KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Don’t overlook reliever Danny Farquhar in the coming days when compiling the long list of what-ifs in the Seattle Mariners’ disappointing season.
Oh, Farquhar isn’t at the top, certainly.
There were bigger puzzles, such as Robinson Cano’s inexplicable six-week crash from late April to mid-June, a maddening lack of productivity with runners in scoring position and Fernando Rodney’s ruinous decline.
Mike Zunino’s regression. Injuries to Hisashi Iwakuma, James Paxton and Charlie Furbush. And a lot more. It’s a long list.
But Farquhar might best exemplify these Mariners.
Like the club as a whole, he endured a miserable start amid heightened expectations and labored through a long stretch of inconsistency before putting it together in the closing weeks.
“I think there was an issue with my arm slot,” Farquhar said. “That’s what the consensus is. I’m just going to keep throwing from where I’m at right now.”
The “right now” shows Farquhar, 28, on a run of eight scoreless outings since his Sept. 7 recall from Triple-A Tacoma. He has allowed one hit and one walk in 81/3 innings while registering 11 strikeouts.
“In my mind,” manager Lloyd McClendon said, “I think he’s back. It’s really nice to see. You try not to think about what-ifs. It’s nice to see him throw the ball the way he’s capable of throwing the ball.”
It was that Farquhar who entered the season projected as one of the club’s top setup relievers.
He was former closer — 16-for-18 in save opportunities over the final two months in 2013 — who shifted roles last season, after the Mariners acquired Rodney, and responded with a 2.66 ERA and 13 “holds” in 66 appearances.
That Farquhar was nowhere in evidence over the early weeks. He had a 6.46 ERA through 20 games when the Mariners optioned him on May 25 to Tacoma.
His key pitch, his cut fastball, wasn’t cutting. Farquhar, at the time, believed he was close to a fix — “I think I’m not too far off” — but the Mariners were already eight games out of first and their bullpen was a mess.
They needed help now.
“It’s hard for any pitcher to try to make adjustments here in the big leagues,” McClendon explained. “It gives Danny a chance to step back and work on the things he needs to work on.”
The move didn’t pay immediate dividends for the club or player. For Farquhar, it marked the start of a 15-week odyssey that saw him shuttled four times between Tacoma and the big leagues.
“It sucks, obviously, going up and down,” he admitted at one point, “but I’ve been in way worse situations. You’ve just got to be mentally tough and deal with what happens.”
The pieces began to fall into place at Tacoma just after the All-Star break, when he put together a strong 10-game stretch that prompted another big-league recall.
Farquhar pitched well in four outings before an Aug. 22 clunker against the White Sox (four batters faced, none retired, three runs) resulted in another demotion to Tacoma.
That outing against Chicago now looks like an outlier. Farquhar hasn’t allowed a run since: five scoreless outings for the Rainiers before his current eight-game run in the big leagues.
He offers a simple explanation.
“I’m throwing my cutter for strikes,” Farquhar said. “I’m locating it down, and in and out. It’s a huge key to my success.”
The Mariners are 12-7 in September. Their bullpen leads the majors in that span with a 1.74 ERA. It isn’t solely because of Farquhar, but … what if?
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