Am I the only one happy about this series?

[dumbrabbit]

I know this sounds dumb but I'm really happy how the way the M's handled themselves this week. The Red Sox are leading the AL EAST so I wasn't expecting much. But we won the first game which I was surprised in. We had some great offense this week but Boston is clearly the better team. Smoak had some robbed home runs this series. We drove in runs, which kind of has been a problem this year; also we hit a lot this series. We did everything we could it's just that Boston is so much more better than we are.

If this series was Oakland or Chicago(both teams) I'm sure we would've won at least 3/4 the way we played this week.

 

[cezero]

I'm relatively happy with the whole road trip.

This season is over, so I'm just looking at what is going to work next year.

Offense from some of the youngsters was pretty good overall in this series. It's really all I care about for the rest of this year, since I'm pretty sure that pitching will be as solid or more next year.

I'm seeing good things from Miller/Franklin/Seager, and I actually have hope that all 3 will continue to improve. I really don't pay attention to much else other than Zunino behind the plate because I don't give a flying fuck where the likes of Smoak, Saunders, or Ackley are this year or next.

Really hope to keep Morales around as a mentor, and perhaps pick up another.

 

[Logicallylethal]

You're not the only one...at this point wins and losses are like whatever because it's not like we're gonna be able to string enough w's together to make the playoffs

So in the series being able to see Miller go like 8-17...Smoak hit well...and overall the offense just looking real nice and providing some entertaining baseball...I came away happy with the 1-3 series loss to the Sox

 

[dumbrabbit]

Raul. WHAT THE FUCK. 23rd homer

 

[dumbrabbit]

6-0 Mariners. Looks like progress is being made.

 

[cezero]

This is why I'm pretty happy with the M's right now.

Offense has been competent for the past 10 games or so, win or lose.

Pitching could be excellent next year, and if Seager/Franklin/Miller keep developing as they are right now, it could be interesting to watch next year.

 

[blstoker]

Since April 22nd the M's have had a solid performance coming from the middle of their order. Ibanez, Morales, Seager and Smoak have all been hitting well. Between the four of them they are batting .289 with 52 HRs and a slugging percentage of .515 in the 72 games (not including the game tonight). These 4 are accounting for nearly 3 runs a game.

It's kind've sad that the team is finally getting some offensive production and the pitching staff is now ranked 11th in the AL (the lowest the team has been since 2008).

 

[dude82]

The offense is on a pretty good roll right now and it goes beyond just the Boston series. The kids that we brought up recently seem to have put a charge into the entire offense and they're finally starting to hit with runners in scoring position more frequently. The homeruns in 20 straight games have been great, but they're starting to score runs in bunches without necessarily having to rely on the homerun. Another thing I've noticed since the rookies came on board is that we're starting to see speed become a factor for this offense again. They're not stealing a ton of bases, but we are seeing more first-to-thirds than we were before and that is helping push more runs across. There was too much station-to-station hitting before and you're not going to score as many runs that way. It is both surprising and fantastic that Justin Smoak's bat has come alive before September. If he has finally figured it out at the plate and it isn't just one long hot streak like he's had the last two Septembers, it is and will continue to be a tremendous lift for this offense going forward. The potential loss of Morales and/or Morse for next year makes it imperative that this be more than just a hot streak for Smoak.

Last thing... MLB screwed up big by not having Ibanez at least on the ballot for the final roster spot in the American League for the all-star game. I don't care that he's "only" hitting .264 and has almost as many strikeouts as he does hits... the man is tied for 3rd in the American League in homers and has more homeruns than any OF/DH actually voted/selected to the all-star team, has the 5th most RBI among OF/DH in the American League and is ahead of two guys who were selected to the team, Gordon and Hunter, in that category, has the 4th highest SLG% in the American League and the 8th best OPS. Did I mention that he's done all of this in roughly 10-20 fewer games than everyone else? He deserved to at least be considered for the game.

I realize that every team has to have a rep and that the M's already had two guys on the team, so he was caught in a numbers game in that respect, but it's ridiculous to me that he wasn't even considered by the coaches for a bench spot and that he didn't at least make the ballot for the final roster spot for the fans to vote on. Since the winning league has home-field in the World Series, each team should want the best roster they can put together and Ibanez has been one of the best power hitters in the league this year.

 

[Logicallylethal]

Not sure if there's a way to find out this stat without literally having to go through every box score...but I think the Mariners lead the majors in SOLO homeruns and while these solo jacks are nice...our team could really be .500 or plus .500 right now if more of those solo homeruns were 2 run or 3 run jacks

 

[Logicallylethal]

Last thing... MLB screwed up big by not having Ibanez at least on the ballot for the final roster spot in the American League for the all-star game. I don't care that he's "only" hitting .264 and has almost as many strikeouts as he does hits... the man is tied for 3rd in the American League in homers and has more homeruns than any OF/DH actually voted/selected to the all-star team, has the 5th most RBI among OF/DH in the American League and is ahead of two guys who were selected to the team, Gordon and Hunter, in that category, has the 4th highest SLG% in the American League and the 8th best OPS. Did I mention that he's done all of this in roughly 10-20 fewer games than everyone else? He deserved to at least be considered for the game.

