The Bitter Sweep Road Trip
Welcome to the eighth edition of the State of the Seattle Mariners update for the 2012 regular season. In these weekly updates you will find all the information and news regarding the Seattle Mariners Baseball Franchise.
Upcoming Match Ups
The Mariners make their way back to Safeco field where they will be paired up against the Rangers and the Angels.
The M’s have a chance to help shape the A.L. West with these two series. Texas has been dominant, sitting at 26-16.
The M’s had limited success against them in their last meeting in Arlington, playing well but without victory.
The Angels are 18-24 putting them a half game BEHIND the M’s despite their giant payroll. They are likely expecting Seattle to be an easy win, but the M’s need to use this opportunity to push them into the basement of the division.
Recent Results
This was a brutal road trip, home runs balls being called out, giving up leads and blowing saves. The only consolation is that if the Mariners happen to make it into the World Series, they have shown good stuff against National League teams as they swept the Rockies in Denver.
Seattle Mariners Weekly Notebook - May 21st
The M’s went 4-4 for the week.
May 13 – 5-2 Win against New York
May 14 – 1-6 Loss to Boston
May 15 – 0-5 Loss to Boston
May 16 – 3-9 Loss to Cleveland
May 17 – 5-6 Loss to Cleveland
May 18 – 4-0 Win against Colorado
May 19 – 10-3 Win against Colorado
May 20 – 6-4 Win against Colorado
The Mariners are now 19-24 for the season, which puts them a half game over the Angels in third place in the A.L. West Division.
The Good News
Kyle Seager. For someone that was hoping to make the team as the back up infielder, Seager is out-playing everyone’s expectations and is leading the team in several offensive categories. It is good to have good news.
Justin Smoak. Smoak appears to finally be warming up this season. During the past 2 weeks, Smoak is hitting .298 (14/47) with 2 home runs. He also has struck out 14 times. It would be good to see his hit to strike out ratio improve a bit, getting more balls in play rather than swinging through but over all, encouraging.
Defense. Although there were some glaringly obvious errors on this road trip, The Mariners have committed only 16 errors this season which is the best in the American League.
The Bad News
Brandon League. Even the 8 games League has earned “saves” in, the hard throwing right hander is not looking good out there this season. He is either leaving the ball over the plate or spiking the sinker several feet in front of the plate. I am done with League.
Inconsistent pitching. The Mariners are a club built around pitching, and while there are some good prospects on the farm, what the club has now is not good. The Team ERA is 3.98
Roster Moves / Trades
Nothing new this week
Despite 8 saves, League is reminding fans of Bobby Ayala
Injury Report
Miguel Olivo rejoined the team from his rehab assignment but has yet to be activated off of the disabled list. There are probably some roster moves coming to accommodate their veteran catcher’s return.
Franklin Gutierrez continues to struggles and will likely have a full rehab in Tacoma before returning.
M’s in the Community
The M’s haven’t been in the community much with their traveling schedule as intense as it is.
Gossip
Alex Liddi was used several times this week in the Left Field position, indicating the M’s value his bat. This put Chone Figgins future even more into question. With Olivo on the mend, it is within reason that the Mariners may designate Figgins for assignment.
Division News
The Rangers are playing as expected and are likely to take the A.L. West title yet again.
The Angels have been worse than anyone predicted and are living in the basement of the division.
The Athletics are playing .500 ball which doesn’t seem at all likely to continue, and the Mariners are the only unsurprising team, playing for third, exactly as was thought by everyone.
What’s on tap this week?
| Date | vs | Last Meeting |
| 5/21/12 | TEX | L 3-5 4/12/12 |
| 5/22/12 | TEX | L 3-5 4/12/12 |
| 5/23/12 | TEX | L 3-5 4/12/12 |
| 5/24/12 | LAA | L 1-3 9/7/11 |
| 5/25/12 | LAA | L 1-3 9/7/11 |
About Danny Ferguson
