Seattle Mariners Summer Check Up

Seattle Mariners

35-22 (2nd in AL West)



Eye Popping Number

80

Coming into the season, the Mariners, on paper, had one of the best offenses in the American League. On May 15th, a big blow to the offense was announced in the form of an 80 game suspension for slugger, Robinson Cano. Cano failed a drug test by testing positive for furosemide, a diuretic used to mask the presence of a performance enhancing drug. Luckily, the team has an all-star second baseman waiting in the wings in Dee Gordon who has been playing center field after a trade in the offseason. The unfortunate part of the suspension is that Cano will not be active until August 14th, meaning he would not be eligible to play in the playoffs if the Mariners were to break their 16 year drought.

Biggest Surprise

After a strong rookie 2016 season, Edwin Diaz looked to be one of the dominant closers of the future for the Mariners’ bullpen. However, his 2017 season did not go according to plan as he was removed from closer role May 17th with a 5.28 ERA at the time and finished with an awful 4.4 walks per nine innings pitched even though he eventually settled back into the closer role. Starting this season as the closer, he’s gone out and currently leads the Majors in saves. He’s currently 4th in pitchers with more than 20 innings pitched in strikeout percentage with an insane 43.1% of batters striking out against Diaz.

Player To Watch

With Cano suspended, the other half of the Mariners’ double play combo will have to continue his incredible play to begin the season. Jean Segura is second in the MLB hits with 78, as well as top 10 in batting average, doubles, runs, and stolen bases. He currently leads the team with a 2.2 Wins Above Replacement, and he’s going to continue to have to keep up that pace in order to keep the offense churning.

What to Watch for at the Deadline

Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners’ GM, loves to make trades. The Mariners lead the league in trades over the last few seasons, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see them make some moves at the deadline. In fact, they got a head start on everybody by bolstering their bullpen and outfield last week in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, acquiring 2017 saves leader Alex Colome and Denard Span. Depending on how well Guillermo Heredia continues his play in center field (so far so great with a .293/.408/.424 batting average/on base percentage/slugging percentage slash line), they could look at Jon Jay (Kansas City). They could also look at getting a versatile second baseman like Whit Merrifield (Kansas City) that can move Gordon back to center and play anywhere on the diamond when Cano comes back.

*All stats as of 6/2 via fangraphs.com and baseball-reference.com

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