With the win yesterday avoiding a series sweep, the Tribe head west (yes ... super late games for the EST fans) to take on one of the preseason favorites, the Seattle Mariners.
- Thursday, 10:10 ET: Corey Kluber (RH) vs. James Paxton (LH)
- Friday, 10:10 ET: Trevor Bauer (RH) vs. Taijuan Walker (RH)
- Saturday, 10:ET PM: Shaun Marcum (RH) vs. Roenis Elias (LH)
- Sunday, 4:10 ET: Danny Salazar (RH) vs. J.A. Happ (LH)
The Mariners have been on a bit of a hot streak lately. They just swept the Rays in Tampa and took two of three from the Blue Jays in Toronto to complete a 6-3 road trip (also was in Baltimore) to even their record at 0.500. Once the four game set is complete, the Tribe will take a day of respite and head to Kansas City for three more before heading back home.
Division Watch: Royals at Cubs, Blue Jays at Twins, Tigers at Angels, White Sox at Astros.
Team in a Box
Seattle Mariners |
Offense |
AL Rank |
Pitching |
AL Rank |
|||
2014 Record |
23-23 |
Runs/Game |
3.8 |
13th |
Runs/Game |
4.1 |
5th |
AL West |
2nd |
OBP |
297 |
14th |
H/9 |
8.4 |
5th |
Last 10 |
7-3 |
SLG |
403 |
9th |
BB/9 |
3.2 |
12th |
Last 30 |
16-14 |
Steals |
22 |
10th |
SO/9 |
7.7 |
6th |
The Mariners staff overall has been right around league average, but with Felix Hernandez and Paxton both having good years, it sort of evens out for the poor starts of some of the back end guys. The hitting has improved from the past couple of years, but not by a whole lot. They are still bottom five in many categories. Overall, the defense has been average, but no one is really bad at his position.
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Projected Roster
Pos |
Player |
Bats |
PA |
BA |
OPS |
wRC+ |
C |
Mike Zunino |
R |
139 |
181 |
609 |
71 |
1B |
Logan Morrison |
L |
179 |
236 |
710 |
101 |
2B |
Robinson Cano |
L |
199 |
253 |
630 |
78 |
3B |
Kyle Seager |
L |
184 |
275 |
806 |
125 |
SS |
Chris Taylor |
R |
64 |
169 |
455 |
31 |
LF |
Brad Miller |
L |
153 |
237 |
741 |
110 |
CF |
Austin Jackson |
R |
112 |
231 |
587 |
68 |
RF |
Seth Smith |
L |
135 |
264 |
805 |
125 |
DH |
Nelson Cruz |
R |
195 |
341 |
1082 |
201 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OF |
Dustin Ackley |
L |
116 |
179 |
521 |
44 |
OF |
Rickie Weeks |
R |
79 |
188 |
581 |
72 |
OF |
Justin Ruggiano |
R |
70 |
200 |
681 |
98 |
IF |
Willie Bloomquist |
R |
41 |
200 |
445 |
24 |
C |
Welington Castillo # |
R |
65 |
155 |
508 |
32 |
# Stats with Cubs and Mariners
I take back what I said above. This offense is fairly atrocious. Cruz has definitely been worth that offseason contract. And Seager is having a fine repeat of 2014. But man, what a lot of black holes in this lineup. Former top prospects Zunino and Ackley are really struggling, with Ackley losing his job. Manager Lloyd McClendon doesn't really have any bench options either. I mean they are carrying three backup outfielders and Bloomquist can play there in a pinch. Jackson appears to be a shell of his former self. McClendon has been mixing and matching all of the outfield positions over the past two weeks.
In the past two weeks, Seager, Smith Cruz and Ruggiano have been the key bats, all better than an 800 OPS. Seager has five bombs in that span while Cruz has three to push his league leading total to 18.
