Kuzul

If only the Seattle Mariners offense could actually show up before they found themselves hopelessly behind—such has been the underlying theme of the Mariners’ 2011 campaign. And Friday night was a microcosm of that very issue, too little too late.

Against the Kansas City Royals, the Mariners offense floundered for the first seven innings, registering just one lone hit. Three up, three down was the story for the offense through innings three through seven, as Royals starter Luke Hochevar dominated the hapless hitters.

After 100 pitches in seven innings, Hochevar was finally done for the night and the M’s immediately took advantage in the eighth inning. Off reliever Blake Wood, Ichiro singled in Luis Rodriguez to cut the lead to 6-2.

Then, in the ninth inning off closer Joakim Soria, the M’s were able to get four walks and a Michael Saunders RBI single to narrow the lead to 6-4. With the bases juiced with one out and Ichiro, the team’s strongest hitter at the plate, suddenly things were looking hopeful for the M’s.

But like they’ve done all season, the offense failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position. Ichiro did manage a weak ground-out to score another run, but Chone Figgins lined out hard to end the rally and the game.

Granted, Soria’s pitches were all over the place and offered the offense several opportunities they wouldn’t have normally gotten. But regardless, the game tonight reaffirmed a lot of things about this team for me.

Off to a slow start, things have been tough for the offense to get in a groove. The Mariners are mired in a slump, and it’s no new concept that good teams tend to get lucky. Look no further than Figgins’ stinging line drive with the game on the line in the ninth…straight to the third baseman.

Of course, the blame rests equally on the oft-injured shoulders of Erik Bedard. For the third straight outing, Bedard failed to pitch more than five innings. Falling to 0-3 with an 8.56 ERA on the season, it’s clear that Bedard has been the weak chain in the link that is the M’s starting rotation.

Bedard was able to get out of  a couple jams, but gave up too many runs to keep the M’s in the game. The team can’t afford to keep trotting Bedard out on the mound every fifth day expecting a taxing game for the bullpen and a probable loss (combining a poor offense and mediocre pitching and that’s what you get).

Falling to 4-10 two weeks into the season, the M’s face serious questions with almost every facet of their team.

To make sure this doesn’t just become a rant, and to give credit where credit is due, it’s important that we highlight the successes of first baseman Justin Smoak. Pinch hitting for Brendan Ryan in the ninth, Smoak worked a seven pitch walk to force in a run. Smoak has hit .273 on the season, good for second on the team, and has walked as many times as he has struck out (nine times).

King Felix will try to stop the bleeding Saturday afternoon (10:10 AM PT) against Sean Sullivan, who has an 11.25 ERA in two appearances this season. 

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The Seattle Mariners boast one of the best young arms in the American League. A flame-throwing pitcher who possesses a knee-buckling slider, an excellent changeup and a blazing fastball that has been clocked in the triple digits. No, I am not referring to reigning AL CY Young winner Felix Hernandez, but rather rookie sensation Michael Pineda. 

With just two starts under his belt this season, it may be premature to anoint Pineda as the Robin to King Felix’s Batman. After all, the 21-year-old Dominican prospect has just one major league win under his belt and has yet to experience the grind of a full major league season. Only time tell if young Pineda has the focus and moxie required to succeed in the pressure-filled major leagues.

Until that time comes, Pineda is certainly worth a waiver wire pick in all fantasy baseball formats. His 11 strikeouts and 2.70 ERA over his first two big league starts provide a small sample size of evidence that he will be an above average strikeout pitcher, and his spot at the bottom of the Mariner rotation ensures that he will pitch in favorable match ups against opponents’ lower tier starters. 

Pineda is available in 74 percent of Yahoo leagues; a number that will certainly change when owners review his excellent performance on Tuesday against the Blue Jays. I recommend picking him up before he becomes a well-known commodity in fantasy circles.

This article was originally published on www.kramericasports.com, the home of free fantasy baseball news, rankings and advice.

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The Mariners entered Monday’s series opener with the Toronto Blue Jays on a seven-game losing streak since opening the season 2-0. They won the first two games of that series, and had a great chance to win the third before reigning home run king Jose Bautista ended their aspirations of a sweep with one swing.

Yet despite the series win over a solid baseball team, the stretch marked rock bottom in the last decade of Seattle baseball. How could that be, you ask? Let us peek at the attendance figures.

On Monday, Felix Hernandez faced off with one of the hardest-hitting lineups in baseball, his first start in Safeco Field as reigning Cy Young winner. He floundered, but in one of the young season’s great ironies, the soft-hitting Mariners put up eight runs in the last three innings, winning the game on reserve Luis Rodriguez’s walk-off single.

