Half the Season down, what a ride it has been. There has been some ups, and there has been some downs. At one point the Mariners were not just in first place in the AL West, but in first place of the AL. The later only lasting about one or two games. The Mariners have had a tough 1st half of baseball. Losing Felix for most of the half, dealing with Walker’s sore foot, and dismal pitching at best at times has not helped. Going through an incredibly difficult 1st half schedule has not helped. Kyle Seager’s struggle in the 1st month (batting average in the .1’s) has not helped (since then he has bounced back and is getting close to .3.) Losing a catcher for the year has not helped. Our 2 speedy guys (Martin and Marte) both lost time due to injuries has not helped. Despite all these obstacles, they Mariners are one game over 500 into the All Star break. Pretty impressive.
What is also impressive is some of these guys stats at the half way point. Kyle Seager is at 18 homeruns, 96 hits, 26 doubles, and 38 RBI’s. Robinson Cano is at 21 homeruns, 114 hits, 23 doubles, and 58 RBI’s. Nelson Cruz is at 23 homeruns, 92 hits, and 58 RBI’s. Of course we cannot over look the obvious rookie of the year in Dae Ho Lee, who with only 177 at bats has gotten 12 homeruns, 51 hits, 4 doubles (pretty impressive with how slow he is), and 37 RBI’s. And of course Mike Zunino is still proving everyone wrong by keeping his slugging percentage above 1, currently at 1.143. As people continue to improve, and the pitchers come back from injuries, this team will likely be unstoppable. Hold on Mariners and SKA fans, it is about to get epic.
The updates!
Zorstique’s Mariners Update of the Day: – 7/6/2016
It is a tough to say what day was better this weekend. On Friday the boy’s 2 favorite players (Seager and Dae Ho) and Smith sent the Mariners to a win (5-2) with homeruns, followed by fireworks night. Saturday turned into a homerun derby, with the Mariners taking 5 out of the park. Cruz, Lind, Smith (2nd day in a row) and Zunino (2 on the night) made this a 12-6 win. Then Sunday was capped off with Smith’s 3rd homerun game in a row. However this was not just any homerun, this one was a grand slam, or grand salami as the boy calls it. Seager also picked up 2 RBIs of this own, to close out the Orioles 9-4. Sunday also completed the sweep of the Baltimore, brought the Mariners tied with the Astros, and started with the boy getting Kyle Seager to sign his baseball. Overall a very satisfying Mariners weekend. In other news, the Mariners lost to the Astros last night, 2-1. This moved Seattle back to 3rd place again.
Zorstique’s Mariners Update of the Day – 7/7/2016
If I am keeping count correctly, yesterday was the 4th game of the year that I did not watch. Based on the box scores, they lost another pitching battle. It sure would be nice if we had an actual MLB caliber rotation. Just when things started to look good for our Mariners, they are losing again. It appears that they brought a new guy in to play left field, Daniel Robertson. I have no clue if he can actually play left field, but it appears he cannot hit a ball. At least they are trying, wish they would try to fix the pitching while they are at it.
Zorstique’s Mariners Update of the Day – 7/8/2016
It was a pretty exciting night for the Mariners. Homeruns for Cano, Seager, Dae Ho, and Smith. The first 3 all in the 4th, the final in the 7th with 2 men on. As great as all this sounds, the Mariners lost yet again 9-8. The Astros were able to pull off the sweep on the Mariners, jumping 3 games ahead in the standings. Starting pitching was awful for both teams, which sure seems to be the Mariners Achilles Heel this year. Hopefully they can figure something out before the end of the All Star break.
Zorstique’s Mariners Update of the Day – 7/11/2016
The Mariners finished off the series with the Royals this weekend winning 2 of 3, which brought the series to a tie at 2-2. Mike Montgomery got his first chance as a starting pitcher yesterday, and pitched 6 1/3 innings. He only gave up one run, and 5 hits. It really seems weird that we have been keeping this kid in the bullpen, and letting Wade Miley give us practically an automatic loss every 5 games. Speaking of Wade, he let up down again on Saturday, but that is just what Wade does. We have entered into the All Star break one game over 500. We are in good shape to take things over in the second half with Felix and Walker soon returning.
Maynard The CFB Guru
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