Cliches won't help the M's

Last night, Mariners SP Carlos Silva (the loser in a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Angels) provided the following quote:

"One thing in here is, I know everybody has to do their own job, but don't forget it's a team. A lot of people in here play for themselves ... Like, 'If I get my two hits, it's OK. That's my day. I made my day."

While I'll admit that I don't get many Seattle games in the OKC area (unless you count future Sonics games), I'm pretty sure that the problem with the Mariners is not that guys are getting theirs and it's just not fitting together as a team. Just look at the numbers for the starting pitchers. It's fairly apparent there aren't a lot of quality starts being logged. While Felix Hernandez has posted a solid 3.29 ERA. Erik Bedard's ERA, 4.47, would be palatable if he wasn't supposed to be the second ace of the staff. Miguel Batista (5.90 ERA), Carlos Silva (5.96 ERA) and Jarrod Washburn (6.56 ERA) round out the pitching staff. In 6 May starts, Silva managed just 27 innings and an ERA of 11.00. Not great for a guy making in excess of $8 million this year. Despite making $9.5 million this year, Batista has only had 3 good starts (6+ innings with 3 or less earned runs allowed) this season. Washburn has 4 such quality starts despite making close to $10 million this year. By my count, Bedard and Hernandez each have 6 QS's. But, Safeco is supposed to be a decent pitcher's park.

Sometimes, you get unlucky and don't string hits together at the right times. Or, the hitting and pitching don't coincide in a manner that allows you to win a lot of games. But, the pitching has just been bad to start the year. But, the starting pitchers shouldn't get all the blame for the putrid start.

Richie Sexson isn't hitting his weight (.200 vs. 240 lbs) and has an OBP of .277. Kenji Johjima and Jose Vidro are hitting in the .220's and Adrian Beltre still hasn't come close to reproducing the stats he put up in his walk year with the Dodgers. Somehow, he hit .334 with 48 HR's and 121 RBI's that year. While he may break the 30 HR barrier this year, his 13 in 59 games extrapolates to 36 over 162. Plus, his BA is a paltry (unless you compare it to Sexson's) .236. The Mariners were idiots to sign Beltre to the deal they cut him (he's making more than $13 million this year, which is a bargain when you consider Sexson's contract is north of $15 million this year). They should have seen 2004 for what it was, an aberration. Beltre had never hit more than 23 HR's previously and his previous high BA was .290. So, his numbers as a Mariner are in line with his numbers as a Dodger if you get rid of 2004. The problem is that the Mariners are paying him to be the 2004 Beltre. For whatever reason, he's not that guy. But, don't blame Adrian, blame the Mariners' overeager management on that one.

Ichiro, Betancourt, and Lopez are hitting in the .289-.305 range. But, Lopez and Betancourt have a combined 10 walks on the season in almost 500 combined plate appearances. So, they aren't exactly leading the world in OBP; Lopez has an OBP of just .315 and Betancourt is at .305. Neither of those numbers is good. KC is 2nd to last in the AL in OBP (as a team - they are ahead of Seattle) at .312. The only other Mariner regular over .250 is Raul Ibanez at .261, which is 30-40 points below where he's usually at.

The Mariners don't have the worst pitching in the AL, nor do they have the worst offense in the AL. They're close to Detroit in the running for 2nd worst pitching (ahead of Texas) and right there with Baltimore for 2nd worst hitting (ahead of KC). But, Texas has been the best offensive team in the AL and Detroit is close to the top (1 R behind Minnesota for 3rd in runs scored). And, Baltimore is in the middle of the pack in pitching. KC's pitching hasn't exactly been stellar, but, the Royals have the 3rd worst record in MLB (ahead of Seattle and Colorado). But, KC doesn't have a payroll in excess of $100 million like Seattle either.

But, to get back to the point, I think Carlos Silva is wrong. While it's great to be a team and have all those intangibles, the individual Mariners haven't put up the stats this year. People aren't getting two hits a game ... that's why half their regulars are under the .240 mark. They don't have anyone tearing it up (unless you count Ichiro on the basepaths). Adrian Beltre has 13 HR's. But, I wouldn't consider 35 HR's a year tearing it up for a corner IF hitting .236. The Mariners barely have a chance when Hernandez and Bedard aren't starting, and some of their starts will be wasted because the offense is ... well ... offensive! Maybe, if the pitchers start racking up decent starts and guys get a couple hits, the wins will start rolling in.