Basically every year somebody becomes a Moog and posts a "Mariners baby!" thread. And basically every year we face disappointment by May.
Par for the course. The Mariners are a top 5 team in baseball in April and the first week of May. After that, they're a little better than the Pirates, until the last 3 weeks of the season of course. That's when they go on a run, and give you false hope going into the next season.
Everyone says the roster this year is an improvement over last year, but last year's team winning 92 games was fool's gold. That was really an 80 win team and this year probably maxes out at 85, tops.
The one hope, as has been pointed out, is that the team is legitimately young and a couple valuable guys are out right now. The schedule for the rest of May is rough and they may find themselves 10 games under .500 by the end of the month.
Everyone wins 60, everyone loses 60, it's a 42 game season...It's not fun to watch right now, but last year the Braves were under .500 until August 8th. IDK what will happen, but I know it's not gonna happen without Haniger...
If you don’t believe that Kelenic is useless, you are dumb. Nobody turns out good after hitting .173 in over 400 at bats. He’s striking out twice a game for Tacoma so far too. He’s a bust.
Plenty of players struggle when initially called up. They don’t struggle for this long and this consistently. There has been no improvement and if anything, he’s getting worse.
Maybe years down the line he will be a solid big leaguer. A league average type player. It will never happen in Seattle.
Dipoto made some good moves on paper, but he’s gotta go. He had plenty of time.
Everyone wins 60, everyone loses 60, it's a 42 game season...It's not fun to watch right now, but last year the Braves were under .500 until August 8th. IDK what will happen, but I know it's not gonna happen without Haniger...
Being Mariner fan is like watching the same movie 20 times, and each time expecting a different ending.
Everyone wins 60, everyone loses 60, it's a 42 game season...It's not fun to watch right now, but last year the Braves were under .500 until August 8th. IDK what will happen, but I know it's not gonna happen without Haniger...
Being Mariner fan is like watching Jonestown 20 times, and each time expecting a different ending.
Everyone wins 60, everyone loses 60, it's a 42 game season...It's not fun to watch right now, but last year the Braves were under .500 until August 8th. IDK what will happen, but I know it's not gonna happen without Haniger...
Being Mariner fan is like watching Jonestown 20 times, and each time expecting a different ending.
Julio winning Rookie of the Year is about all the M’s have going. He had a slow start but is probably the best hitter on the team already.
Thats not true. Not even close.
You're always too quick to jump to conclusions about individual players. You got one right on Kelenic though.
What else do the M’s have worth watching? I didn’t mean they have no other decent players. They have Crawford, Lewis (when healthy), and France. By the end of the year, Julio will have had the best season besides maybe France.
Julio winning ROY is the only thing the M’s have going because they aren’t sniffing the playoffs. Even if they started hitting better, the bullpen is terrible. TSIO.
Julio winning Rookie of the Year is about all the M’s have going. He had a slow start but is probably the best hitter on the team already.
Thats not true. Not even close.
You're always too quick to jump to conclusions about individual players. You got one right on Kelenic though.
What else do the M’s have worth watching? I didn’t mean they have no other decent players. They have Crawford, Lewis (when healthy), and France. By the end of the year, Julio will have had the best season besides maybe France.
Julio winning ROY is the only thing the M’s have going because they aren’t sniffing the playoffs. Even if they started hitting better, the bullpen is terrible. TSIO.
Funny that the bullpen would stick out as the biggest weakness at this point. Shows how fast and easy a lineup can fall apart. Giles, Swanson and Sadler being hurt has been a blow. Steckenrider sucking was not surprising.
They aren't out of the playoffs. TSINO Roadie. Their best hitting is ahead of them, as is a stronger bullpen.
Or not. I won't lose sleep either way but I'll still be interested in individual performance even if they keep sucking.
I hear ya, Roadie, it's frustrating. In addition to those named, they have Gilbert and Kirby, who are pretty fucking good. Robbie Ray is filthy when right, and Marco (when right) is Jamie Moyer resurrected. Frazier is pretty good, and Winker is currently pounding balls right at people. Suarez is Seager-Lite, without the defense, although he has a hand cannon for an arm.
I listened to Andy McKay (player development) on the radio after they sent Kelenic down, and he said some really interesting stuff that I agree with.
McKay said that when young MLB players get sent down, 90% of the time it has nothing to do with mechanics. It is completely on the mental side, and about working through the day-to-day dealings of playing a game of failure...succeed 30% of the time, you're an All Star. You can't do that when you are obsessing over the 70% that you fail, because it becomes 75%, 80%...yada yada, which is Kelenic right now, and maybe for ever. He can't let the last...pitch, at-bat, game, go. They all go through it, but the guys that are wired really tight always struggle with it. The most important pitch in the game is the next one, and you're one hit away from feeling good again.
He also (paraphrasing) talked about something I've talked about for years with my guys, which is the fact that you can't make yourself produce, you must let yourself produce...in other words, trying harder does nothing for you...try easier, let yourself perform. It's a game of confidence, straight up.
