Three Things: Felix gets two more shots to help Mariners’ playoff push
Sep 27, 2016, 10:00 AM | Updated: 10:27 am
Felix Hernandez will look to build on his seven scoreless innings last week against the Blue Jays. (AP)
(AP)
It’s the final week of the first regular season of the Scott Servais/Jerry Dipoto era, and the good news is that the Mariners still have a chance – albeit a very slim one – at making the playoffs. After their 11-inning win Monday, they enter Tuesday two games back of Baltimore for the second wild-card spot, and they’re even with Detroit, the other serious contender that’s on the outside looking in.
Here are three things to consider this week about the Mariners as they try to catch fire and end their 14-year absence from the postseason.
1. The King makes two more stands. Felix Hernandez reminded everybody why he’s called The King – and that Safeco Field is his house – when he shut down the Blue Jays last week over seven scoreless innings. With the Mariners in desperation mode as they try to get into a playoff spot, they can at least feel good knowing that the man who turned up the volume in that outing gets two more turns in the rotation before the season ends. The first is Tuesday night in Game 2 of the series in Houston, and if the Mariners’ playoff hopes are still alive for Sunday’s regular-season finale against the A’s, the ball will once again be in their ace’s hand. Hernandez has never pitched in the postseason, though two seasons ago he started a regular-season finale that had the potential of sending the Mariners to the playoffs. They were eliminated from contention midway through that game by virtue of Oakland clinching the wild card with a win, providing an extremely bittersweet moment as Hernandez was pulled from the game early (to a standing ovation) as soon as the result was rendered meaningless. There’s no doubt he would relish getting another chance on the last day of the season to end the Mariners’ long playoff drought.
2. Kyle Seager’s career year needs a big finish. I wrote two weeks ago about the career-best numbers Seager has posted in 2016, and while he’s still well ahead of his previous high marks, he’s been extremely cold since then. The 28-year-old third baseman has always been a streaky hitter, and that has been especially evident this month as he is hitting just .135 (7 for 52) over his last 14 games during a slump that was directly preceded by an eight-game stretch in which he hit .400 (12 for 30) with three homers and six RBIs. It’s been an excellent season at the plate for Seager, but that might not be what he’ll remember during the cold months of the offseason if his struggles last through the weekend and the Mariners’ push for the playoffs falls short.
3. James Paxton’s curveball. Seriously, if you didn’t see the curve Paxton was spinning in his impressive seven-inning outing last Friday against the Twins, it’s worth going out of your way to watch and definitely worth seeing if it’s just as good when he makes his final start of the season on Wednesday. Whether the Mariners pull off an improbable run for the postseason or not, they can at least feel good about the progress the big southpaw from British Columbia has made this year after undergoing an adjustment in his mechanics. Not only has he suddenly been regularly able to reach the high 90s with his fastball, he showed in that nine-strikeout performance against Minnesota that his 82 mph breaker can be an especially nasty complement to that rare lefty heat. A full season of that combination – and the more serious demeanor he’s shown on the mound in recent months – could be a recipe for a true breakout in 2017.