A total of 13,056 fans were in attendance, many of them absent by the time of the comeback (and many more booing as the team they travelled to see—the Blue Jays—gave away their lead). The largely anti-Mariner crowd was the smallest in the history of Safeco Field.

Two days later was almost predestined to re-set the dubious “record.” Instead of Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez, the young and relatively anonymous Jason Vargas took the bump. And the game started at 12:40. On a Wednesday.

Sure enough, 12,407 fans were on hand to watch the come-from-behind Jays victory, barely filling Safeco Field to one-fourth its capacity. ROOT Sports, Seattle’s local broadcaster, eventually gave up on showing groups of fans in the stands.

Twelve years does not make a stadium old, but it sure takes the luster off of it. By and large, people no longer attend Mariner games to see Ichiro or wander the beautiful ballpark; most Seattleites who want to go have been before, and the team isn’t good enough to draw them back.

Do not get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with the Safe. The family environment is still second-to-none. The problem is the team’s recent performance.

It has failed to make the playoffs every year since the miracle 116-win 2001 season. Only twice since then have the M’s finished as high as second in the four-team American League West.

The honors bestowed on the franchise since 2001 are more dubious ones, “first team to lose 100-plus games with a $100 million payroll” (2008) being the one that hurts most.  Last year, they again lost 101 games. The Mariners have ceased to be a conversation piece outside of sports radio hosts and the most diehard of fans.

Yet despite their struggles, Safeco had continued to have decent attendance numbers. Last year, despite the worst record in the American League, the Mariners finished 21st in attendance.

That time is over. Fans have gone from angry to apathetic—and indifferent fans do not attend games. The city’s Safeco Field saturation point also appears near, if it is not there yet. So where to go from here?

There are two reasons to have faith.

One is that the rainy, 50-degree days spent playing middling American League East teams will end as spring fades to summer. More fans will come out simply because of the weather and competition. (The Yankees visit for a weekend in May and the Red Sox do likewise in mid-August.)

The second reason for hope is longer-term, but hopefully more lasting. This team is getting better.

It appears, barring injury, that they have found their second ace of the future in Michael Pineda. The 6’6” fireballer has looked downright dominant, and maturity and his friendship with Hernandez will only help him on the mound. Young and powerful, Justin Smoak already helps anchor an admittedly weak lineup.

In AAA, 2B Dustin Ackley just hit his first home run of the season and looks to learn the ropes at second base—a position he converted to upon being drafted—in time to get his feet wet in the MLB when rosters expand in September.

And those are simply the two most well-known names. Nick Franklin, Alex Liddi and Kyle Seager are working their way towards the Safeco infield, hoping to complement Smoak and Ackley from the left side. A cavalcade of young arms is on the way as well, hoping to be ready to join the rotation over the next few years.

It is not an immediate solution to the attendance problem, and regrettably Safeco Field—as last series showed—no longer takes care of attendance on its own. Hopefully some crisp Seattle weather and a likeable group of young players will provide the immediate attendance relief.

And hopefully in a few years I won’t have to use phrases like “likeable young players” and “crisp Seattle weather” to give Seattleites a reason to head to Safeco Field.

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The Seattle Mariners haven’t had the start some fans were hoping for: just four wins through 13 games, but there’s no reason for worry.  They’ve had several inauspicious factors working against them early, and there are a couple of key elements that we’ll see come out as the season develops.

They have had a few difficult series matchups [(1) the young, talented Oakland A’s, (2) the 2010 AL Champion Texas Rangers, and (3) the Cleveland Indians, who were coming off a sweep of the World Series favorite Red Sox] that definitely hindered their ability to break out of last year’s slump. 

Another possible contribution to the Mariners’ sub-par opening is a lack of chemistry in the starting lineup. The nine guys who we usually see hitting for the Mariners don’t have the necessary trust that we often see in a winning team. 

Most fans and analysts have labeled 2011 as a rebuilding year for Seattle because they have a pretty new team, but I’m not throwing in the towel yet.  Here are five reasons why we won’t see the Mariners at the bottom of the AL West.

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A sport bruised by work stoppages. Millionaires fighting with billionaires. Fans showed their displeasure the best way they knew how. They stopped going to games.

Things picked back up in the late 1990s, with more fans piling into more parks than ever before.

There was some thought that fans came back because of the sudden surge of offense via the most exciting thing in the game, the home run.

Things really picked up in 1998 when Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Greg Vaughn all finished with 50 or more home runs, with McGwire and Sosa both eclipsing the record set by Roger Maris in 1961. Nine other players slugged over 40 homers.

