Series Preview: Seattle Mariners @ Oakland Athletics

by Matthew on May 17, 2010 1:00 PM PDT in Seattle Mariners Previews

Seattle: 14-23
Oakland: 18-20

	MARINERS	Δ Ms	ATHLETICS	EDGE
HITTING (wOBA)	-35.9 (29th)	-3.3	-16.4 (24th)	Oakland
FIELDING (?)	18.3 (4th)	0.0	3.1 (19th)	Seattle
ROTATION (tRA)	-0.3 (16th)	3.8	3.4 (15th)	Oakland
BULLPEN (tRA)	-5.4 (25th)	-0.2	-3.0 (21st)	Oakland
OVERALL(RAA)	-23.3 (24th)	0.3	-12.9 (19th)	OAKLAND

What's to say? The team has been playing better of late, but has been unable to close out victories. Bad luck is a big part of it, but the Mariners don't get to use bad luck as a reason for resetting their record and they don't get to cash in a similar amount of good luck from here on out. There're no guarantees. What's done is done and the team is in a tough spot.

It's pretty amazing to think that if they had managed to hold onto the 8th-inning leads against Baltimore and Tampa in the last four games, Seattle would be just 2.5 games out of first and on a sizable roll of momentum. Instead, we're here. Are the Mariners going to make the playoffs this year? Probably not. If that's the only reason you watch baseball then I don't have anything to tell you.

Can they make the playoffs? Absolutely. They could even make the playoffs without making any significant roster changes though that would certainly dim their odds a little. Realistically though there is not an array of bold moves they could make that would dramatically alter the team's talent level. They need to maximize what they have, and we have talked about that. After that, I think the best bet might be to just wait it out for another couple weeks. It's tough to take - inaction is always decried when things are going poorly - but random action is often no better. Just ask 2006.

Mon May 17, 19:05: Ryan Rowland-Smith* vs. Gio Gonzalez*

Tue May 18, 19:05: Felix Hernandez vs. Ben Sheets

Yet another please turn in a good performance Ryan day. I think he can get it turned around, but he is running out of time. I hope he does it though both because he seems like a nice guy and also because him doing well is a lot better for the team than him doing what he's been doing. Win-win!

A rematch of Opening Day in the second half of the series that I can only hope goes as well as the first time. Remember how much fun that was, being 1-0? It was like when the Sounders beat Philadelphia 2-0 to open their 2010 season or when the Seahawks trounced the Rams 28-0. Oh! God! We should have seen this coming!

Ryan Rowland-Smith

Felix Hernandez

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	49%	88	45	65	35
Curve	19%	72	35	75	70
Change	18%	80	50	50	35
Sinker	10%	88	20	50	25
Overall	--	--	35	60	40

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	68%	94	75	60	75
Slider	13%	88	75	65	75
Curve	11%	83	55	45	65
Change	8%	87	70	70	80
Overall	--	--	75	65	80

Gio Gonzalez

Ben Sheets

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	60%	91	65	45	35
Curve	28%	78	80	35	80
Change	8%	83	35	20	70
Overall	--	--	65	25	60

Pitch	%	Sp	K	BB	GB
Fastball	63%	93	70	75	45
Curve	29%	80	60	65	50
Change	7%	84	55	40	60
Overall	--	--	60	70	40

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Comments

It seems like the story won't change until we start winning games.

The Mariners roster isn’t optimal and why the hell isn’t it being changed.
They aren’t this bad.
They need to stop getting unlucky and hopefully get lucky.
We need to start winning or the season will be gone before we know it.

Let’s hope we can just enjoy Felix day and RRS can figure out how to be average again.

@ERiC_UW

by lailaihei on May 17, 2010 1:35 PM PDT reply actions