Projected Staff
Player |
Throws |
ERA |
FIP |
IP |
WHIP |
K/9 |
Felix Hernandez |
R |
1.91 |
3.21 |
70.2 |
0.89 |
9.0 |
James Paxton |
L |
3.52 |
4.22 |
53.2 |
1.25 |
6.9 |
Tijuan Walker |
R |
7.33 |
5.47 |
43.0 |
1.84 |
8.2 |
Roenis Elias |
L |
2.56 |
4.21 |
38.2 |
1.29 |
7.2 |
J.A. Happ |
L |
3.71 |
3.53 |
53.1 |
1.22 |
6.9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fernando Rodney |
R |
6.98 |
4.98 |
19.1 |
1.71 |
8.4 |
Carson Smith |
R |
0.86 |
2.45 |
21.0 |
0.67 |
10.3 |
Charlie Furbush |
L |
1.64 |
3.21 |
11.0 |
0.82 |
5.7 |
Tom Wilhelmsen |
R |
1.69 |
1.34 |
10.2 |
1.22 |
11.8 |
Mark Lowe |
R |
1.13 |
2.75 |
8.0 |
1.50 |
10.1 |
Joe Beimel |
L |
2.45 |
2.71 |
7.1 |
1.09 |
7.4 |
While the scheduling gods did give the Tribe a break by missing King Felix, they really did no favors as the Tribe gets to face all three lefties that the Mariners employ in the rotation. First up will be Paxton. He is 3-0 in his four May starts, beating the Padres, Red Sox and Blue Jays, with a 1.33 ERA in 27 innings with a 1.07 WHIP and 5.0 K/9. He has never faced Cleveland. Walker has been a lot more erratic, 0-3 in five starts, 7.71 ERA, 1.80 WHIP and 7.7 K/9 in 23.1 innings. The high profile prospect also has never faced the Indians. Elias joined the rotation when Iwakuma went down. In May he is 2-1 in five starts, 2.45 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 6.8 K/9 in 33 innings. He did make one start in 2014 vs. the Tribe, taking the loss with five runs in six innings in the Josh Tomlin masterpiece, with Gomes taking him deep. Happ was acquired for Michael Saunders this offseason. He has a 5.19 ERA in his five May starts (1-0), 1.38 WHIP and 8.0 K/9. Happ has two career starts in 2012 and 2014 with a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings with a 1.00 WHIP and 5.8 K/9.
The Mariners bullpen is antithesis to the Indians. They use just six relievers, two of them left handed. This is Rodney's second year in Seattle, but he has a long history against the Tribe from his Detroit days. In 49 appearances, he has a 3.81 ERA with a 1.37 WHIP and 8.5 K/9 and just six home runs in 52 innings. Smith is the relative newcomer who is off to a fantastic start this year. Furbush has a 5.40 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 12.9 K/9 in 18.1 career Tribe innings. Wilhelmsen was the closer back in 2012 and 2013. He has a 2.92 ERA, 1.7- WHIP and 13.1 K/9 in 12.1 innings. Lowe pitched briefly in Cleveland last year. He last faced the Tribe in 2012; he has a 1.84 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 8.0 K/9 in 14.2 innings. In Beimel's 13 year career, he has just 7.1 effective innigns vs. the Indians, 1.23 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 8.6 K/9.
On the Shelf
- SP Hishashi Iwakuma [15 day DL], possible late June return
- RP Tyler Olsen [15 day DL], possible late May return
Almanac
W |
L |
Pct |
RS |
RA |
Pythag |
|
2015 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2014 |
2 |
4 |
333 |
16 |
17 |
472 |
Last 5* |
19 |
18 |
514 |
162 |
148 |
541 |
Last 10* |
44 |
38 |
537 |
386 |
337 |
562 |
All-Time |
57 |
57 |
500 |
546 |
514 |
528 |
*Does not include 2015 stats
Prediction: While the Tribe badly needs to take three of four, I think they will be lucky to get the split. Three lefties doesn't bode well. For this offense. I think Kluber outduels Paxton with Gomes back behind the dish and Bauer dominates Walker. I don't like the Marcum matchup and for some reason I have a bad feeling with the Happ matchup. I will still call for a four game split.