I knew the Mariners would come around

CuntWaffle

First time they have been over .500 at this point of the season since 2003. Buckle up it is going to be a special ride. They remind me a lot of the 95-96 Sonics.

[Deleted User]

2011 on June 5th the team was 31-28. On July 5th they were 43-43. Then literally lost 17 fucking games in a row to finish 67-95.

That is always in the back of my head.

Tequilla

I'd be shocked if they ended up with 85-90 wins because they are the Mariners ... but they are definitely trending in that direction when you consider that they are still missing 2 of their better starting pitchers and if they are in the race in June/July, it wouldn't shock me if they added another arm or two in the bullpen to help out.

DugtheDoog

IIRC, in 2007 we were a game back of the wild card in mid-August and then absolutely imploded, finishing like 8 or 9 back.

[Deleted User]

DugtheDoog said:

IIRC, in 2007 we were a game back of the wild card in mid-August and then absolutely imploded, finishing like 8 or 9 back.

We were like a game back in the division then lost 17 of 20 after that. It's the Mariners it's in their DNA. #NeverForget

CuntWaffle

Tequilla said:

I'd be shocked if they ended up with 85-90 wins because they are the Mariners ... but they are definitely trending in that direction when you consider that they are still missing 2 of their better starting pitchers and if they are in the race in June/July, it wouldn't shock me if they added another arm or two in the bullpen to help out.

Nah this is still all a mirage. Don't fall for the trap, they still suck.

It boggles my mind how Brad Miller is still on the team batting .160 and booting every fucking ball in critical moments of games. That guy blows, he swings at every pitch outside the strike zone and doesn't swing at first pitch fastballs over the middle of the plater.

McClendon sure is showing his great managerial skills by having Almonte up as long as he did after a shitty spring training and now Brad Miller is easily the worst SS in baseball yet he will probably play the whole season because he is young and we all know he will be hitting .400 once he learns what the fucking strike zone is.

[Deleted User]

CuntWaffle said:

Tequilla said:

I'd be shocked if they ended up with 85-90 wins because they are the Mariners ... but they are definitely trending in that direction when you consider that they are still missing 2 of their better starting pitchers and if they are in the race in June/July, it wouldn't shock me if they added another arm or two in the bullpen to help out.

Nah this is still all a mirage. Don't fall for the trap, they still suck.

It boggles my mind how Brad Miller is still on the team batting .160 and booting every fucking ball in critical moments of games. That guy blows, he swings at every pitch outside the strike zone and doesn't swing at first pitch fastballs over the middle of the plater.

McClendon sure is showing his great managerial skills by having Almonte up as long as he did after a shitty spring training and now Brad Miller is easily the worst SS in baseball yet he will probably play the whole season because he is young and we all know he will be hitting .400 once he learns what the fucking strike zone is.

LOL Dave Cameron after the second game when Miller had two HR's called Miller the best SS in the AL.

Guy is such a condescending prick it's fun to point that out to him.

dhdawg

The offense being 11th in runs is a mirage, they'll finish somewhere between 20th-25th in that category.
The pitching however is not. iwakuma came back and looked unhittable the other night against the royals (it is the royals but still) Felix is felix. And if they can get Paxton healthy he's a solid #3. Elias is a solid #4 as well. Still not sold on young though.
They're an 80-82 win ballclub imo. From some of the teams I've seen there are much worse teams than the mariners out there.
BTW this team isn't comparable to the 2011 team, those lineups aren't even close.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_05_13_anamlb_phimlb_1&mode=gameday#gid=2011_04_09_clemlb_seamlb_1&mode=box
the middle of the order was Milton Bradley, Jack Cust, and Justin Smoak. it's incredible that team was 31-28 at one point

Tequilla

They need to improve the pen.

If the rotation gets healthy it's a strength - few teams in the AL can match that.

The offense is full of a bunch of young guys that will have their ups and downs and probably cause them to be inconsistent at times.

They do have a few trade chips that they can offer out there though for some help.

In the AL this year, 85 wins is going to get you in the discussion for a postseason spot.

dhdawg

the pen is my biggest concern. The offense will be up and down all year, and I agree (although roaddawg is gonna tell me I'm wrong) that the pitching rotation is a strength.