"I 'aint in a slump, I just 'aint hitting right now". -Yogi Berra
I hear ya, Roadie, it's frustrating. In addition to those named, they have Gilbert and Kirby, who are pretty fucking good. Robbie Ray is filthy when right, and Marco (when right) is Jamie Moyer resurrected. Frazier is pretty good, and Winker is currently pounding balls right at people. Suarez is Seager-Lite, without the defense, although he has a hand cannon for an arm.
I listened to Andy McKay (player development) on the radio after they sent Kelenic down, and he said some really interesting stuff that I agree with.
McKay said that when young MLB players get sent down, 90% of the time it has nothing to do with mechanics. It is completely on the mental side, and about working through the day-to-day dealings of playing a game of failure...succeed 30% of the time, you're an All Star. You can't do that when you are obsessing over the 70% that you fail, because it becomes 75%, 80%...yada yada, which is Kelenic right now, and maybe for ever. He can't let the last...pitch, at-bat, game, go. They all go through it, but the guys that are wired really tight always struggle with it. The most important pitch in the game is the next one, and you're one hit away from feeling good again.
He also (paraphrasing) talked about something I've talked about for years with my guys, which is the fact that you can't make yourself produce, you must let yourself produce...in other words, trying harder does nothing for you...try easier, let yourself perform. It's a game of confidence, straight up.
"I 'aint in a slump, I just 'aint hitting right now". -Yogi Berra
...Aaaaand, they've gotta fix the bullpen.
Very good point on Kelenic. And I agree the problems go well beyond talent. The Mariners let him have over 400 at bats of unequivocal failure. Now when he gets called up again and struggles, the fans boo, the media writes and talks about the struggles, he’s in his head again, starts trying too hard, and the cycle continues.
His only chance is getting out of the organization. It will not happen in Seattle. The damage has been done.
It's been very clear to me with Kelenic it is 100% mental. He has 2 or 3 instances where I have seen reports of him "changing his swing" because of the slump. Hes a MLB player, he doesn't need to be doing that. Tweaking stuff? Sure but changing your swing is just weird and reeks of finding an excuse why he hasn't been hitting.
When Kelenic squares a ball up he hits it harder than almost everyone on the team. His issue is that his at bats are fucking TERRIBLE. His mental breaks after the first pitch. Watches a fastball right down the tube, swings at off speed way out of the zone... great now you are at 0-2 and have already mentally folded. The at bat is over at that point.
Someone just needs to slap him and tell him to play fucking baseball and not hero ball.
Comments
If you don’t believe that Kelenic is useless, you are dumb. Nobody turns out good after hitting .173 in over 400 at bats. He’s striking out twice a game for Tacoma so far too. He’s a bust.
Plenty of players struggle when initially called up. They don’t struggle for this long and this consistently. There has been no improvement and if anything, he’s getting worse.
Maybe years down the line he will be a solid big leaguer. A league average type player. It will never happen in Seattle.
Dipoto made some good moves on paper, but he’s gotta go. He had plenty of time.
You're always too quick to jump to conclusions about individual players. You got one right on Kelenic though.
Julio winning ROY is the only thing the M’s have going because they aren’t sniffing the playoffs. Even if they started hitting better, the bullpen is terrible. TSIO.
They aren't out of the playoffs. TSINO Roadie. Their best hitting is ahead of them, as is a stronger bullpen.
Or not. I won't lose sleep either way but I'll still be interested in individual performance even if they keep sucking.
I listened to Andy McKay (player development) on the radio after they sent Kelenic down, and he said some really interesting stuff that I agree with.
McKay said that when young MLB players get sent down, 90% of the time it has nothing to do with mechanics. It is completely on the mental side, and about working through the day-to-day dealings of playing a game of failure...succeed 30% of the time, you're an All Star. You can't do that when you are obsessing over the 70% that you fail, because it becomes 75%, 80%...yada yada, which is Kelenic right now, and maybe for ever. He can't let the last...pitch, at-bat, game, go. They all go through it, but the guys that are wired really tight always struggle with it. The most important pitch in the game is the next one, and you're one hit away from feeling good again.
He also (paraphrasing) talked about something I've talked about for years with my guys, which is the fact that you can't make yourself produce, you must let yourself produce...in other words, trying harder does nothing for you...try easier, let yourself perform. It's a game of confidence, straight up.
"I 'aint in a slump, I just 'aint hitting right now". -Yogi Berra
...Aaaaand, they've gotta fix the bullpen.
His only chance is getting out of the organization. It will not happen in Seattle. The damage has been done.
When Kelenic squares a ball up he hits it harder than almost everyone on the team. His issue is that his at bats are fucking TERRIBLE. His mental breaks after the first pitch. Watches a fastball right down the tube, swings at off speed way out of the zone... great now you are at 0-2 and have already mentally folded. The at bat is over at that point.
Someone just needs to slap him and tell him to play fucking baseball and not hero ball.