Super Bowl Update

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed a 3-3 road trip that extends tonight. The Mariners began the week taking two out of three against the Rangers which includes a six run 9th inning in a 10-3 win followed up by a 21-8 win which saw the Mariners lead 16-0 after three innings. The Mariners then would lose two out of three to the Chicago White Sox but had an exciting 10-8 win over the White Sox in extra innings on Saturday. This week also saw Justin Smoak named as American League player of the week as he had a huge week along with all the other youngsters on the Mariners team. The young guys are starting to play well and it's nice seeing a team with a future for once. This team with these young hitters has been inconsistent but the future appears bright. This week since the Mariners went 3-3 I'll talk about the good(the youngsters), the bad( Ryan and Figgins) and the awesome(where I go over the players Jack Zduriencik has drafted/traded for to see how they are doing). As always hope you enjoy my Mariners weekly recap.

The Good:

The good for this week was the hitting future of Dustin Ackley, Jesus Montero, Kyle Seager and Justin Smoak. Throw in Michael Saunders who is still in his 20's and this week gave all the optimistic Mariners fans hope in the Jack Zduriencik regime. The Mariners offense three times this week scored in double figures. The Mariners offense averaged 8.2 runs per game. In their three wins they averaged 13.7 runs per game. Like I said up top Justin Smoak was named American League player of the week and this week saw a change in the lineup. Dustin Ackley moves back into the #2 spot instead of leadoff while Kyle Seager is now the #3 hitter as Ichiro slides back into leadoff where he homered twice on Saturday. The Mariners bullpen pitched pretty well this week as they saw the debut of youngster Stephen Pryor who began the year in double A. In his first major league appearance he came in to face Paul Konerko and struck him out on five pitches. He was clocked at 100 MPH twice in that at bat and threw Konerko nothing but fastballs. This week was a great week indeed for the future of this franchise.

Good Hitting:

Kyle Seager: 9-24(.375), HR, 6 runs, 5 RBI's, 4 doubles
Jesus Montero: 9-27(.333), HR, 4 runs, 5 RBI's, 2 doubles
Miguel Olivo: 4-14(.286), HR, 3 runs, 4 RBI's
Michael Saunders: 12-27(.444), HR, 5 runs, 3 RBI's, 3 doubles, SB
John Jaso: 4-15(.266), HR, 4 runs, 4 RBI's
Dustin Ackley: 6-20(.300), HR, 6 runs, 4 RBI's, 2 doubles, SB, 5 BB's
Justin Smoak: 8-23(.347), 3 HR's, 7 runs, 8 RBI's, 6 BB's

Good Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 1-0, 6.2 IP, 4.04 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 2 K's
Lucas Luetge: 2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, K
Charlie Furbush: 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 4 K's
Stephen Pryor: 2.1 IP, 3.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 4 K's
Brandon League: 3.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 2 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 1-0, 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 4 K's

Lucas Luetge a rule five pick this year is 1-0 in 20 appearances having thrown 13.1 innings. He has a 0.00 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 13 K's. Opponents are hitting .174 off of him.

Charlie Furbush another lefty in the pen who Zduriencik acquired in the Doug Fister trade this year is 2-1 in 19 appearances. He has thrown 19.1 innings. He has a 3.26 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, and 22 K's. Opponents are hitting .149 off of him. The Mariners are in good shape as both pitchers are in their mid 20's far as left handed relievers go.

The Bad:

A run saved is worth a run scored is what I keep hearing. Now the bad this week is the veterans of this team continue to not hit. Sure Brendan Ryan has a great glove but he is also hitting .171 which is embarassing for a major league regular playing every day and we are in June right now. This week also saw the starting pitching get lit up which includes Felix Hernandez who might be going on the disabled list. Despite the offense blowing up the team was only able to go 3-3 this weekend losing all three games in close fassion.  With youngsters down in the minors tearing it up you have to wonder when some of these veterans that Eric Wedge loves so much might be getting a plane ticket out of town or in Ryan's case simply becomes a late inning defensive replacement.

Bad Hitting:

Alex Liddi: 2-12(.167), run, RBI, 6 K's
Chone Figgins: 3-15(.200), 2 runs, RBI, SB, 3 K's
Brendan Ryan: 4-24(.167), 5 runs, 4 RBI's, 2 SB's, 5 K's

Bad Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 6 K's, 3 HR's allowed
Kevin Millwood: 0-1, 9 IP, 5.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 9 K's
Blake Beavan: 1-0, 6 IP, 7.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 2 K's
Hector Noesi: 4.1 IP, 12.47 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 5 K's, 3 HR's allowed
Steve Delabar: 0-1, 0.1 IP, 81.00 ERA, 9.00 WHIP, K

Brendan Ryan on the year is hitting .171/.275/.263 in 152 AB's with just one home run. He is one of the best defenders in baseball but at some point you need to hit.

