From the fielding to a historical perspective, we provide six statistical breakdowns which tell the story of what has been a tough 2019 season for the Seattle Mariners and their fanbase.
Seattle Mariners fans were warned well in advance that the franchise was going into a major rebuild, meaning there would be a lot of frustration to contend with for a few years. Regardless, this hasn’t made it any easier to stomach as the 2019 season has progressed.
In fact it was arguably made worse by the Mariners’ hot start to the season. A 13-2 record through the first 15 games had fans dreaming that this could be the year the longest postseason drought in the Majors was broken.
Instead, reality soon set in and the M’s started to perform more like the team it was projected to be ahead of the 2019 campaign. With this in mind, let’s look at six aspects which sum up what has been a very tough year for the fans.
1) Breaking the trend
Since the start of the divisional era in 1969, the Mariners are one of just nine teams to begin the season with a 13-2 record. Unfortunately for them, they are on course to be the first of those nine teams to not finish the season over .500.
2) From first to (one of the) worst
The Mariners spent 33 days in first place in the American League West, but could conceivably finish the season with 100 losses. If this happens, only the 1908 New York H0ighlanders will have spent more time in first place — 38 days — and lost 100 games.
3) A defenseless defense
Simply put, the defense has been horrendous; following Tuesday’s slate of games the Mariners have given up the second-most runs in the league (637). Contributing to this are a Major League-worst 101 errors and .975 fielding percentage.
4) Need to share the blame
By extension the pitching hasn’t been much better, with the third-worst ERA in the Majors after Tuesday’s action (5.17). The M’s have also give up the third-most earned runs (561), while only four teams have allowed a worse batting average by their opponents (.268).
5) No coming back (to Seattle) after this season
In some respects, Felix Hernandez is the epitome of the pitching issues; despite a promising start to the year, he is on course for his worst statistical season yet in the Majors. As things stand, he will set career worst for wins (one), ERA (6.52), innings pitched (38.2), strikeouts (34), FIP (5.42), WHIP (1.500), hits per nine innings (11.6) and home runs allowed per nine innings (2.1).
6) Gone but not forgotten
While the offense has been doing reasonably well overall, even this has dipped since the hot start, with the loss of Edwin Encarnacion playing a role. Despite only appearing in 65 games for the M’s before being traded, Encarnacion is still joint-second on the team in home runs (21), as well as third in RBIs (49) and walks (41).
What is your main takeaway from the Seattle Mariners’ season to date? Further, did you remain level-headed through the hot start, or did you believe there was a genuine change of the team being contenders for the postseason? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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