The Hometown Nine: A Diagnosis

There is something about baseball that lures me in with its sweet tenderness each spring. I am not sure if it is because it was the first sport I loved or maybe the way the Kingdome tiles tantalized me with their ever-so-constant threat of falling. Either way I love baseball season and inevitably find myself watching almost every game if I can (meaning if my wife allows me).

This season has been frustrating, shocking, surprising, and disappointing all in one. When Jack Z and Don Wakamatsu took over the reigns this winter, I gained a great deal of hope. I believe in these two guys and their philosophy. They preach small ball, defense, pitch selection, and playing smart. They believe in building a great farm system and not overpaying for crappy players (like Bavasi did for the past however many years). Jack Z was honored in 2007 as Baseball America’s Executive of the Year after building an infield consisting of all Brewer draft picks (Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, and superstud Ryan Braun). Yet with ridiculous contracts still on the books for Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, and Carlos Silva, we all knew it would take some time. So when the Mariners started the season 15-10, it was a pleasant surprise to say the least.

Now the Mariners sit at 19-22. So where do they stand? Let’s take a look.

The Good
Russell Branyan - .305, 10 HR, 20 RBI, 1.004 OPS all for $1.4 million on a one year deal. The no risk, all reward signing is proving to be great thus far.

Ichiro - .318, 4 HR, 13 RBI. Despite the fact that he refuses to dive, he still gets hits by either slapping it to left or hitting it off the plate. Also his UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) is 3.8, meaning he records that many more outs than the average fielder.

Franklin Gutierrez - .258, 3 HR, 17 RBI. Clearly not very good numbers. Yet his defense in centerfield is awesome and most fans wouldn’t even know it. His UZR is 5.7. Not to mention he costs $440,000 and is under club control for another three seasons.

Mike Sweeney - .246, 2 HR, 9 RBI. Not his numbers but his levity and leadership have helped. I don’t think he is the reason they win or lose, but I do think he helps the team be in the right mindset when things go poorly. Of course they have lost 12 out of 16 so not sure this matters much.

Jarrod Washburn – it probably won’t last, but it seems hard to get upset over these numbers. 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA.

Much of the Bullpen – David Aardsma is now the closer with 1.37 ERA and 9.15 K/9 IP. Mark Lowe is hitting 99 consistently on the gun. Shawn Kelley was great before he got hurt. Even Miguel Batista has been good.

The Bad
A lot.

Adrian Beltre - .200, 2 HR, 15 RBI, .231 OBP. Pathetic at the plate right now.

Yuniesky Betancourt – numbers are fine. He sees no pitches, hacks at everything, and makes untimely errors. And he is fat.

Jose Lopez - .224, 3 HR, 19 RBI. Looks lost.

Felix Hernandez – only dominant randomly. 4.14 ERA. 4-3 record. He is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in May. He really only looked good one time. He is getting lit up.

Erik Bedard – he has been great, but he randomly gets hurt all the time.

Carlos Silva – worst pitcher ever.

Brandon Morrow – oh I have diabetes, I want to be a reliever. Oh I suck at closing, I like to give up home runs. I think I will just be a middle reliever who used to be the #5 pick overall when my team could have drafted Tim Fricking Lincecum.

So What Can One Look Forward To?
The Mariners, despite having maybe the least potent offense the side of Oakland (SNAP!), are still in the race with a sub .500 record. Felix should rebound at some point. Ryan Rowland Smith should be back in under a week and a half. Silva is hurt so we don’t have to watch him. Chris Jakabauskas and Jason Vargas are actually pitching well for now. And the Tacoma Rainiers are slowly building the most power ever assembled by a AAA team that doesn’t have any players who will play in the majors.

Oh and remember that Ichiro may just say something like he did on June 11, 2007:

"To tell the truth, I'm not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to," Ichiro said through an interpreter. "If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying."