Ichiro Suzuki has laid down a challenge for the Seattle Mariners.
He said at the All-Star Game in Detroit that the Mariners’ goal should be a 70-6 finish to the season. That’s a bold statement, especially since the M’s have 75 games left.
Please excuse Suzuki’s math and ride with his hopes for the next 2 months.
In reality, the Mariners’ fate lies somewhere between Suzuki’s tongue-in-cheek expectation (that’s what it was, wasn’t it?) and where they are now, last in the American League West Division.
The Mariners aren’t good enough to win 70 more games, as Suzuki would like to see, just as they aren’t as bad as the 39-48 record they compiled before the All-Star break.
What’s there to expect from the Mariners the rest of this season?
A .500 record for one thing, along with a few signs that this franchise truly is on its way back from a 99-loss season last year. Both of those are realistic.
Given the number of changes the Mariners made in the offseason, a slow start shouldn’t have been a surprise. The Mariners opened the season with a different player in every position but second base and right field (and the second baseman, Bret Boone, is gone now) than they had on opening day in 2004.
So forget winning the AL West Division. If the first-place Angels remain on their first-half pace, they’ll finish with 95 victories. The Mariners would need to go 56-19 the rest of the season to match that.
An 81-81 final record would leave the Mariners 18 games better than last year, an improvement just about any team would be happy with.
To get there, the Mariners will need:
* Suzuki to rebound from his first half of disbelief. His average dipped below .300 for a while last month, but in the past 30 days he batted .349, and there’s hope for the stretch drive. Suzuki is a career .334 hitter after the All-Star break
* Third baseman Adrian Beltre to keep hitting like he’s finally getting comfortable with American League pitching. He batted .310 in the past 30 days and has pulled his average up to .261 after it once seemed .250 might be a reach.
* First baseman Richie Sexson to hit homers and drive in runs, even if his batting average doesn’t get any better than the .258 he’s now hitting.
* The middle of the order to produce, which it did in last week’s four-game sweep at Anaheim. After the Mariners cut struggling Bret Boone, manager Mike Hargrove moved DH Raul Ibanez to No. 3 in the batting order, and that shift has made a difference. Ibanez hit .381 in the final five games before the All-Star break.
* Catcher Miguel Olivo to produce offensively, and to become a leader of the pitching staff. Olivo has batted just .167 since coming back from Class AAA Tacoma, where he was sent early this season because of hitting problems.
* Left fielder Randy Winn to get hot again at the plate. His average, around .300 early in the season, has dropped to .265 after a 30-day stretch in which he hit .149.
* Consistency from the starting pitchers. The five starters went into the All-Star break on their best run of the season, going a combined 4-1 with a 3.74 earned run average in each of their last outings. The Mariners are looking for Joel Pineiro (3-4, 5.44 ERA) and Gil Meche (9-6, 4.92) to find consistent success because those two are considered anchors of the rotation in future years.
* To do the right thing with Felix Hernandez, which is to protect his valuable right arm and not push him to the major leagues too soon.
The 19-year-old is considered the future ace of the starting rotation and once seemed a sure bet to pitch in the majors this season. The team is more cautious than ever about protecting his valuable right arm after a bout of bursitis landed Hernandez on the disabled list.
* Outfielder Chris Snelling to play. He came off knee surgery to become one of the Pacific Coast League’s top hitters at Class AAA Tacoma, then was promoted to the Mariners early this month.
Snelling’s arrival spawned assumptions that the Mariners are trying to trade Winn, something that has been quiet lately but still could happen before the July 31 trade deadline.
Meanwhile, most of Snelling’s time with the Mariners has been on the bench, which is no place for a hot hitter to be. While Winn slumped, Snelling has gotten just two at-bats.
* Infielder/outfielder Willie Bloomquist to keep playing. After spending most of the season on the bench, he has started nine straight games and batted .406 in that period. Bloomquist brings speed and reliability to the lineup, both offensively and defensively.
Like opening day, when everybody’s a first-place team, the next 11 weeks can be a period of optimism for the Mariners.
The four-game sweep at Anaheim last week is probably a mirage – every team goes through a rough period and every team goes through a great one, and the M’s and Angles may have had theirs at the same time – but there’s still a lot for Mariners fans to anticipate.
Just don’t count on 70 more victories.
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