Seattle Mariners Postseason Futility Streak Continues

Despite wheeling and dealing for much of the offseason, the Seattle Mariners still couldn’t put together an outstanding season. Injuries seemed to be a big problem, but it wasn’t the only one.

Nearly every season begins with the same inference for Seattle Mariners fans.

New acquisitions inspire hope to the faithful fans, who begin to prepare for the Mariners’ first playoff appearance since 2001. But the great expectations never come into fruition, as year after year Seattle has found ways to stay out of contention once October arrives.

This year was just another one of those years.

General manager Jerry Dipoto had the front office active in the offseason, acquiring young, talented – and lesser known – players like Jean Segura and Drew Smyly, as well as many other respectable guys.

Closer Edwin Diaz provided a preview of how dominant the pen would be toward the end of 2016. Veteran power hitters Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, along with third baseman Kyle Seager, offered promise in the middle of the order.

With the several new additions, it seemed like the Mariners would improve substantially and find themselves in a playoff position. That isn’t the case today, for several key reasons.

Pitching Problems

Few teams across the league faced as much adversity on the mound than Seattle. Initially, the starting rotation looked stable, with Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Drew Smyly, James Paxton and (insert either Yovani Gallardo or Ariel Miranda here).

While Paxton started the season on a torrid stretch, he faced a turbulent season thanks to a few injuries. And he wasn’t the only one to spend a large portion of the year on the disabled list.

Smyly was out before even toeing the rubber in a regular season game. By June, he was officially out for the season to undergo Tommy John surgery.

The team’s seasoned starters suffered similar issues. Iwakuma pitched in just six games all season due to shoulder issues. Hernandez has just 15 starts this season because of his shoulder, as well as biceps tendonitis. Neither was effective when they had the chance to pitch, either, as both owned a mid-4.00 ERA.

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A team relying primarily on a no-name pitcher like Ariel Miranda and a veteran hack like Yovani Gallardo won’t typically result in an AL West title. And despite the improvements several hitters made at the plate, the starting pitching’s struggles seemed to overshadow the rest of the team’s progress.

Even thought the Mariners didn’t rank near the bottom in team ERA, it was still a major issue. The only team with a playoff chance that possesses a team ERA worse than Seattle is Colorado.

Offensive Issues

Had a few players never gotten hurt, Mariners’ fans would have never seen Ben Gamel’s hit streak nor Taylor Motter’s hitting stretch after being called up to the big leagues.

There were some signs of development at the dish, but ultimately injuries got in the way of the team’s potential. Mitch Haniger suffered from a few prolonged injuries.

The team couldn’t find any reliable support for the bottom of the order either. No one could thrive behind the plate, although Mike Zunino did have one promising stretch.

When opposing pitchers got to the six through nine spots in the order, Seattle couldn’t accomplish much. Players hitting in the seven, eight and nine spots in the lineup combined for a .224 average on the year thus far.

That’s not very promising, especially for an AL club.

The Mariners ranked 17th in runs overall and 13th in average. But they ranked just 21st in home runs and 19th in OPS.

The Verdict

Several players made progress this season, and per usual, Cano and Cruz performed up to their expectations. Segura will continue to be an unknown star at the top of the order, and young up-and-coming players like Haniger and Gamel could play an important role in the near future.

Next: Diamondbacks are back in the playoffs again

But unless players can improve their durability, and starting pitchers can improve in the coming years, the franchise shouldn’t expect anything out of the ordinary.

That means high expectations at the beginning of the year, and a season full of disappointment come October.