Mini-Advance Scout: Mariners, August 31-September 2

Friday, August 31 2007 @ 05:55 PM EDT

Contributed by: Alex Obal

The Jays will encounter a desperate opponent this weekend. The freefalling Mariners have lost six games in a row.

The M's are 5.5 games behind LA of A and 1 behind the Yankees. They'll play a three-game series in the Bronx starting Monday which may very well define their season. With the Yankees in Tampa Bay this weekend, the Mariners really need to take two of three from the Jays to stay within striking distance. For this series, they'll run their 2-3-4 starters out there. For the Jays, it could be better (no Horacio Ramirez); could also be worse (no Felix Hernandez).

Seattle's bullpen is very tired. Last night, the Mariners took a heartbreaking 6-5 walk-off loss at Jacobs Field. The night began with a buzz surrounding Ichiro's world-famous commentary on the city of Cleveland. Then it got weird. Horacio Ramirez took a shutout into the sixth inning and left with a lead. Then it got weirder: the Mariners' bullpen handed the lead away. Seattle used five relief pitchers over the course of the game, which was tied 5-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Amazingly, J.J. Putz, whose name should appear on a few AL MVP ballots, never pitched, and Eric O'Flaherty and Rick White (Rick White?!) surrendered the winning run on a walkoff walk. I'm not particularly quick to attack managers for slave-to-the-save moves, but this one was just indefensible. The Indians' 3-4-5 hitters were due up and Putz was sequestered in the bullpen until the bitter end. Putz still hasn't pitched since last Friday. The Mariners deserved to lose.

One bright spot from that game was Adam Jones' first homer of the year. Jones has had some trouble hitting big-league pitching - 10 strikeouts, 1 walk - so he's had some trouble cracking the Mariners' lineup. I'm hoping to see him play this weekend, but I figure the Mariners will probably only sneak him into the lineup against lefties. At least until his first three-homer game. We shall see. It took the Mariners long enough to call him up in the first place; teams without a use for an outfielder with a minor-league OPS pushing 1.000 are certainly rare.

The Credit Section: All offensive stats, pitches per PA for pitchers and league average stats are from the Hardball Times. Pitchers' stats and leverage indices are from Fangraphs. Minor-league stats are from Minor League Splits and First Inning. K% and BB% are strikeouts and walks as a percentage of plate appearances; GB% + LD% + FB% = 100.


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