After rash of injuries, can Mariners’ rotation get back on track?
Jun 24, 2016, 9:05 AM | Updated: 9:09 am
(AP)
710 ESPN Seattle board operator and engineer extraordinaire Matt Hardin might be right, calling the Mariners fool’s gold after they limped home from a 2-8 road trip, losing their last six games.
After being 10 games over .500 and in first place in the American League West not too long ago, the Mariners are now 36-37 and 11 games behind the Rangers. They are also 3.5 games out of the second wild-card spot, battling five other teams.
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I can’t figure out how much of this has been caused by injuries to starting pitchers and how much other factors come into play, such as consistently failing to hit with runners in scoring position on the road trip.
At one point this year, I wrote that they were World Series contenders. Now I wonder if they’ll ever win again. That’s how I felt watching every game in Detroit, and who in his right mind thinks they’ll win tonight against the Cardinals? The pitching matchup features fireballer Carlos Martinez, who has a 0.59 ERA in his last three starts, against Wade LeBlanc, who hasn’t started a major-league game in two years. Also note that St. Louis has the best road record in baseball at 23-12.
I’m hoping that once the rotation gets healthy again, the Mariners will return to being the team we saw in April and May. Certainly the overworked bullpen will benefit from the return of quality starts from Wade Miley, Taijuan Walker and Felix Hernandez.
But let’s take a closer look at the possibility of that happening. Miley will come off the disabled list Tuesday and pitch against the Pirates on Wednesday. Maybe the arm soreness that put him on the disabled list contributed to his mostly sub-par performances this season. If he returns completely healthy, maybe we’ll see the pitcher that general manager Jerry Dipoto liked when he acquired Miley in the offseason.
The Wade Miley I’ve seen is one I’d rather see in Tacoma’s rotation than Seattle’s. The only thing that’s been great about him is how fast he works. And as advertised, he eats innings, which as we’ve seen is important to give your relievers a break. Problem is, this guy’s an innings eater and a many runs giver-upper. His ERA is 5.28. That’s terrible. To be honest, I’m in no hurry to see him return because I don’t really see him as an asset.
So that’s one check against injuries to the rotation being a reason for the Mariners’ swoon.
Walker will miss his start tonight but is expected to pitch against the Orioles on Thursday. That’s a positive. Everyone knows his ceiling is through the roof in spite of continuing inconsistency.
But to speculate, I’m guessing the tendon issues in his foot and ankle are going to linger to the point that the Mariners will probably have to put him on the DL to clear them up. I don’t see how pitching every five days will help him magically heal. But I’m not a doctor, and I’m usually wrong when I speculate, so chances are good that he will pitch pain free the rest of the year.
With Felix, I don’t know what to think. This calf injury of his has taken a lot longer to deal with than expected. Now we’re hearing he won’t be back until after the All-Star Break, which means King’s Court is out of session for another three weeks at least.
Maybe his velocity will return when his calf is 100 percent, or maybe it truly is arm fatigue catching up to him. We all know that Felix is an old 30 with all of those innings he’s pitched in his career. I’m hoping the time off will help him in the second half of the season, and even if he’s not as dominating as he’s been in the past, he should still be good enough to be called the ace of this staff.
Right now that staff features James Paxton, Hisashi Iwakuma, Nathan Karns, LeBlanc and we assume Miley and Walker if all goes according to plan next week. By the way, I’ll take LeBlanc sight unseen as the best Wade in the rotation over Miley.
I know, that’s six guys for a five-man rotation. The next two days we’ll find out if LeBlanc is just a spot starter who is headed for Tacoma next week or if he’ll replace Karns, who hasn’t pitched well of late and starts against the Cardinals tomorrow night. If LeBlanc looks good tonight and Karns struggles with his command again, I’d vote for keeping the guy with the cool French name and send Karns to Tacoma.
Paxton has gone from sixth starter and odd-man-out in March to the Mariners’ best starter in June. He’s been mostly fantastic, and it’s not too much of a stretch to picture a suddenly terrific rotation in the not-too-distant future.
Think about it: Felix, Paxton, Walker, a serviceable Iwakuma and whomever as your fifth starter – Miley, Karns or LeBlanc. If Felix and Walker stay healthy, there’s still a chance we’ll see the Mariners from the springtime playing in the fall.
The Go 2 Guy also writes for SeattlePI.com and KitsapSun.com. You can reach Jim at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @cougsgo.