Series Preview: Mariners (29-43) at Athletics (35-34)

The Mariners leave Minnesota following a demoralizing bullpen implosion to take on the A’s. This is only the Mariner’s second trip to the Bay Area and the fourth series against their division rivals this season. They take on an A’s team that is a smidge above .500 and has won 4 of their last 5 games. They should be due for a loss or two. Perhaps the beat, beat, beat of the (incessant, annoying) drum at the Oakland Coliseum will help Mariner pitchers find a rhythm and revive the team.

With the exception of the last three games in Minnesota, the Mariners have played division rivals exclusively for the last three weeks. This series will wrap up that stretch. The Athletics continue to play better after beginning the season down in the AL West basement, and find themselves legitimate Wild Card contenders at only 1.5 games out. They haven’t exploded, but do seem to have improved a bit each time the Mariners see them.

Since returning from a hamate bone injury just over a month ago, Matt Olson has hit 11 home runs. He also boasts an above average 28.6% strikeout rate. After a dismal April, Jurikson Profar continues to boost his numbers. He put up a 96 wRC+ in May and so far in June is at 93 (He has a 33 wRC+ in April). He hasn’t started against lefties recently, so we may not see him the first couple games.

Probable Pitchers

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

Chris Bassitt made his way back from Tommy John surgery last year, making seven starts for the A’s down the stretch. He had shown some promise way back in 2015 but his injury derailed any progress that he was making. Now that he’s healthy again, he’s showing off some of the skills that made him an intriguing arm back then. He’s struck out almost a quarter of the batters he’s faced this year, though his overall strikeout-to-walk ratio isn’t that great. He’s also given up his fair share of home runs, which has pushed his FIP well above his ERA. The odd thing is that he hasn’t allowed that much hard contact overall—he’s posted the seventh lowest hard contact rate among starting pitchers this year. That’s helped him keep his BABIP fairly low.

Frankie Montas has always had overpowering stuff but he’s never really been able to harness it. Earlier in his career, he suffered from extreme wildness, never really knowing where his pitches were going. Last year, he started throwing his sinker far more often and that helped him get his wildness under control. Unfortunately, it meant that he wasn’t striking out as many batters. This year, it looks like he’s finally figured everything out. He’s added a splitter to his repertoire and it’s been an excellent addition to an already impressive arsenal. He’s still throwing his sinker as his primary fastball but has mixed in his four-seamer a little more often. The result is career-best marks in strikeout-to-walk ratio, groundball rate, ERA, and FIP.

From the previous series preview:

Mike Fiers increased the usage of his four-seam fastball and his big 12-6 curveball when he joined the A’s last year and he’s still using both of them as his primary pitches. When he’s able to command his fastball at the top of the zone, like he did against the Reds when he spun a no-hitter, he can be very effective. But as soon as that command slips, that fastball becomes extremely prone to leave the park. He’s also struggled to replicate the same kind of whiff rates with his fastball he enjoyed earlier in his career, making his no-hitter even more of a curiosity.

This will be the fourth time the Mariners have faced Mike Fiers this year. The first time, in Japan, the Mariners crushed him, scoring five runs in three innings off him. In May, he faced the Mariners twice, allowing a combined four runs across 11 innings.

The Big Picture: