Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - 2020 M's Season Review: Batting Stats

Episode Date: October 1, 2020

On today's show, bowling fan D.C. Lundberg breaks down the Mariners offensive numbers from the abbreviated 2020 season. And... there's not a whole lot that can be added to that comment. In other news, he was really excited for the Elias Cup Finals Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the finals are set. It's going to be the Las Vegas High Rollers versus the defending champion at Portland Lumberjacks. Two night at 4 p.m. Pacific time in the Elias Cup finals to decide the champion of the PBA League. I'm so excited. Uh, yeah. This program is being published so late, and I'm editing this so late that the PBA League

Finals already happened, and I just didn't want to record an entire new intro to this show. In any case, congratulations to the Portland Lumberjacks for taking the Elias Cup three games to two over the Las Vegas High Rollers. It was a fantastic finish to a great tournament. We now return you to this episode of Locked on Mariners already in progress. This is Locked-on Mariners. I am bowling fan, D.C. Lundberg, bowling fan, obviously. We are part of the locked-on podcast network,

or T-L-O-P-N, or T-Lopin, if you will, brought to you today by Rock Auto. Remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program, as I slur through the opening on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked on Mariners podcast or any program here on Tloppin. All you have to do is say, hey, smart device, play locked on team name here podcast. Follow us on Twitter at L-O underscore Mariners and follow me on Twitter at DC underscore Lundberg, L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G.

If you're scoring at home. Sorry for the lack of show yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, between four hours of bowling and getting off work late and also going to the gym in between that and also having to find time to eat dinner. Something had to get lost in the shuffle, unfortunately, it was the show. But we're back today, and we're going to talk about the 2020 Mariners' year-end statistics, or at least we're going to start talking about them. We're going to start with the offense, and we might get to the pitching on the next show. I'm not exactly sure how that's going to work out just quite yet,

because we are under some time constraints and whatnot, which I'm wasting just by babbling right now. So let's get to the Mariners offense, ladies and gentlemen. The Mariners as a team hit 226 on base percentage of 309, slugging percentage of 370. Batting average of 226 was 13th in the American League out of 15 teams. On base percentage of 309 was 12, slugging of 370 was 14th. Their OPS of 678, also 14th in the American League. that's next to last. I've kind of said that I think the offense might be a little bit ahead of the pitching in terms of development.

These are not good numbers, ladies and gentlemen. These are not good numbers at all. They did lead the American League in Stolen Bases with 50, which is, that's something. Stolen Base is a lost art as far as I'm concerned. So that's some good news. They had 435 hits on the season, 13th in the American League. 11th in doubles with 88, 14th in home runs with 14, and they scored as a team 254 runs,

which was 11th. All of these numbers are in the bottom third of the American League. It's not very good. And again, this was a team vying for a playoff spot, which just speaks to how bad the format is. The offense was, of course, led by Kyle Lewis, potential. rookie of the year. He played in 58 of the 60 Mariners games this season slashed 262, 364, 437. He led the Mariners in batting average. He led the Mariners in on base percentage. And he led the Mariners, pardon, he was second in slugging percentage. Dylan Moore led the Mariners in slugging percentage, believe it

or not. Kyle Lewis hit 11 home runs and three doubles on the short season. driving in 28 runs, walking 34 times, and striking out 71 times. That's a little on the high side, but he is still a young player. He's 25 years old, but still he struck out in 29% of his plate appearances. Yeah, that is too high. That is much, much too high. Also a little concerning was the inconsistency that he had, especially in the second half of the brief season.

Through the first 10 games, he was slashing 425, 47, 650. And we knew that that was not going to last, ladies and gentlemen. And then through 30 games, the halfway point of the season, he was slashing 368, 456, 585. So the batting average, everything did come back on down to earth. And during that 20-game stretch, he slashed 33, 4-44, 4-4, 585. 545s. And that's, you know, that's above what I thought he was going to do. Over the last half of the season, his last 30 games, not very good at all. Slash line of 150, 265, 280. He absolutely fell off a cliff, ladies and gentlemen.

And that's the inconsistency that I was speaking to just now. Over his last 10 games, as a matter of fact, he slashed 097, 243, 194. Maybe the league figured him out a little bit. I'm not exactly sure, but I choose to be encouraged by the strong first 30 games rather than be discouraged by the last 30 games. If this was a full season, a full 162 game season, that might be something that maybe the hitting coach found something in him mechanically, that they could then work out over the final 102 ball games.

But as it stands, he ends at 262, 3.3.3.5.5. 364-4-37. There was one player who saws action in all 60 games, and that was Kyle Seeger, who wound up slashing 241, 355, 433. His 12 doubles were tied for the team lead. He had nine home runs, drove in 40 runs. That led the team, ladies and gentlemen, that's pretty cool. 32 strikeouts, pardon me, 32 walks and 33 strikeouts. He started the first half of the season, you know, like very, very well, like he was rejuvenated and then fell into a slump, you know, the last part of the season. He was hitting 291 through the team's 30th game. And in the last 30 games, Kyle Seeger only slashed 190, 333, 350.

So he did close the season very much on a down note. And in his last 10 ball games, he slashed 222, 317, 444. So a little bit of an uptick in terms of his batting average there went from 240 to 241. And like I said, at the halfway point he was hitting 291. That's a 50 point fall in batting average. That's not very good. It's pretty terrible, to be honest. So, you know, Kyle Seeger started off looking like he was going to have a great

rejuvenated season and then, you know, kind of fell off again second half of the season. J.P. Crawford had an up and down season. He wound up slashing 255, 336, 338. 7 doubles, 2 triples, and 2 home runs out of the lead-off spot, 24 runs batted in, 23 walks and 39 strikeouts. Those 39 strikeouts probably do need to come down a little bit if he wants to be a lead-off hitter. you want somebody making contact in your lead-off spot. And 23 walks, he probably wants to get a few more as a lead-off hitter next season, because that's going to be what his role is, I'm assuming. He played 53 games, and like I said, kind of an up-and-down season,

had some hot streaks and went through some slumps through the first eight games. He was hitting 393, and then that batting average fell all the way down to 222 at the halfway point. But remember, he's the lead-off hitter on base percentage a little bit more important than batting average. And at the halfway point, pardon me, his on-base percentage was 315. That is too low for a lead-off hitter. Over his final 30 games, where his batting average rose quite a bet, he hit 292, 361, 417. I'm not exactly sure where J.P. Crawford is going to plateau, as it were. he's also 25.

He's got much more Major League experience than some of the other younger players, some of the other prospects on the roster. And remember 2019, where he really faded down the stretch. And the Mariners were after him to kind of get in better shape so he could last a whole season. And obviously we did not get to see how well that played out this year. Next year is going to be the telltale sign for that. We are coming up on our break already. we are absolutely not getting to the pitching numbers on today's show.

We'll save that for next time. But right now we'll talk about the Mariners trivia question, or I will ask the Mariners trivia question, as it were. On this date in 1990, September 30th, 1990, exactly 30 years ago, the Mariners were involved in some baseball history as they were the away opponent for the Chicago White Sox final game at Old Kimisky Park.

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mistake last week. Amazing selection. Reliably Low prices. All the parts your car or David Essex's car will ever need rockado dot com. My goodness. Answer to the trivia question 30 years ago today, September 30th 1990, the Mariners were the

away team at the final game at Old Kimisky Park in Chicago. The White Sox won this game, two to one. Okay, we'll give them the victory. It's their final home game in a very historic arc. White Sox won two to one. The final batter at Old Kimisky Park was Mariner's second baseman Harold Reynolds. The final pitcher was Future Mariner Bobby Thigpin.

Harold Reynolds hit a ground ball to Scott Fletcher, the White Sox second baseman, who threw it to pants drop. for Steve Lyons at first base for the forceout play. So the final ball was fielded by Scott Fletcher to Steve Lyons. Final batter, Harold Reynolds, final pitcher Bobby Thigpin, who set a Major League record for saves that season with 57 in 2018. Edwin Diaz tied that with not a record anymore,

but he also had 57 saves. Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels currently holds the record with 62 saves. You got a question or comment, send it on over. Locked on Mariner's at gmail.com. I will read it and reply to it on the air in the mailbag segment. Questions about anything? Does not have to be about baseball? Ask me about bowling.

I've been talking about bowling a lot on this show. Ask me about the Elias Cup, the PBA League. It is super, super fun. We're not going to do them every week as I have been doing during the regular season, but I believe I've already got enough emails to do one this Friday. The regular season ends and all of a sudden I start getting emails. So we're probably doing one this Friday. Kind of depends on whether or not

we have a show tomorrow. I'm not sure we're going to just because of the way things are kind of working out this week. But Locked-on Mariners at gmail.com is where to send those questions and comments for me to read on the air. More Locked-on Mariners following the following.

Now time for the second half of Locked-on Mariners. Once again, your host, D.C. Lundberg. That was Joey Martin, our announcer. Thank you, sir, for leading us back into the program, Locked on Mariners, today talking about the season end statistics for the offensive players on the Seattle Mariners tomorrow or the next day, depending on when our next show is, we will get to the pitchers.

We have gone over J.P. