holder for most scoreless innings in a row. That didn't stop the Mariners from hitting 10 homers in just 45 innings against him. Forcing 3.8 BB/9 and constantly hitting bombs is a good way to get to any pitcher, and helped the Mariners to be one of the most successful teams to ever face Hershiser.

Chris Carpenter: 11 GS (12 G), 63 IP, 6.57 ERA, 2.21 WHIP, 88 H, 51 BB, 11 HR

What jumps out her eis the Mariners WHIP against Carpenter, and the fact that he literally couldn't throw strikes against them. 51 BB in 63 IP is hard to fathom. That's a BB rate of 7.3 BB/9 compared to 2.4 whenever it wasn't the Mariners. A .340/.449/.544 led to plenty of opportunities for Seattle, and you could argue that the ERA should've been even worse for Carpenter.

Jaime Navarro: 17 GS (23 G), 117 IP, 6.08 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 155 H, 43 BB, 18 HR, 5-12 Record

A 90s staple, the Mariners did quite well against Navarro. In nearly a full season worth of work, the Mariners hit .322/.378/.483 across 482 AB against him. It was the end of his career where they shined, with a 8.91 ERA across 33.1 IP and a 2.19 WHIP, leading to a 5-1 record in those appearances against him.

Jim Abbott: 19 GS, 121.2 IP, 5.25 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 154 H, 39 BB, 63 K, 4-13 Record

Of any team with more than 50 AB against Abbott, the Mariners did the best... and they had 501 AB against him. They would go 13-4 in his outings, slashing .307/.354/.449, constantly putting pressure on him. As the innings build, anything this high shows constant success. They would hit 10 HR in just over 60 IP in his last three seasons across 8 starts, leaving a bad taste in his mouth about his career against the Mariners.

Brad Radke: 24 GS, 154.2 IP, 5.06 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 174 H, 36 BB, 28 HR, 102 K

This one stands out to me, cause Radke was known for not walking people. 1.6/9 his entire career, and 10 straight years of 2.0 or less to finish out. Plus a five-year stretch where he walked just 1.1 per 9. The Mariners got on at a rate of 2.1 per 9, and when you have a homer rate of 1.64 per 9, it leads to a lot of potential runs. The Mariners were the only team to face him more than twice and post a 5+ ERA, and they saw him 24 times.

Here are some all-time worsts against the Mariners, with those who threw at least 100 IP

HR allowed: Jack Morris - 37
BB: Roger Clemens - 107
K/9: Larry Gura - 145 IP - 2.8 K/9
BB/9: Wilson Alvarez - 120 IP - 5.48 BB/9
H/9: Jamie Navarro - 117 IP - 11.92 H/9

Hopefully you feel better seeing who the Mariners dominated, especially after reading some of those nightmare articles.

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