A whole bunch of failed drug tests, grand jury indictments and 13 years later left people connecting the dots between that power surge and the use of performance enhancing drugs. Most notable of course being steroids.

So while saying home runs saved baseball was cliche at the time, there is now a thought that the very thing so many of us are upset about is what saved baseball.

I’m not so sure about that.

In the early 1980s, baseball had two short work stoppages. Eight days in 1980 and two days in 1985. Sandwiched between those was a 50-day dispute in 1981. Still, attendance stayed north of 20,000 per game league-wide, eventually rising to over 25,000 for the National League and nearly 30,000 for the American League.

Just as things were starting to get better, they got uglier.

The 32-day lockout in 1990 was nothing compared to the 232-day strike launched by the players in 1994 that wiped out the World Series for the first time.

After attendance averages had reached as high as nearly 37,000 for the senior circuit in 1993, the fans seemingly had enough.

Then came the aforementioned power surge and fans flowed back through the turnstiles as if they had turned the other cheek or decided to give their national pastime another chance.

Attendance rocketed into the 32,000 range for the AL and north of 38,000 for the NL where McGwire and Sosa were putting on the fireworks show.

With reasonable regression expected after the home run record chases, attendance league wide dropped to an average of around 30,000 per game in 2000. Throughout the next decade, we’d see a spike as high as 32,694 in 2007 with the low being around 28,000 during a small hiccup in 2002.

The league isn’t seeing the attendance it did in the late ’90s, but it’s not seeing the lows of the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s either.

With relative labor peace in baseball compared to the nasty fight with the NFL, and the one expected with the NBA, things have been smooth.

A sport once marred by strikes, lockouts, bickering and fighting has seen nothing but immense growth over the past 16 years thanks to revenue sharing, media and merchandising booms and more.

Did steroids save baseball?

I don’t think so.

Baseball, in all its beauty and glory, saved baseball. Just by showing up.

Alex Carson is a Mariners and MLB writer and blogger. Follow him on Twitter: @AlexCarson

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With the team headed to Safeco Field for the home opener against the Cleveland Indians Friday, hopes and expectations were high.

Sure, the M’s had won just two of their first six games. Sure, they had gone into Arlington and gotten their behinds handed to them by the Rangers.

But it was Opening Night, and somehow all was momentarily forgotten. Ichiro and King Felix were set to receive their awards in front of a sold-out crowd.

Local icon and rapper Macklemore performed his hit song, “My Oh My”, a lyrical tribute to the late broadcaster Dave Niehaus.

But boy, did the Mariners flop on Friday night. In what was one of their worst home openers in team history, the Mariners were thrashed by the Indians.

In the fourth inning, everything unraveled for Jason Vargas and the M’s. Five consecutive base hits were knocked off of Vargas, and it took him six batters to record his first out, an RBI sacrifice fly.

After former Mariner Jack Hannahan joined in on the batting practice session and  delivered an RBI single, Vargas’ night was over.

Vargas lasted just 3 1/3 innings as he was tossed around, giving up seven earned runs on nine hits. He struck out only one batter as the same command of his strikeout pitches exhibited against the Athletics was nowhere to be seen.

And the bullpen, one of the most well-rested in all of baseball, was in for a rude awakening. Reliever Tom Wilhemsen could not stop the bleeding, as he surrendered five runs in less than 1 2/3 innings.

But the chief concern for the Mariners tonight was Jason Vargas and his puzzling inconsistency. Vargas was impressive if not brilliant in Safeco Field last year, going 9-6 with a remarkable 2.84 ERA.

But after he followed up his outstanding performance against the A’s with this stinker, doubt has suddenly been cast as to whether or not he can stay as a reliable contributer in the rotation, much less the No. 2 starter.

Ichiro was the only M’s batter to accomplish anything of note, going 2 for 5 with 2 RBI on the night. Justin Smoak went 1 for 3 with a walk, continuing his streak of increased patience at the plate.

The problem with Friday evening’s game went past the 12-3 result that the scoreboard indicated. The M’s offense only generated six hits compared to the Indians’ 17, but it went past that too.

What pained me was the lack of effort and fight in the team, an indictment commonly made against the ’10 Mariners, who seemed to quit when things didn’t go right.

This lack of focus was epitomized by the throwing error and wild pitch made in the same play in the fifth inning, giving away an easy run.

And things certainly aren’t going right as the team falls to 2-5, desperately searching for a win.

But to quit now after a disappointing start would be ludicrous. The Mariners are obviously in dire need of a win, or at least something positive to build off. They’ll need the veteran leadership to step up as well.

But to seemingly toss in the towel as they did against the Indians is something the team cannot stand for. 

