Sitting at a Mariners game, watching the players’ averages flash on the scoreboard as they come to bat, you might be excused for believing that poor hitting is to blame for the Mariners’ league-worst 7-13 record. Starters Chone Figgins, Jack Cust, and Miguel Olivo are all hitting below .200, and even Ichiro is batting an underwhelming (for him) .274.
Hold on, buster. Those who follow baseball full-time say that scoring runs isn’t the biggest problem. What about pitching with runners on base? Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariners writes that M’s pitchers are doing a terrible job of clutch pitching, allowing 40 percent of runners who reach base to score. But Cameron says that this number isn’t “predictive,” meaning that it may just be the product of bad luck.
What’s not bad luck is the Mariners’ defensive performance. The Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker whips out some advanced baseball stats showing that the M’s have the worst defense in the league. Clearly, concludes Baker, the team misses centerfielder Franklin Gutierrez, winner of a Gold Glove last season, who hasn’t played yet due to a mysterious stomach illness.
Other culprits abound: Starting pitcher Erik Bedard is 0-4 with a 7.71 ERA. Relievers Josh Lueke and Chris Ray, expected to be the primary set-up men, have been even more atrocious, combining to allow 19 runs in just 10.2 innings pitched. And nothing has been done to reverse the Curse of Pete O’Brien, which I just made up so this paragraph would have the three sub-points my 11th-grade history teacher Mr. Creighton always insisted on.
Hitting, fielding, starting pitching, relieving. All bad. The only thing the Mariners are doing right is beyond the fences, at the new “The Pen” food court and patio just over the left-centerfield fence. It’s pleasantly lit, spacious, permits close-up views of both bullpens and has a huge variety of beer and food. I recommend the 1/3-lb., grass-fed beef burger at Ethan Stowell’s Hamburg and Frites. Just $8.50! And the best part is this: From most of the tables, you can’t see the game.
managing the press?
Getting people to care about the team: three weeks in, we’re seeing ’80s style attendance at Safeco, and the Mariners shouldn’t bet on warmer weather drawing tens of thousands to watch more 3-1 losses.