Who deserves the most credit for the Mariners’ early success?

DerekJohnson said:

ThomasFremont said:

DerekJohnson said:

ThomasFremont said:

DerekJohnson said:

ThomasFremont said:

DiPoto for putting together a decent roster.

Other than Seager, Cruz and Cano, the entire lineup was remade. Smith and Guti were around last year too, and Marte was developing, but basically 3 opening day starters are all that returned from last season. The 1B, DH, and outfield platoons are also more thoughtfully deployed to maximize R vs L match ups. Instead of a few good hitters surrounded by dreck, the entire lineup is producing at a reasonable level. And they actually play defense.

The rotation is mostly the same, but Miley and Karns have outperformed expectations and their predecessors as back end starters. Despite blowing a few saves already, Cishek is better than Rodney, and the bullpen overall is one of the best in the league (after losing some of the top guys from a year before).

It's weird to say this about a Mariners team, but the starting rotation is the biggest weakness.

That's a very thoughtful breakdown, but I would say that in time Cishek and the leadoff spot will prove to be the biggest weaknesses.

Could be the case. Martin and Marte have had a breakout start to the season, and could be due for a big regression.

I think Cishek will be fine.

I don't think he throws hard enough and he's always trying to nibble on the outside. I don't see alpha male when he's on the mound.

I get that, but Trevor Hoffman didn't throw hard either. As long as guys swing and miss, it doesn't matter what the gun says.

Cishek's side arm delivery is tough on opponents, especially righties. He doesn't throw hard, but he gets a lot of movement, and you can tell batters are uneasy in the box facing him.

A few blown saves suck, but every closer blows a few games. It's how they respond that counts. Obviously I'd prefer a guy that threw 100 and scared the shit out of opponents with his breaking ball, but Cishek is doing fine. I agree on the nibbling, but that can be corrected with proper coaching.

For the record, I felt that way even before the recently blown saves

RoadDawg55 said:

ThomasFremont said:

DerekJohnson said:

ThomasFremont said:

DerekJohnson said:

ThomasFremont said:

DerekJohnson said:

ThomasFremont said:

DiPoto for putting together a decent roster.

Other than Seager, Cruz and Cano, the entire lineup was remade. Smith and Guti were around last year too, and Marte was developing, but basically 3 opening day starters are all that returned from last season. The 1B, DH, and outfield platoons are also more thoughtfully deployed to maximize R vs L match ups. Instead of a few good hitters surrounded by dreck, the entire lineup is producing at a reasonable level. And they actually play defense.

The rotation is mostly the same, but Miley and Karns have outperformed expectations and their predecessors as back end starters. Despite blowing a few saves already, Cishek is better than Rodney, and the bullpen overall is one of the best in the league (after losing some of the top guys from a year before).

It's weird to say this about a Mariners team, but the starting rotation is the biggest weakness.

That's a very thoughtful breakdown, but I would say that in time Cishek and the leadoff spot will prove to be the biggest weaknesses.

Could be the case. Martin and Marte have had a breakout start to the season, and could be due for a big regression.

I think Cishek will be fine.

I don't think he throws hard enough and he's always trying to nibble on the outside. I don't see alpha male when he's on the mound.

I get that, but Trevor Hoffman didn't throw hard either. As long as guys swing and miss, it doesn't matter what the gun says.

Cishek's side arm delivery is tough on opponents, especially righties. He doesn't throw hard, but he gets a lot of movement, and you can tell batters are uneasy in the box facing him.

A few blown saves suck, but every closer blows a few games. It's how they respond that counts. Obviously I'd prefer a guy that threw 100 and scared the shit out of opponents with his breaking ball, but Cishek is doing fine. I agree on the nibbling, but that can be corrected with proper coaching.

For the record, I felt that way even before the recently blown saves

I was skeptical to start the season as well. But the same could be said for Marte, Martin, Lee, Miley, Karns, Iannetta, etc. Shit even Lind has found his swing recently.

Point is, a lot of moves have worked out so far. Cishek being less than perfect falls into the "worked out" category, for now. If he goes mental and blows 3-4 more games, then he sucks.

Closer is an overrated position in baseball anyways.

Closer is overrated, but when the Red Sox listened to Bill James and tried to do a closer by committee it didn't work.

The bullpen is always iffy. The Mariners in 2014 had a great pen. Most of the same guys in 2015 sucked. This year they are pretty good again.