Rodney will be good for the most part, and Fahrquar and Leone seem to both be solid middle relievers. But they need a big time setup man to just come out of the blue, Stephen pryor? They may have to pursue a trade as well

RoadDawg55

Tequilla said:

I'd be shocked if they ended up with 85-90 wins because they are the Mariners ... but they are definitely trending in that direction when you consider that they are still missing 2 of their better starting pitchers and if they are in the race in June/July, it wouldn't shock me if they added another arm or two in the bullpen to help out.

That's a pretty big assumption for two guys who haven't even combined to throw 100 innings in the big leagues. It has to be true though. It's not hard to be better than Ramirez and Maurer.

Tequilla

Paxton + Walker >>> Young + Elias

Do you not agree with that?

CuntWaffle

Tequilla said:

Paxton + Walker >>> Young + Elias

Do you not agree with that?

I don't think you can say that because Paxton and Walker have hardly played. Young and Elias haven't been bad so far this season. Walker has only played 3 games, lets wait until he actually fucking plays before we start crowning him the next big thing. He has a 3.60 ERA in his 3 starts last year, whooptie do hardy har har.

RoadDawg55

dhdawg said:

the pen is my biggest concern. The offense will be up and down all year, and I agree (although roaddawg is gonna tell me I'm wrong) that the pitching rotation is a strength.

Rodney will be good for the most part, and Fahrquar and Leone seem to both be solid middle relievers. But they need a big time setup man to just come out of the blue, Stephen pryor? They may have to pursue a trade as well

I might have to eat my words on the rotation. The 1-2 is obviously really good, maybe the best in the league. Young has been great so far and was a good pick up. Elias seems to be at least average, and if Walker and Paxton live up to the hype, that's a damn good rotation. I should have believed you.

I haven't watched an inning of Mariner baseball for probably 5 years, so I really don't know what I'm talking about. I only read the box scores and maybe the Mariners blog on the Times 1-2 times a week. I still think they will have an 8-20 month to end the season. I'm predicting June.

dhdawg

I'm not even going to count on walker right now.
Felix kuma Paxton Elias young is a good rotation. Adding walker would be a bonus. Even though I am far from sold on young

[Deleted User]

Young is 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA which looks great on paper. However his XFIP is 4.80.

On the flip side Mauer has a 6.20 ERA but his XFIP is 4.13 so he's been getting a little unlucky while Young has been getting lucky.

dhdawg

Exactly why I'm not sold on young. He's gonna have a nasty ERA correction. Hopefully it's only one awful start and it only costs the m's one game

CuntWaffle

I'm not sold on Young either but he isn't a terrible #4 or 5 guy to have right now. I just am not sold on Walker because the 3 games he has played he has looked solid but not the next Pedro Martinez like all the Moorinoors are saying. Who cares how good you are if your arm is going to fall off.

RoadDawg55

Young might not be bad. He used to be a pretty good #2/3 starter. He didn't pitch last year. He wouldn't be the first guy to come back and succeed after having arm troubles and sitting out a year. Who knows how he will do the rest of the year, but right now, he could be better than Walker. He's been around awhile and probably knows how to pitch.

dnc

He_Needs_More_Time said:

Young is 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA which looks great on paper. However his XFIP is 4.80.

On the flip side Mauer has a 6.20 ERA but his XFIP is 4.13 so he's been getting a little unlucky while Young has been getting lucky.

Young's not as good as his ERA but he's almost certainly better than his FIP. He's been posting the lowest BABIPs in the league for years. It's past the point if being a fluke, his rising fastball induces weak contact.

Elias might be legitimately good.

The Ms have an abundance of starting candidates, which is good since rotations rarely stay healthy.

dnc

He_Needs_More_Time said:

Young is 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA which looks great on paper. However his XFIP is 4.80.

On the flip side Mauer has a 6.20 ERA but his XFIP is 4.13 so he's been getting a little unlucky while Young has been getting lucky.

Young's not as good as his ERA but he's almost certainly better than his FIP. He's been posting the lowest BABIPs in the league for years. It's past the point if being a fluke, his rising fastball induces weak contact.

Elias might be legitimately good.

The Ms have an abundance of starting candidates, which is good since rotations rarely stay healthy.