With pitchers and catchers due to report to camp soon, Major League Baseball is back and I couldn't be happier. Sure it is only Spring Training and yes, this blog focuses around the lowly Mariners but I'm excited none the less.
Whether you like it or not I'm going to throw some of last year's stats at you. Brace yourself.
--The 2010 Seattle Mariners finished the season 61-101. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates finished with a worse record (57-106).
--The M's ranked 30th in runs scored, batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
--The M's pitching staff finished 9th in ERA, 7th in WHIP, 11th in quality starts and 12th in batting average against. Their pitching held Seattle in many games but unfortunately they rely on the league's worst batting lineup.
--Felix Hernandez took home the American League Cy Young award in spite of his team's poor effort. King Felix dominated 2010 with a nasty pitch repertoire that earned him top honors in strikeouts, ERA and WHIP.
Entering last season the Mariners were picked to win the AL West. A year ago that was actually believable considering they had Felix and Cliff Lee in their rotation. Pair them with new addition, infielder Chone Figgins and the incredible Ichiro at the top of their lineup and you could have scared some people. As it turned out, paper tigers can't defeat live ones.
With last year in the rearview mirror we can now look ahead to brighter days because things couldn't get worse, right? Let's not dwell on that too long. Yay for a fresh season and lowered expectations!
2011 begins with the smell of fresh laundry after soiling it terribly the night before. It smells better but you recognize that stench remains ingrained in the fabric. At a glance this team is primed for another down year but the new wrinkle this time around is the learning on the job experience these young men will receive this season.
Under new manager Eric Wedge, the young guys will play for two reasons; Wedge needs to know what he has and they really don't much to lose by playing youth over washed-up veterans. Fans would rather watch the future studs come to frution and lose games rather than watch veterans that plateued years ago and lose games. Been there before. Hated it!
Stay tuned for a lineup and rotation breakdown as Spring Training kicks off in the coming weeks..
So far this year is a bit better than last. Will Saunders ever hit over 200?
ReplyDeleteI loved Milton Bradley's name but his baseball productivity wouldn't last long as rent in Monopoly.
The M's have speed, maybe the fastest two at the top of the lineup. Aggressive base play may be the order of the season.
Jack Kusp (sp?)as a DH is not up to the usual Edgar standard, but then who is.
Love Justin Smoak!
Wasn't there a catcher that got hurt early on? Olivo was supposed to be backup? What is going on there Sports Dude?
CF