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It’s Opening Day, which means it’s time to put the spreadsheets away and head out to the ballpark for pampered grass, the smell of garlic fries and a rousing nine innings of pure bliss.

What better way to enjoy this event than sharpening your pencil and getting lost in a baseball game by keeping score?

That may not be for everyone. Perhaps you’re more into chatting, watching the Hydro Races and anticipating the start of The Wave.

Each fan has a unique way of enjoying a ballgame. We all have our own special love for the game. Some refuse to miss a pitch or leave early, and some just want to hang out and beat the traffic in the eight inning.

So for those of you who want to try something new this season at Safeco Field, this slideshow is for you. From food to views to people. This your guide to enjoying a unique experience at the House That Griffey Built.

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The Seattle Mariners need to learn from their mistakes as they prepare for their 2011 home opener.  After being swept by the Texas Rangers, they sit at 2-4 and in third place in the AL West, which is shaping up to be a difficult division.

The Rangers have the hottest bats in baseball, so for Seattle’s pitching to hold them to an average of 5.7 runs per game was pretty good. Boston pitchers allowed 8.7 runs per game in their three-game series with the Rangers, and the Red Sox are AL East favorites.

Erik Bedard looked great for his first start in more than a year. He had good control of his pitches and they were effective for the most part.

Rookie Michael Pineda had an impressive start. Giving up just three runs to the stacked Rangers’ batting order in six innings is pretty good. His pitches were crisp and we can expect a lot out of him as the year progresses.

King Felix even struggled with the hot hitters in Texas, letting in two runs over seven innings on six hits and three walks. Texas will inevitably cool down soon, though, and Mariner pitchers will have stronger starts.

The Mariners head back to Seattle for a day of rest and then a 10:10 p.m. EST matchup against the Cleveland Indians. The starters will certainly enjoy being back home at SAFECO, one of the biggest pitcher’s parks in the country, where they can settle down and work later into games.

Friday, April 8

Jason Vargas (0-0, 1.35 ERA) vs.Carlos Carrasco (0-1, 9.45 ERA)

Jason Vargas threw an awesome first game against the Oakland A’s, going 6.2 innings while allowing just one run. Vargas looks to solidify his second spot in the rotation behind the King. Carlos Carrasco had a shaky first start, giving up seven runs. The Mariners will look for a way to get their bats on the ball and give Vargas some support.

Pick: Mariners

Saturday, April 9

Doug Fister (0-1, 3.18 ERA) vs. Justin Masterson (1-0, 1.29 ERA)

Doug Fister looks to improve upon his last start at SAFECO Field, where he historically pitches much better. He’ll be up against Justin Masterson of the Indians, who had a quality first start, allowing just one run through seven, although he didn’t have any strikeouts. Strikeouts have been plaguing the Mariners, so a few innings exempt from K’s will definitely benefit Seattle’s hitting.

Pick: Indians

Sunday, April 10

Erik Bedard (0-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. Josh Tomlin (1-0, 1.29 ERA)

Erik Bedard looks to redeem himself in just his second start since the turn of the decade. Josh Tomlin looked good in his last start, holding the powerful Red Sox lineup to just one run through seven innings. This should shape up to be an intense pitching duel.

Pick: Mariners

Monday, April 11

Michael Pineda (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. Jesse Litsch (0-0, 0.0 ERA)

Michael Pineda also looks to prove himself in the second start of his rookie season. He showed good potential against the Rangers, and he’ll get a little bit of a break at SAFECO against the weaker Blue Jays lineup. Jesse Litsch will make his first start of the season.

Pick: Mariners

Tuesday, April 12

Felix Hernandez (1-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. Ricky Romero (1-0, 1.42 ERA)

The King has had two quality outings thus far, and there’s no reason he can’t continue.  He’ll have an easier job against a less potent Blue Jays offense and in his home park.  Ricky Romero has also been looking strong.

Pick: Mariners

Wednesday, April 13

Jason Vargas (1-0, 1.35 ERA) vs. Kyle Drabek (1-0, 1.29 ERA)

Kyle Drabek looked great in his first start. This will be another good matchup of young pitchers.  It will depend on how each team is hitting. Hopefully, with the predicted three-game winning streak coming in, the M’s will have some momentum to back Vargas up. Otherwise, it seems like Drabek might win this duel.

Pick: Jays

A projected 4-2 homestand would be a nice recovery from the sweep in Texas and would please the SAFECO crowd, an important part of the season. Mariners’ fans have been ridiculously loyal, even when they probably shouldn’t be.

Whenever I see a game on TV (unfortunately, I live in Virginia), there’s usually a pretty full crowd. Some rewarded faith would be a great morale booster.

