One month Down

So let’s be honest here. Who among us expected the Mariners in the first month of the season to go 13-9. I will stand at the front fo that line. There was no way I thought that would have been possible. This has been a pleasant surprise and I hope that they can continue this streak.

Let’s take a moment to talk about that for thought. Can they continue this streak? Well I would argue that they might very well be able to. First it’s obvious that the offense can be, and has been at times, awful. Let’s also agree that it cannot get much worse than it has been at its bleakest points this year. You have to assume that guys like Ichiro, Beltre, and Lopez will come around and hit for their normal averages. So that being said you have to expect the offense is going to get better, maybe it is only going to be marginally better, but better none the less. What this means I don't know. Maybe a run or two a game? Maybe less. But the fact is it will get better.

The pitching has really been nothing short of superb. Felix and Bedard have been lights out, Bedards start yesterday was not a great one but he gutted it out for 5 innings tried to go six but he just didn’t have his good stuff. But with those two at the top of the rotation you have streak starters and stoppers. The last part of our rotation is interesting; Silva is a great clubhouse guy but not a great starter. I realize the M's are stuck with him and his absurd contract so lets just hope that he can gut out 5-6 innings a start with 3-4 runs each time. That could result in a .500 record in his starts and I would take that. Washburn you just have to hope he can pitch like he has in the beginning of this season up to the trade deadline. Keep that rolling and lets get something decent for him at the deadline.

Jakubauskas is an interesting guy. He has been pretty solid, other than the bad Game against Tampa that Pete and I had the pleasure of freezing though along with Dozens of other fans. He keeps you in the game which is all you can ask for from a 5th starter. Ideally I would like him to replace Silva in the rotation with RWS comes back but all indications are that the battle is between Jakubauskas and RWS. It's unfortunate but true. Perhaps after the trade deadline we can get both these guys regular spots in the rotation.

The point of all this is that the rotation has kept you in ball games and as long as they can do that this team can win.

There was a post on Geoff Bakers blog the other day about the team defense metric. It was really interesting. This team leads the league in errors however that is not a good way to show how good this team D is. This team has the ability to get to more balls than anyone else in the league. The ground the outfield can cover is nothing short of insane. Beltre is such a good defensive 3rd basemen. The plays he makes on a regular basis are fantastic. It is going to be sad when the day comes that he is no longer a mariner, and I believe that day is coming.

The team is winning on its pitching and Defense which is exactly what Jack said he was building the team for. Pitching can be up and down but defense is a pretty stable commodity. The hopes of this season will rest on this Rotations ability to continue to keep this team in games. The offense will get better and the defense will continue to run everything that is hit down. All that rotation needs to do is keep it close and see more winning months.

Back to work now, I have rambled enough.

One last note a few years back mike and I did a post about which the mariners should go get. We both posted a young talent and stated why they mariners should go get him. I posted Zach Grienke, this kid really has put it all together. How great would he look along with Felix and Bedard……