For any Seattle Mariners fan who shrugged their shoulders at the turnover rate and early ineffectiveness of pitching in 2015, this year has been a blessing.
At this time in 2015, the Seattle Mariners were 17-21 and sitting in third place in the AL West. Today, they are leading their division with a 23-17 record. All around they have been a formidable force so far. The biggest difference maker has come from the elevated efforts of their pitchers.
Last season, the quintet of Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Taijuan Walker, James Paxton and J.A. Happ was not as effective. Sprinkle in a few spot starts from Roenis Elias and one from Vidal Nuno before May 19 of 2015, and the starters’ rotation was a collective 4.13 at this time one year ago.
Headlining those struggles was Kuma’s 6.61 ERA before an inevitable trip to the DL and Walker’s 7.47 ERA, punctuated by the six home runs he had allowed and the fact opponents had an OPS of .890 versus him.
Iwakuma has not been consistent so far in 2016 at 1-4 with a 4.38 ERA, but Walker has turned a corner and is getting along nicely at 2-3 with a 2.95 ERA. As a group, the rotation’s ERA this season is 3.54, the second best mark in the American League.
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Most importantly is with that efficiency, has come consistency. As mentioned, Seattle had used seven starters up until this time last season. Right now, no one has missed a turn in the rotation due to poor performance or poor health.
New acquisition Nate Karns just collected his fourth win in a 7-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles earlier in the afternoon. His ERA dropped to 3.33 on the season, proving him to be one of the better No. 5 starters on any rotation in baseball right now. Karns has been on the losing side of a decision only once this season.
From a relief perspective, Fernando Rodney was hurting the Mariners a lot more last season than he was helping them. Closer Steve Cishek might have three blown saves in 14 opportunities so far this season, but his 2.95 ERA is much easier to stomach than Rodney’s 5.65 was on this day in 2015. Rodney’s ERA would eventually climb to as high as 7.08 in 2015.
All around, the bullpen has been more reliable this time around. The unit’s 2.85 ERA ranks fourth in the AL with strong efforts so far from Mike Montgomery (1-0, 2.08), Nick Vincent (2-1, 1.56) and Vidal Nuno (0-0, 1.38). The opposition is hitting an AL worst .195 against the bullpen as well, a stark contrast from the .255 players hit against relievers last May.
With Robinson Cano in MVP form right now and other players like Kyle Seager (.375 BA in May) and Ketel Marte (.282 in May) starting to settle in, the Seattle Mariners look like a team that has genuinely improved over the last 365 days.
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The consistency they have gotten out of their pitching staff has led to noticeable improvements and it continues to swing momentum in their favor. In a division with the declining Angels and strikeout ridden Astros, the M’s should be THE team to beat for the foreseeable future.