As for Figgins I don't need to quote his stats as we know they suck. Figgins just needs to be released and hopefully will be when Franklin Guiterrez is called up soon.

The Awesome:

The future is looking very bright for the Mariners with Danny Hultzen, James Paxton and Taijuan Walker headlining the list. Currently all three along with Nick Franklin are in double A for the Jackson Generals as the Generals are currently 35-22. Not only that but the Mariners have a few(not many) nice pieces for the Tacoma Rainiers and then most of the young core is already on the big league team. Through the draft and trades Zduriencik is starting to build something which took a while due to Bill Bavasi wasting two top five draft selections where he passed on Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitski, Ricky Romero. Then following draft Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw while trading away Asdrubal Cabera and Adam Jones. Would be nice having those two back plus two of those players I listed. Now the team has a bright future where I'll post their stats to give you an idea.

Awesome Pitching:

Danny Hultzen(2nd pick overall 2011 draft, #21 prospect baseball America 2012, 22 years old): 6-3, 62.1 IP, 1.44 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 67 K's(9.7 K's per 9)- Double A 2012

James Paxton(1st round 2009 draft by Toronto Blue Jays, 2010 fourth round pick by Mariners, #52 prospect baseball America 2012): 3-3, 46.1 IP,  3.88 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 52 K's(10.1 K's per 9)- Double A 2012.

For his minor league career he is 10-8, 159 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 201 K's(11.4 K's per 9)

Taijuan Walker(1st round pick in 2010 draft #43 overall, #20 prospect baseball America 2012, 19 years old): 4-1, 50.1 IP, 2.68 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 53 K's(9.5 K's per 9)- Double A 2012

For his minor league career he is 11-7, 154 IP, 2.75 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 175 K's(10.2 K's per 9)

Stephen Pryor(5th round pick 2010 draft): 1-0, 7 saves, 16.0 IP, 1.12 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 24 K's(13.5 K's per 9, 22 years old)- Double A Jackson

In Tacoma he recorded two saves while pitching 12 innings, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 15 K's(11.2 K's per 9).

In Seattle 2.1 IP, 3.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 4 K's(15.45 K's per 9).

In his minor league career 4-3, 24 saves, 113 innings, 2.87 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 155 K's(12.3 K's per 9).

Awesome Hitting:

Nick Franklin(1st round pick in 2009 draft 27th overall, #53 prospect baseball America 2011, #77 in 2012, 21 years old, Short Stop): Hitting .345/.410/.560 in 195 PA's. 4 HR's, 20 runs, 25 RBI's, 7 SB's.

For his minor league career: hitting .295/.362/.475 in 1,239 PA's. Has 35 HR's, 186 runs, 122 RBI's, 51 SB's.

Francisco Martinez( part of Doug Fister trade, 21 years old, 3rd base): Hitting .256/.333/.340 in 243 PA's. Has only one HR, 34 runs, 15 RBI's, 21 SB's.

For his minor league career: hitting .277/.329/.368 in 1,592 PA's. Has 17 Hr's, 218 runs, 161 RBI's, and 75 SB's.

Denny Almonte(2nd round pick in 2007 by Bill Bavasi, outfielder, 23 years old): Hitting .280/.360/.450 in 229 PA's with 8 HR's, 21 runs, 27 RBI's and 11 SB's- Double A

For his career hitting . 251/.297/.439 in 2,229 PA's with 77 HR's, 274 runs, 315 RBI's, 74 SB's

Carlos Triunfel( #62 prospect baseball America in 2008, #89 in 2009, SS/3B, 22 years old): Hitting .251/.310/.403 in 233 PA's. Has 5 HR's, 38 runs, 23 RBI's, 2 SB's.

Minor league career: hitting .276/.319/.373 in 2,206 PA's with 26 HR's, 269 runs, 206 RBI's, 48 SB's.

As you can see the future looks bright and this doesn't include guys who are in the major leagues like Felix Hernandez, Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, Jesus Montero, Kyle Seager, and Charlie Furbush. Also doesn't include Mike Zunino the catcher the Mariners chose today out of Florida #3 overall.

Al West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 32-22, first place
L.A. Angels: 28-27, 4.5 GB
Oakland A's: 23-31, 9.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 24-32, 9.0 GB

This team will probably still lose another 90 games or come very close to doing that. Still the fact this team has so many youngsters who are already on the big club or dominating the minors has to be a refreshing thing to see. This isn't the 2008 group that lost over 100 games with a 100 million dollar payroll with no hope in the minor leagues besides Triunfel. This team is building this thing up from the ground up and will this result in a playoff appearance ever? Who knows. At least as fans we finally have hope for this team something we haven't had in forever. At least now there is some guys who when called up I'll pay money to actually see. There are some guys when called up to Tacoma I'll make the drive to watch in person. I'm probably getting ahead of myself but things are actually looking up for once for this team something we couldn't say a few years back.