Super Bowl Update

By Kshell

Well that was a fun ride while it lasted. The Seattle Mariners this past week officially answered the question on whether they should be buyers or sellers with an emphatic sellers! The Mariners after going on the road to take two out of three at Oakland to defeat the Athletics they found themselves swept on a four game road trip to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Mariners lack of hitting has caught up to them for a month now. The Mariners who were once 37-35 after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies two out of three find themselves now 43-48. The Mariners who were once a half game out of first place now find themselves 7.5 games back of the Texas Rangers and Angels. This week I'll break down the good(not much besides Felix Hernandez), the bad(basically the entire offense) and the ugly(as I dive more into the offensive woes). The Mariners after overachieving much of the first half saw their lack of offense finally catch up to first year manager Eric Wedge.

The Good:

When a team goes 2-5 you have to stretch to find some good. The starting pitching was pretty good this week as the Mariners received six quality starts out of seven. The Mariners saw rookie Dustin Ackley put up another good week as he is showing he is the best hitter on the roster. Ackley's defense so far this year has been pretty incredible as well. The Mariners also saw all-star pitcher Felix Hernandez dominate this week yet came up empty in the wins column. Jason Vargas also followed up his complete game shutout last week with another complete game this week only he lost 2-0. The Mariners pitching has carried them all year and this week was no different.

Good Hitting:

Dustin Ackley: 8-26(.307), HR, 2 RBI's, 5 runs, SB, .357 OB%
Brendan Ryan: 7-29(.241), 2 RBI's, 4 runs, SB
Ichiro: 7-28(.250), RBI, run, 2 SB's

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 15 IP, 1.80 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 16 K's
Blake Beavan: 6.1 IP, 2.84 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, K
Jason Vargas: 0-1, 8 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 6 K's

The Bad:

There was plenty of bad this week for the Mariners. The Mariners season basically ended in Anaheim. The hitting which has been terrible all season long and I was worried the minute the pitching went from dominant to good a long losing streak would follow. The Mariners looked helpless at the plate this week. The strikeouts were racking up as the bats were silent. The Mariners who were getting production from Adam Kennedy and Justin Smoak aren't getting much from them. In fact Justin Smoak has been pretty bad since June. The Mariners pitching was solid but saw two key guys slump for them in David Pauley and Michael Pineda. Pineda has been rough in his last three starts hopefully this isn't a sign of arm fatigue. The Mariners went 2-5 so therefore I'm going to have a ton of guys on the bad list this week.

Bad Hitting:

Justin Smoak: 3-26(.115), 2 RBI's, 7 K's
Carlos Peguero: 2-15(.133), RBI, 9 K's
Adam Kennedy: 4-23(.173), 3 RBI's, 4 K's
Greg Halman: 4-18(.222), run, 2 SB's, 6 K's
Kyle Seager: 1-12(.083), 3 K's. Hit .083/.214/.083 his debut week in the bigs
Franklin Gutierrez: 4-19(.210), 3 runs, 2 SB, 4 K's
Josh Bard: 2-9(.222), HR, RBI, run

Bad Pitching:

David Pauley: 0-2, 2.1 IP, 11.59 ERA, 2.14 WHIP, K
Michael Pineda: 1-1, 11 IP, 6.54 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 14 K's

The Mariners aren't getting much hitting from certain guys as everyone in the lineup not named Dustin Ackley has their averages dropping.

Justin Smoak got off to a hot start in April hitting .284/.393/.527 with four HR's and 17 RBI's with 18 K's to 14 BB's. In May Smoak saw his hitting drop to .229/.333/.417 with four HR's and 14 RBI's with 27 K's to 14 BB's. In June Smoak was hitting similar to May as he hit .226/.318/.419 with four HR's but just nine RBI's with 16 K's to 12 BB's. So far in July Smoak has been terrible hitting .118/.179/.176 with no home runs and just three RBI's with 9 K's to 3 BB's. Not trying to pick on Smoak but he is a big part of the offense now and for the future.

The Ugly:

The ugly this week was the fact the Mariners won't be playing a meaningful game in August for the fourth straight season. The Mariners won't be playing a meaningful game in September for the eighth straight season. The Mariners hitting has been terrible this season and the overachieving bullpen is coming down to earth once again. The Mariners are finding themselves rebuilding yet again. The Mariners are years away from being a good team with the current offense and judging by the minor league system. Dustin Ackley and maybe Justin Smoak only youngsters I'm excited about. Kyle Seager could be a good hitter but he is a year or two away. The Mariners have nothing in their outfield as we are witnessing with Greg Halman and Carlos Peguero's non stop strikeouts. The Mariners need to get tons of depth as they have way to many holes offensively.

Ugly Hitting:

Seattle Mariners: .224/.290/.331 which is a terrible statline for an individual much less a team. The Mariners rank dead last in all of baseball in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, hits and runs. The Mariners rank 29th out of 30 teams in RBI's, 28th in doubles and 26th in home runs.

Carlos Peguero: hitting .199/.250/.376 on the season. Peguero has struck out 52 times in 141 AB's which is 34.2% of the time. Peguero has only walked seven times this year for just 4.6% of the time. His "power" isn't that great either as he homers one in 23.5 at bats. Wedge needs to stop playing him and send his ass down.

Franklin Gutierrez: hitting .187/.218/.227 on the season. Gutierrez has just one home run in 150 AB's on the season. He is only walking 3.8% of the time which is a terrible percentage. Basically he is a hitter who doesn't walk or hit for power.

Chone Figgins: hitting .183/.231/.244 on the season. Figgins has been a disaster for the Mariners. He like Gutierrez doesn't walk or hit for power either. Figgins during his all-star season with the Angels two years ago was walking 13.9% of the time while now he is walking only 6.0% of the time. He is only stealing bases at a 60.0% clip which isn't that good and leads the team in errors with 10.

The Mariners offense is pretty terrible and are constantly throwing out three hitters who are hitting below the mendoza line. The Mariners offense is awful and if not for the pitching like in 2009 the team would be having a season like they did in 2010. The Mariners are on pace to win 76 games right now and considering I predicted 72 wins before the year I don't feel so bad. Look for the Mariners record to get worse after they trade away some decent pieces as well.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 51-41, first place
L.A. Angels: 50-42, 1.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 43-48, 7.5 GB
Oakland A's: 39-53, 12.0 GB

The Mariners have their work set out for them for the rest of the year. The Mariners can't afford a rebuilding season so don't expect a complete fire sell. The Mariners also don't have many tradeable pieces as they either have guys that makes no sense to trade, over priced bad players, cheap guys under club control and very few veterans that typically get traded this time of the year. The first half ride was fun while it lasted but that 5-1 collapse to the Washington Nationals turns out to be the turning point of the season. No longer does Eric Wedge look like a genius instead just a manager who allows his pitchers to walk hitters on three balls. The Mariners in the second half need to develope the young guys but just remember other than Ackley, Smoak and Seager the other hitters won't be on this roster by 2013. Just like the past three seasons the Mariners will be sellers at the trade deadline.