Joe Soriano
O.J. Lewis8/2011 Team Scope: Seattle Mariners
August 16th 2011 14:15
The Mariners have the worst offense in baseball, and Dustin Ackley is the only player with at least 200 plate apperances who has an RC-plus of over 100. Franklin Gutierrez, Miguel Olivo, and Chone Figgins have been so bad that they might as well sign Carlton Lassiter (for you Psych fans out there). I mean really, this team just can't hit! Ackley has been outstanding, but nobody else has been around the league average in hitting (100 RC-plus ). Chone Figgins? He has an atrocious 35 RC , has a -0.8 WAR, and he only provides value on defense (marginal value really).
The funny thing is that offseason acquisition Brendan Ryan has the highest WAR on the team. His RC is only 90, but that's the fourth highest on the team. We all know Ryan can't hit, and the reason why he has value is because of his glove. He has been very good in the field, and Ryan has also been smart on the basepaths this year.
Dustin Ackley will overtake Ryan in WAR, and he has been on fire since his call-up. Ackley's RC of 141 will definitely cool down, but he has really produced for the M's. His ISO is .201, his wOBA is .374, and he has provided value defensively and on the bases as well. In short, Ackley is the team's best non-pitcher. I don't care about regression, because frankly, nobody else on this roster is really that good (again, non-pitchers only).
The Mariners don't really have a good pitching staff either; it's only OK. Even though Casper Wells has been great since the Doug Fister trade, I still don't think the M's should have traded Fister. That mindset might change if Francisco Martinez ends up being a solid major leaguer.
Anyway, Felix Hernandez is a beast so we don't need to talk about him. Now what about Michael Pineda? Nobody is talking about him much anymore, but he's still been very good. His fastball is still getting up there in a hurry (95 mph), and his slider has been nasty. The K's are high (9.13) but so are the walks (3.13). Pineda has had a great season, and he definitely deserves to be the AL Rookie of the Year.
Brandon League has surprisingly held up as a closer and is having a pretty good year. I can't say the same for the rest of the bullpen; especially Jamey Wright and Aaron Laffey. Those two are pitching much worse than what the raw stats would indicate.
In summary, the Mariners stink and will continue their losing ways until some influx of competence in the lineup is created. This offense doesn't nearly resemble a Major League offense, and they have no true power hitter or table setter. If you don't have either of those two, I don't see how you can hope to be at least an average team at this level. And heck, they don't really even have much of a bullpen either. They should be thankful that teams like the A's and Astros exist, because the Mariners would probably be the worst team in baseball, from a pure talent perspective, without them. Well, they might actually be worse than the A's, but that's a debate for another day.
The funny thing is that offseason acquisition Brendan Ryan has the highest WAR on the team. His RC is only 90, but that's the fourth highest on the team. We all know Ryan can't hit, and the reason why he has value is because of his glove. He has been very good in the field, and Ryan has also been smart on the basepaths this year.
Dustin Ackley will overtake Ryan in WAR, and he has been on fire since his call-up. Ackley's RC of 141 will definitely cool down, but he has really produced for the M's. His ISO is .201, his wOBA is .374, and he has provided value defensively and on the bases as well. In short, Ackley is the team's best non-pitcher. I don't care about regression, because frankly, nobody else on this roster is really that good (again, non-pitchers only).
The Mariners don't really have a good pitching staff either; it's only OK. Even though Casper Wells has been great since the Doug Fister trade, I still don't think the M's should have traded Fister. That mindset might change if Francisco Martinez ends up being a solid major leaguer.
Anyway, Felix Hernandez is a beast so we don't need to talk about him. Now what about Michael Pineda? Nobody is talking about him much anymore, but he's still been very good. His fastball is still getting up there in a hurry (95 mph), and his slider has been nasty. The K's are high (9.13) but so are the walks (3.13). Pineda has had a great season, and he definitely deserves to be the AL Rookie of the Year.
Brandon League has surprisingly held up as a closer and is having a pretty good year. I can't say the same for the rest of the bullpen; especially Jamey Wright and Aaron Laffey. Those two are pitching much worse than what the raw stats would indicate.
In summary, the Mariners stink and will continue their losing ways until some influx of competence in the lineup is created. This offense doesn't nearly resemble a Major League offense, and they have no true power hitter or table setter. If you don't have either of those two, I don't see how you can hope to be at least an average team at this level. And heck, they don't really even have much of a bullpen either. They should be thankful that teams like the A's and Astros exist, because the Mariners would probably be the worst team in baseball, from a pure talent perspective, without them. Well, they might actually be worse than the A's, but that's a debate for another day.
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Comment by justindama
The End Zone
I'm a Mariners fan, and I think you're missing a few key things here. Gutierrez has been hitting really well the past few weeks after a ridiculously horrible start due in part to some mysterious illness he was dealing with.
The story of this month has been Mike Carp. He has been the best hitter on the team since late July and is on fire right now.
Ackley has been the most pleasant story for the Ms this season, no doubt about that.
Pineda was ridiculously awesome before the all star break, but is struggling right now. I think it's due to rookie fatigue. He pitched over 100 innings in the 1st half of the season, after all.
Felix is a stud, no doubt about that. I was sad to see Fister go as well, glad to see Bedard go.
I think the Ms have a good young core of players, and they have been hitting way better without Cust & Figgins. they are getting their young position players in and they are making an impact.
Comment by nbageek
NBA Geek
sportsworld