Three things: Mariners have work to do to catch up with first-place Texas
Jun 14, 2016, 9:22 AM | Updated: 11:33 am
Dae-Ho Lee gets the starts against left-handed pitchers but actually has better numbers against righties. (AP)
(AP)
The Mariners’ big homestand last week had mixed results, as they split four games with Cleveland and lost their series with Texas. Despite starting June with a record that was 10 games above .500, Seattle starts its road trip on Tuesday sitting at 34-29.
Here’s three things to consider this week about the M’s:
1. The Mariners have some work to do to catch up with the Rangers.
After losing two of three at home to Texas, the Mariners found themselves five games behind the Rangers for first place in the American League West. A big reason for that: a 4-8 record in the season series. Head-to-head matchups go a long way in determining division championships, and they’re often times the motivation behind midseason moves. Whether it’s another bat, starting pitcher or bullpen arm – all things that one time or another appeared to be needed over the weekend – the head-to-head results against Texas bring to the forefront that Seattle will need to make a move or two if it’s serious about taking a division title this season for the first time since 2001.
2. Dae-Ho Lee has earned himself more at-bats.
Yes, Dae-Ho Lee – a 33-year-old MLB rookie with a doughy figure and a whole lot of moving parts to his swing – is somehow hitting .296 with 10 home runs and 24 RBIs in just 108 at-bats. There wasn’t much to expect from Lee when the season started, as he was a late addition to Seattle’s battle for the right-handed half of a platoon at first base, signing a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training not long before camp started. But after earning his spot on the team, hitting a pair of memorable game-winning homers and racking up a couple of two-homer games – the latest coming Friday in the lone Mariners win of the Texas series – Lee has made it clear he’s deserving of more chances against right-handed pitching. His splits certainly make a great case for him to get more starts at first or DH against right-handers. He’s hitting .319 with four homers in 47 at-bats against righties compared to .279 with six homers in 61 at-bats against lefties.
3. The starting rotation is still in some disarray.
Save for the steady Hisashi Iwakuma, the Mariners’ starting pitchers have been dealing with a rough patch since late May. The good news is James Paxton and Taijuan Walker turned things around and looked quite dominant in the last week. The bad news is Wade Miley (5.28 ERA, 1.38 WHIP) and Nathan Karns (4.09, 1.44) have not. Miley had a great outing in a win over Cleveland on June 6, throwing seven shutout innings, but Texas chased him after five innings on Sunday, marking the fifth time in his last seven games he failed to post a quality start. Karns has had similar issues, struggling to get through the sixth inning with regularity despite many times holding opponents to three or fewer runs. That was the case in a 5-3 loss to the Indians on June 9, as he walked five and needed 92 pitches to get through 4 1/3 innings even though he’d limited Cleveland to a run on two hits. With Paxton throwing well and Felix Hernandez coming back from the disabled list at some point, one of them could find themselves out of the rotation. And with the trade deadline looming at the end of July, it might be both of them finding themselves displaced.
