Where to begin?
First off, I am just as shocked as many of you probably are that this is the recap for tonight's shitshow of a baseball game. I'll be honest - I did not watch this game, despite being there. None of the writers were able or willing to write a recap for a game that honestly doesn't deserve one, and I volunteered to cover this. Don't expect more of this from me, barring anything drastic and wacky.
So, this game. One of the best things about baseball is that even in shitshow games like this, some things go right. Even something as small as a young player showing some plate discipline or a fringe starter putting out a very solid outing is enough to feel some tiny, almost imperceptible shred of something resembling hope. There is reason to believe that this team could be good next year, however absurd that thought seems.
But, as it has for the entire 2015 season, the bullpen dumpster fired all over the place. This is, without a doubt in my mind, the worst bullpen I have ever seen in the Major Leagues. While the 2010 Mariners' bullpen was the overall worst, I cannot remember the last time any bullpen has blown so many high-leverage situations. Every single reliever in that bullpen, minus Tom Wilhelmsen, has been complete garbage since the calendar turned into August. I cannot imagine even the most conservative baseball people thinking the pen would regress this horribly and wretchedly.
Bullet points!!!! =)
- Vidal Nuno really pitched well tonight. He threw a lot of strikes (68 out of 103 pitches) and was able to mostly cruise through 6.2 innings, an outing that was desperately needed for a taxed bullpen. Of course, because these are the 2015 Seattle Mariners, it ended up not mattering. It's gotta be tough to be Nuno: the last time he recorded a win was on June 27, 2014, despite pitching reasonably well since then. Wins are a dumb stat, but there's no way it doesn't mean a little something to the pitcher who gets it.
- Ketel Marte walked twice, continuing to show excellent plate discipline. He will need to hit for at least a little bit of power to have any chance in hell of maintaining this walk rate, but it's been nice to see a Mariners prospect come up and have an actual knowledge of the strike zone. Marte could very well be the 3 WAR SS/CF we've all been wanting. I am very high on Ketel Marte.
- Jesus Montero did this with runners on first and second to end the fourth inning:
- Franklin Gutierrez has easily been the best story of 2015. After smacking around a lefty starter like the kind of player this team has needed for so long once again tonight, his slash line sits at a pretty .300/.336/.600. The Mariners have two players that have a slugging percentage of .600 over at least 100 PA: Guti and Nelson Cruz. Imagine if somebody told you that last December. They would wreck the entire league.
- Fernando Rodney was DFA'd. Rodney has been the poster child and whipping boy for the entire bullpen's struggles this season, and most of it has been deserved. There has never been a pitcher that inspired such dread every time he sauntered out to the mound, possibly after a romp through the woods. Rodney the person is super awesome and hilarious, and it's honestly a shame that this season ended up the way it did. Godspeed, Fernando. Keep being you.
That's five sliders, all out of the zone, all swung at. Montero's strikeout rate is now at 28.5% in an admittedly smallish sample size. He has two hits in his last 25 plate appearances. I'm starting to think he might just not be good.