The Seattle Mariners continued their roller coaster season in May, finishing the month at 14-14.
That represented an improvement over a 10-12 April, but the Mariners still aren’t living up to lofty expectations. A 12-6 stretch made it appear Seattle was turning things around before it dropped three of four in a frustrating series against the Cleveland Indians to close out the month.
Parts of the team, particularly the starting pitching, are getting better. Some roster moves also helped the bullpen get better. Unfortunately, the offense just has too many black holes in it right now for the team to show any consistency.
Felix Hernandez and Nelson Cruz continued to be among the best in the majors in May. Some other developments were a little more surprising.
The lack of pitching depth is now going to hurt
Starting pitching was considered the strength of the team entering the season. With an excellent 1-2 at the top, a solid veteran in J.A. Happ and two young pitchers with tons of upside, the Mariners had an opportunity to rank as one of the best rotations in the majors.
The concern was with the lack of organizational depth at the position. Every team in the majors will use more than five starters this season, and the Mariners had a few injury risks in the rotation to begin the year.
When Hisashi Iwakuma went down with a lat injury in April, Seattle was able to turn to the very capable Roenis Elias in his stead. With James Paxton now also out for an extended period of time with a finger problem, the options are far less appealing.
The injury was a real shame for Paxton, who pitched very well in May, including a scoreless streak of a career-high 20 innings. Now, it appears rookie Mike Montgomery will be the fill-in for at least a month, if not more.
Montgomery could very well step in and be effective, but this is far from an ideal situation. The multiple injuries could accelerate the Mariners need to make a trade for rotation help.
The offseason acquisitions have not only worked, but kept the Mariners afloat
As disappointing as the Mariners have been, things would be much worse without the contributions of just about every offseason acquisition. Cruz continued his impossibly hot April and stills ranks near the top of the majors in every triple crown category.
His incredible start has somewhat overshadowed the contributions of other newcomers. Seth Smith hit very well in May and currently owns a 125 wRC+, tied with Kyle Seager for second-best on the team behind Cruz’s 194.
Perhaps the only move Seattle made during the offseason that was met with criticism was the Michael Saunders for J.A. Happ deal. But Happ was absolutely critical to the success of the rotation in May and has been Seattle’s best starter behind Hernandez by just about any measure.
We haven’t seen much of Justin Ruggiano, who probably deserves a shot at more playing time. Even the misused Rickie Weeks, who has terrible overall stats, owns a 142 wRC+ against lefties, the role he was brought here to Seattle to fill.
Taijuan Walker was a top prospect for a reason
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the entire season has been the performance of Taijuan Walker. Nobody expected Walker to come in and pitch like an ace at 22-years-old, but he’s looked completely lost on the mound after a dominant spring.
A few starts in May at least provided some progress. Walker turned in six solid innings on May 13 against the San Diego Padres and held the powerful Toronto Blue Jays lineup hitless for the first four innings on May 24. While that Toronto start quickly unraveled, at least Walker showed some flashes of brilliance.
Then on Friday night against the red-hot Indians, Walker turned in the best start of his career. Walker allowed just two hits over eight scoreless innings while striking out eight and walking none.
The 22-year-old worked quickly and efficiently, showed great command and had tons of life on his fastball. With the injuries elsewhere in the rotation, the Mariners need that to continue.
