At the beginning of the season, the Seattle Mariners were one of the few teams in Major League Baseball favored to make it to the World Series. So far, the Mariners have not looked like a division champion yet alone a World Series contender.
What in heck is happening and going on with the Mariners?
One could say that the players that are supposed to be producing just aren’t living up to their expectations, minus Nelson Cruz. Robinson Cano currently looks like a slightly better Dustin Ackley. At least he plays great defense. Kyle Seager may have nine home runs two months into the season, but when it is needed most, he hasn’t produced the big hit. Mariners’ catcher Mike Zunino can hit the cover off the ball, but he is batting .181 and can’t hit a curveball to save his life.
At the beginning of the season, it was the Mariners pitchers that were struggling. There are only two pitchers in the Mariners rotation that have been consistently good all year long, Felix Hernandez and surprisingly J.A. Happ. Taijuan Walker has struggled all season. James Paxton had a stretch of two or three games where he was virtually unhittable, but other than that he has been a disappointment. Hishasi Iwakuma hasn’t pitched in almost two months and there is no telling when he will be coming back.
The bullpen is an entirely different story. Won’t get into too many details, but Fernando Rodney couldn’t save himself from drowning in the tub let alone a baseball game right now.
On Wednesday, the Mariners made a trade for Mark Trumbo from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sure they added a player with some pop that might make the middle of their lineup a little better, but don’t hold your breathe. He has a career .248 batting average and a .298 OBP percentage in his five plus year career. Guess he can’t do much worse than what is already in the lineup and he will also be an improvement over Ackley at the plate.
Maybe it’s time for the Mariners to call Jesús Montero back up. He is currently killing it in AAA and the Mariners could use a killer in the lineup at the junction of the season. He is currently hitting .312 and has eight home runs and 43 RBI’s. What’s the worst that can happen if you bring him up? He struggles like everyone else on the big club? Oh well, it’s not like they are going to have a winning season anyway. Your's truly did say earlier this year that 2015 would be Montero's year.
The Houston Astros are playing great baseball at the moment. There is no telling if they will continue playing this well into the dog days of summer. The Mariners can't sit back and wait for the teams above them to collapse. They need to make their move now. If they don't get this season back on course right now, there will be 15 year old kids that have never seen their hometown team in the MLB playoffs. Hell, this writer just graduated high school the last time they played in the postseason. Let me tell you, that feels like a long, long time ago. Not sure how much more one can take.
Don’t worry; this writer hasn’t jumped ship yet. He will always love and follow the Mariners no matter how many times they break his heart.