BRENT STECKER

Stecker’s 3 Things: Can Mariners afford 3 games with Nelson Cruz on the bench?

Aug 21, 2017, 6:00 AM | Updated: 10:01 am

Nelson Cruz leads the AL in RBIs but might not start a game during Seattle's series in Atlanta. (AP...

Nelson Cruz leads the AL in RBIs but might not start a game during Seattle's series in Atlanta. (AP)

(AP)

The Mariners begin the week 1.5 games back of the American League’s final wild-card spot after Tampa Bay snapped Seattle’s four-game winning streak on Sunday. Here are three things to keep in mind this week about the M’s.

1. Nelson Cruz: Bench player?

Here’s a quick list of things Nelson Cruz has done this year. He’s hit 30 home runs for the fourth season in a row, including the longest homer ever hit in Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field. He’s driven in an American League-leading 100 RBIs, and he reached that mark with 38 games left on the schedule. He enters Monday with a .944 OPS, trailing only Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve in the Junior Circuit. Oh, and he turned 37 years old. It’s been another remarkable season for Cruz, and he’s done all that while being a full-time designated hitter for the first time in his career. And therein lies the problem. The Mariners begin a three-game set in Atlanta without the benefit of the DH on Monday, and while Cruz has appeared in the outfield four times this season – all in National League parks – he has struggled with leg injuries all year, and the Mariners can’t afford to have him go down for a significant amount of time by over-extending himself trying to make a defensive play. But considering how tight the wild-card race is, can they afford to play three games where there best hitter is relegated to pinch-hit duties? Manager Scott Servais was leaning towards sitting him in Atlanta when asked on Sunday, but Cruz has also made it clear that he doesn’t want to be out of the lineup against the Braves. For what it’s worth, Cruz has been moving better on the base paths than he has in some time, so if ever there was a time to feel comfortable about his ability to run down a few fly balls, now is probably it.

2. Vintage Erasmo Ramirez.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. At least that’s the way it has felt over the last two outings for Erasmo Ramirez, who returned to the Mariners – and their starting rotation – late last month. The 27-year-old right-hander threw his second straight quality start on Friday, helping Seattle beat his old team, the Rays, 7-1. Those two last appearances were vintage Erasmo starts – he might get into a little bit of trouble, his pitch count might get a little higher than you’d prefer, but he finds a way to avoid a disaster of an inning and keep the Mariners in the game. With the shape Seattle’s starting rotation is presently in, that’s basically ace-worthy production.

3. Can Edwin Diaz keep it together?

It’s not easy being a 23-year-old closer in the major leagues, this I am sure of. Edwin Diaz has been the picture of that in 2017. The flame-throwing righty has incredible stuff and is an electric presence on the mound when he’s firing on all cylinders. That was the case in July, when he won the American League’s Reliever of the Month award. August has been less kind, unfortunately. He’s allowed a run or more to score in three of his last four appearances, and in two of those Servais had to bring the hook before Diaz could get the final out of the ninth inning. That’s why he’s sporting a pretty rough 6.48 ERA for the month, and that’s even with the benefit of six outings in which he posted a scoreless inning to notch a save. Mistakes are magnified at this point in the season, and with how close the wild-card race is, any blown save by Diaz could be the difference between the Mariners playing in the postseason or not. No pressure, young fella.

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