8-16-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter
Ahh there’s nothing quite like a 10 game losing streak on a West Coast trip. The fans that did stay up are not pleased they dragged ass at work all week just to watch continual disappointment. The fans that didn’t stay up, have nothing but the box score and pissed off media types to tell them what happened, and let’s just say that 3 for 4 Bryan Reynolds performance in the 3rd or 4th game probably doesn’t placate them.
Nor should it.
The Pirates have probably fallen far enough back now that they need a new goal. Changes too of course, but in the short term, cracking .500 has to be the goal.
The Mariners aren’t the Diamondbacks, Dodgers or Padres, but they are yet another team in the playoff dance, and they can really pitch.
If Derek Shelton’s seat is as hot as most of us think it should be, I’d expect something to really look out of place. Change something he hasn’t tried to change yet. Play someone somewhere new. Something has to start looking like a guy is trying to save his job, or I’m forced to assume he doesn’t feel the pressure.
Let’s get in there…
8/16
Mariners – Logan Gilbert (R) – 7-8, 154.2 IP, 2.91 ERA, 149 Ks/27 walks, 0.87 WHIP
Pirates – Paul Skenes (R) – 6-2, 92.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 115 Ks/20 walks, 0.96 WHIP
8/17
Mariners – Luis Castillo (R) – 10-11, 148.1 IP, 3.40 ERA, 148 Ks/40 walks, 1.16 WHIP
Pirates – Bailey Falter (L) – 5-7, 101.2 IP, 4.07 ERA, 67 Ks/31 walks, 1.24 WHIP
8/18
Mariners – George Kirby (R) – 8-9, 144.2 IP, 3.42 ERA, 143 Ks/17 walks, 1.09 WHIP
Pirates – TBD
Mariners:
For the M’s, it’s almost always Julio Rodriguez if you’re talking offense. In his last 15 games he’s hit 3 homeruns, is batting .375, gets on base at a .434 clip and his SLG is .625. Look, he’s a star, but he is susceptible to the strikeout. This spans his IL trip that he just returned from though, so he might not be firing on all cylinders yet.
Pirates:
It’s funny because of all the negative attention Oneil Cruz has garnered lately for his defensive plays, but there isn’t anyone close to his production in the last 15 games. Batting .328, OBP .400, SLG .586. He’s hitting lefties, righties, everything.
Mariners:
This is probably a strange time to extend Victor Robles, you know, what with hitting .180, on base at .231 and a .279 SLG in his past 30 games, but the CF market next year is thin and Victor has largely done well since being acquired from the Nationals. Not a great stretch for him though.
Pirates:
Just one? Oh, ok, I’ll pick. Ke’Bryan Hayes in his past 15 games is hitting .220, his on base sits at .270 and his SLG is .271. He’s had an overall tragic season, but why not pick him, he’s supposed to be better than this.
Key Injuries
For the Mariners J.P. Crawford is a loss they could ill afford. He’s in no way a perfect player but they don’t have the offensive roster to deal with many losses.
The Pirates just lost Marco Gonzales for the season, but they could be on the verge of getting Jared Jones back, although, he looked awful in his rehab start. Nick Gonzales and Joshua Palacios are out with strained stuff, groin and hamstring respectively. Its starting to look like wishful thinking to get any innings out of Ryan Borucki, even while we’ve heard him out on two rehab stints at this point.
Things to Look For
Nobody in baseball has a better team ERA than the Seattle Mariners, their 3.46 mark the next closest is 3.72. The M’s WHIP leads the league too, 1.09.
The Pirates along with game 3’s starter TBD are 15th in baseball with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.
Both of these teams can pitch, but the M’s have not had the drop off the Pirates have. This stretch has sent them plummeting down the lists here.
Offensively, these teams are similarly challenged. Bucs OPS is 27th in baseball at .672, Seattle holds down 28th on the list with .667.
Two teams who can pitch, and don’t hit much. Two teams that somehow had themselves in the mix for the playoffs at the deadline. Both went and got a little of what should be considered help, and it really hasn’t helped either.
If this series ended with nobody scoring more than 3 runs in a game, I probably wouldn’t be all that shocked.
M’s are 3 games behind the Astros, their best path to the playoffs is to win the division. The Pirates are no longer in a place where you quote that number.
Bottom line, the Mariners are a step below the teams that just boat raced the Pirates, if you are one of those people that quotes the 1-run loss numbers like it wouldn’t have taken much to swing the record, well, ok, they oughta beat a lesser opponent then.
Time to pull back on the controls and end the nose dive or don’t.
Steel City Pirates 