I realize that every team has to have a rep and that the M's already had two guys on the team, so he was caught in a numbers game in that respect, but it's ridiculous to me that he wasn't even considered by the coaches for a bench spot and that he didn't at least make the ballot for the final roster spot for the fans to vote on. Since the winning league has home-field in the World Series, each team should want the best roster they can put together and Ibanez has been one of the best power hitters in the league this year.

To be honest...I think Raul not being selected into the all star game has to do with the game having home field advantage on the line now.

Here's my take on it. If you're the manager of the AL roster you are trying to field the best roster possible from top to bottom. So while Raul has put up some amazing power numbers this year...I think as an AL manager the thinking was probably...our line up already has enough power in it and enough bats to generate runs...the team would probably benefit from having a more versatile player like zobrist on the team who could play multiple positions and tori hunter who has a good enough bat but an even better glove that could come in handy late in the game

So while I feel like Raul deserves to be on the team...I could also see why a manager might have felt like with so much on the line his team needed more defense and versatility on the bench rather than more power...just my thought on it

 

[blstoker]

Not sure if there's a way to find out this stat without literally having to go through every box score...but I think the Mariners lead the majors in SOLO homeruns and while these solo jacks are nice...our team could really be .500 or plus .500 right now if more of those solo homeruns were 2 run or 3 run jacks

The M's are tied for the lead in the AL in solo HRs (72) with Baltimore, and has the 3rd highest percentage of HRs coming without anyone on base (63.7%). Though to be fair, only Detroit doesn't have a majority of their HRs as solo shots (only 44.6%).

 

[SeattleCoug]

Take out the 8 game losing streak and they have only play a couple games under .500 this season. Thats's with inconsistent 3-5 starters, a questionable bullpen and the terrible hitting with RISP for the most part. I'd like to think Smoak has turned a corner but we have seen him have good months before. I mean if Smoak is here to stay then we could have potentially good core infield with him Franklin, Miller and Seagar. Outfield is still a work in progress. Can we rely on Saunders and Ackley going forward? We will probably have to add one via FA in the offseason.

 

[Logicallylethal]

Take out the 8 game losing streak and they have only play a couple games under .500 this season. Thats's with inconsistent 3-5 starters, a questionable bullpen and the terrible hitting with RISP for the most part. I'd like to think Smoak has turned a corner but we have seen him have good months before. I mean if Smoak is here to stay then we could have potentially good core infield with him Franklin, Miller and Seagar. Outfield is still a work in progress. Can we rely on Saunders and Ackley going forward? We will probably have to add one via FA in the offseason.

Not to mention the 5-6 heart breaking losses by a walk off or run scored in extra innings. I think the biggest issue is definitely our bullpen. We have like 2-3 guys in the pen who are guaranteed to give up at least one run if they come in to pitch.

The good news is Stephen Pryor is starting to make his way back. He just finished pitching a simulated game, so he should be ready for a rehab assignment very soon. Once we get pryor back, get erasmo back in the groove, and even get Morse back (my god...think about this power surge and we're doing it without one of our best hr hitters) our team is looking real solid.

Personally, I hope we hang on to Morales and Morse. Despite our record...I don't think our team is really that far away. The cap is there for us to resign both Morales and Morse and even add another impact player (some veteran arms in the pen? an outfield bat?)

This is the most optimism I have had for the team in years.

 

[dude82]

To be honest...I think Raul not being selected into the all star game has to do with the game having home field advantage on the line now.

Here's my take on it. If you're the manager of the AL roster you are trying to field the best roster possible from top to bottom. So while Raul has put up some amazing power numbers this year...I think as an AL manager the thinking was probably...our line up already has enough power in it and enough bats to generate runs...the team would probably benefit from having a more versatile player like zobrist on the team who could play multiple positions and tori hunter who has a good enough bat but an even better glove that could come in handy late in the game

So while I feel like Raul deserves to be on the team...I could also see why a manager might have felt like with so much on the line his team needed more defense and versatility on the bench rather than more power...just my thought on it

Yeah, you're probably right. I do think the "at least one rep per team" thing really makes it harder on the managers for the game too. It's possible that they wanted to put Raul on the team, but had to leave him off because the M's already had two reps and another team didn't have one.

 

[RegentDenali]

We sacrificed pitching during the offseason to get some pop in the bats. An while we paid the price for that and we've dealt with slumps, we have got a lot more pop as advertised. I knew we were not a playoff team yet, but I see we got a lot to work with, with Felix, Iwakuma, and the youth core of bats, the Ms are not a trainwreck.

 

[mcnabb7542]

We sacrificed pitching during the offseason to get some pop in the bats. An while we paid the price for that and we've dealt with slumps, we have got a lot more pop as advertised. I knew we were not a playoff team yet, but I see we got a lot to work with, with Felix, Iwakuma, and the youth core of bats, the Ms are not a trainwreck.

They need to keep hitting after the all star break, this second half they could be a major pain in the arse for other teams trying to make the playoffs, plus it teaches the younger guys what a pennant race can feel like, Jack Z best move, not to move any of the vets on offense, let them keep talking to these younger guys, maybe just maybe they can pull some young arms up from the farm and help .....