Is offense really the problem?

[evergreenmachine]

While looking over the standings of the AL west I was struck by something that I had not expected - the mariners are third worst on runs scored!

For a team that supposedly is hitting weak and pitching deep and plays in a pitchers park this is very surpising.

So my question, is all of the focus on the lack of offense unwarranted? Is it really the pitching staff that is not pulling it's weight? Beavan, noesi, others come to mind plus Felix has not been great...

If the offense is as is and the pitching is better are we more competitive? I would suggest the answer is yes and the front office should focus more on improving pitching in the off season.

[evergreenmachine]

Officially we rank 21st in era at 4.17

Our offense is 20 in runs scored but with 1-4 extra games so realistically we are 22-23

Neither is very good, but the offense is highly maligned while everyone assumes we have great pitching, defense and a pitcher friendly park.

[JosephC]

I think this is a good point. I was browsing over batting averages, and the only one who was below .200 was Ryan. Clearly the pitching has been failing as of late, and we could be winning games if they held it better.
That being said, when you are on the short end of the stick on both sides (defense and offense), this is the exact outcome you'd expect. Some nights the pitching fails, some nights the batting fails, some nights both fail, some nights neither fail. But the odds are, one of them will fail each night.

[Igoe4Mariners]

Want to hear my expert analysis?

The Mariners suck at hitting for average. The Mariners suck at getting on base. The Mariners suck at offense. The Mariners suck at not giving up home runs. The Mariners suck at not allowing runs. The Mariners suck at pitching. The Mariners suck at everything, except defense, but only because of defensive specialists Brendan Ryan and Franklin Gutierrez. The Mariners young players suck, too, apparently, except a select few of them.

[JosephC]

That's an awfully good analysis Igoe. Good enough to work for sportscenter without a doubt.

[evergreenmachine]

I think Felix read my post lol

[TellItToTheDA]

5 games on this homestand thus far. 5 runs. 25 hits. Four of them for extra bases.

It's the offense.

[Igoe4Mariners]

Aaron Freaking Cook. 80 pitches. Shutout. Two hits.

Yeah, the offense is just fine.

[206HoopsFan]

On the Road? Generally speaking no. At Home? Absofuckinglutely.

[clarknova]

I listened to last night's game. Forced myself to. I was driving the whole time, so I figured I might as well... Something struck me as I was trying SO hard not to turn into a cynical, negative, hate monger... I thought, yeah, they suck ass at Safeco. This reminds me of the last two years; the other team scores two runs and I just assume it's out of hand, but they're better. Improvement is usually so slow for franchises in baseball. It just takes for freaking ever most of the time. You can tout specific teams that went from worst to first, but for the most part it's a slow painful process. It's like surgery without anesthesia (to quote Slayer). It's torture. I guess what I'm saying is- not hitting at home sucks, but I'll take hitting on the road and not hitting at home over not hitting at home OR on the road like the last two years. This is the prolonged team slump. Hopefully they pull their heads out of their asses soon.

[clarknova]

Oh, and in terms of what is keeping them from winning... Yeah, it's not scoring runs. The pitching is definitely down, but they're losing a ton of close games because they can't buy a clutch hit. Eric Wedge may be a hyperbole machine, but he's right. It's the approach, and the grit. They suck at both.

[evergreenmachine]

Was talking with one of the mariners guys this eve and he really thinks that the offensive struggles are half climate and half mental.

We did come up with a good concept for how to improve offense at safeco without moving in the fence, a reverse humidor! Think like what they have in Colorado and then the exact opposite. Drier baseballs could potentially go further at safeco