Seattle Mariners: Never too late to pull it all together
The Seattle Mariners have constructed a puzzle that nobody has remained frustratingly incomplete. The pitching has been shoddy, the lineup has been just a hair behind what is needed and their brightest stars have not been able to pull up the rest of the lacking weight. Even entering this year, there is a slightly alarming amount of “ifs” that frame the potential of the team.
But now the Mariners are looking at all the right pieces with a chance to finish the job. On the hill, old mainstays Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma are joined by a budding star in Taijuan Walker. The potential of the pitching staff is all about Iwakuma staying healthy and Walker figuring it out in his second MLB season, as well as King Felix being able to recapture his vintage pre All-Star form from a year ago.
The offense lacked last season even with Nelson Cruz hitting everything over the fence and Robinson Cano starting to get back to his old self again. But now the Mariners have added Nori Aoki and Adam Lind to help fill out their roster. Combine that with the promising young Ketel Marte bringing his hitting prowess to the shortstop spot and this is a lineup that becomes sneaky dangerous.
None of Seattle’s new guys are game changers, but they should be enough to fill in the holes in this hypothetical Pacific Northwest puzzle. And once complete, that puzzle will show a full picture of a commissioner’s trophy.
Next: Tampa Bay Rays