I think that the last two days have been enough to convince almost everyone hereabouts that the Mariners are done for this year. Any hint of contention for the division that they had prior to Thursday is pretty much gone.
Still, this is not to say that the team is not improved over last year--they certainly ARE. At 56-59 or three games under .500, they are still ahead of where they were at this time last year. Is this a miracle? No. Is it something to base hope for next year on? Certainly.
From a team that was one of the oldest in the major leagues just over a year ago, the Mariners are now the fourth youngest team in the majors, based on the average age of the players as constituted today. What does this mean? It means that it is going to be a learning curve for the balance of this year and into next spring training. The youngsters need to learn to play together and mesh into an effective playing unit, along with the veteran core that is left over from the previous teams. It also means that the team can be expected to be consistently inconsistent in their play for the time being (and there is no question whatsoever that they are absolutely that).
More worrisome is the rather prolonged slump that right fielder Ichiro Suzuki has found himself in. As of last night, he was batting .133 over the past two weeks or so. Of course, we all know that Ichiro has always been a streaky hitter, and that is not likely to change any time in the near future. It has been noted that he has been working with hitting coach Jeff Pentland, and all are hopeful that the slump will be broken soon.
All in all, it may be time to just sit back and enjoy what is left of the season, come what may, and start to look forward to next year, when things will more than likely be better.
No comments:
Post a Comment