Mariners notebook: Will the M’s bring home the offense?

DENVER &#8212 Although it is just two games in a strange hitting environment, what we are seeing from the Mariners offense right now is encouraging. Not just the number of runs they have put up, but how they have done it.

Against the Rockies the team has been 11 for 23 with runners in scoring position. With two outs and RISP they have gone nine of 16. After a season of watching them fail spectacularly with runners in scoring position, why are we seeing the change now? What exactly is clicking?

“One of the things that we have tried to preach is make sure you study your opponents and understand what they’re trying to do in certain situations and I think our guys have been pretty good on this road trip,” Lloyd McClendon said after the team’s 10-4 win over the Rockies Tuesday night. “I think that since the break the at bats have been a lot better. There is more thought in the at bats and they are a lot more patient.”

Sounds to me like he was saying the Mariners have been a lot smarter at the plate. There are guys like Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager and Robinson Cano who have consistently seemed to have a good idea of what they wanted to do at the plate this year, but others where it was easy to question the approach. Is it a case of better preparation? Perhaps some, but as struggles are drawn out it is easy for approaches to go out the window from at bat to at bat. The focus can shift from the approach to “what am I doing with my hands,” or any number of mechanical things a hitter is working on.

Those thoughts should be left in the batting cage. When a player steps up to the plate there is not time to think about the swing. The player should have a plan and stick with it. This is the improvement McClendon is talking about.

“The hardest thing for young players to grasp is to slow it down and not get so caught up in the moment; don’t let things speed up on you. But they are getting better. there has been some progress. Edgar has started to rub off on them, particularly, Miller and Zunino, they are starting to get it.”

I would imagine that Edgar has also had an impact on Mark Trumbo who, more often than not, is the first one in the batting cages each day. Trumbo is hitting .341/.385/.855 over the last month. Missing in the last month for Trumbo are the power numbers and it will be interesting to see if they are to follow.

It will also be interesting to see what we see from this team offensively when they return home to Safeco Field. Since the break the Mariners have hit .268 as a team good for fifth in the AL with an OBP of .328 (6th) and SLG of .455 (6). The team’s 91 runs are the fourth most scored and first in home runs with 29. Of course you wish you saw this sooner, with the bigger question being why didn’t we? They are questions that, moving forward, will need to be answered. For now, in the clubhouse, McClendon does not want the past to be the focus.

“There have been so many things that have gone wrong with our season to date, the only thing I tell my players is there is nothing we can do about it now,” he said Tuesday night. “In essence it gives us an opportunity to do something special. Where everyone is counting us out, we do something special. We will see what happens.”

Lineup

Marte 6
Seager 5
Cruz 9
Cano 4
Gutierrez 7
Jackson 8
Trumbo 3
Zunino 2
Walker 1

Notes:

–14 of the Mariners 18 runs in the last two games have come with 2 outs.

–Ketel Marte is making his fifth big league start today, playing his third position. There is a good chance we see him a bit at second base when the team returns home as Cano is still not 100 percent with the strained abdomen and they will be able to DH him.

-Nelson Cruz has a 15-game hitting streak, the longest streak he has had since his career best 19 games in 2010. He has also homered in 5 straight games joining Harmon Killebrew, Frank Thomas, Barry Bonds and Chase Utley as the only players in MLB history to homer in at least 5 consecutive games twice in a season.

-Cruz not just coming up with the big hits, he has had plenty of little hits as well. Big guy has been hustling. Last night Cruz picked up his team leading 15th infield hit. The 15 infield hits are tied for the 10th most in the American League. You would expect to see Cruz’s names on a list with sluggers but he also takes his place with Billy Burns, Jose Altuve, Jose Iglesias, Eric Aybar, Xander Bogarts, Eric Hosmer, Brett Lawrie, Delino DeShields, Adam Jones, Yoenis Cespedes and Marcus Semien.

Cruz has been rewarded for his hustle. If those hits were outs his average which is now at .323 would be .286. Also of note, Cruz has hit into 1 double play this year. For comparison, Kyle Seager has hit into 14 and Robinson Cano 11.

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