Note:

Feel free to add your thoughts about the matchups in the comments section; I haven’t considered a lot of the variables that go into any given game.

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The Mariners sent Michael Pineda, their rookie right-hander, to the mound and got all they had hoped for from the young horse.

Unfortunately, as has become all too common, they didn’t get what they wanted from their offense.

Pineda looked sharp early, sitting in the mid-90’s with his fastball, occasionally reaching 97.

In the first inning, it almost looked too easy for Pineda as he retired Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus and reigning AL MVP Josh Hamilton in order with Kinsler and Hamilton going down via strikeout.

Things got a little dicey in the second as the Rangers got on the board with Nelson Cruz scoring on a Mitch Moreland triple that center fielder Michael Saunders misjudged. Saunders scaled the wall preparing to snare a home run ball back, only to see the ball ping off the wall as he twisted and turned.

The damage was limited to that one run, though, as Pineda kept the Mariners stagnant offense in the game as he cruised through the fifth inning with his pitch count only reaching 59 pitches.

In the sixth inning, Pineda started to run out of gas despite the low pitch count. He began to miss spots by wide margins, leaving balls up with catcher Miguel Olivo spotting his glove low.

In that frame, Kinsler lead off with a single to left that grazed the top of a jumping Jack Wilson’s glove. After Elvis Andrus moved Kinsler over to second with a sacrifice bunt, Hamilton drove him in with a double. Two batters later, Michael Young drove a double of his own to score Hamilton to push the score to 3-0.

The bleeding finally stopped after a Nelson Cruz flyout that would end up being Pineda’s final pitch of the night.

Rangers starter Alexi Ogando also exited the game after six innings due to a blister on his pitching hand, which opened the door for a potential Mariners comeback.

With former Mariner Mark Lowe on the mound for Texas, the Mariners were finally able to get something going offensively in the seventh inning. Miguel Olivo and Adam Kennedy reached base, followed by back-to-back RBI singles from Jack Wilson and Michael Saunders that put the Mariners in position to get Pineda off the hook.

Ichiro reached base on an error by Kinsler at second base, loading the bases with one out. However, a sharp lineout by Chone Figgins and a flyout by Milton Bradley ended the rally.

The final six batters of the game for the Mariners were retired in order, securing a tough loss for Pineda in his big league debut.

Pineda did face a heavily right-handed Rangers lineup he could succeed against. However, when the Texas bats struck, they struck for extra base hits with men on base.

If you’re the Mariners, you have to be pleased with this performance, though.

While there are many out there who thought Pineda’s secondary stuff needed more seasoning in the minors, the rookie looked like a grizzled veteran fighting for six mostly strong innings.

Michael Pineda clearly belongs.

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When he got ahead, he dominated. When he fell behind, he got roughed up.

There is a reason the above could describe any pitcher, from Roy Halladay to Bartolo Colon, but it was especially true of Michael Pineda in his MLB debut tonight.

Pineda gave up three earned runs. The first runner that scored reached on a walk. Josh Hamilton drove the second in by smashing a 2-2 hanging slider to deep right-center field. And the last was on a 3-1 pitch that veteran Michael Young saw coming from Houston.

But all told, Mariner fans have to be happy with the debut of Pineda. He struggled less than young Felix Hernandez used to, wasting fewer pitches and simply dominating when he got ahead in the count.

Just ask Adrian Beltre, who chased an outside slider in the fourth that he needed a cricket bat to hit.

Or Michael Young, who followed Beltre by striking out on a 96 mile per hour heater that he might have fouled off with a tennis racket. The entire fourth inning lasted 10 pitches.

With an arsenal as intimidating as Pineda’s—his fastball topped out around 96 and his slider hit about 86 with tight break on the outside half—it becomes nearly impossible for a hitter once he’s behind in the count.

It is also promising that young Pineda never got rattled and didn’t cave to the big inning potential that the Rangers have. Entering the game, they led the majors in runs scored and slugging percentage (by a whopping .081 over Cincinnati). And just for good measure, the game was in a big time hitter’s park in Arlington.

That four of the Rangers’ five hits went for extra-bases—and three of those four accounted for their three RBIs—speaks to Pineda’s need to remain ahead in the count. Staying ahead allows him to mix in his diving slider off the plate as a chase pitch rather than in situations where he needs a strike.

Pineda’s final line—6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 1BB, 58/84 Strikes—show a young pitcher with promise and poise, but who must learn how to stay ahead in the count and ensure his entire arsenal remains in play. Continuing to develop his secondary pitches won’t hurt either.

The future is bright.

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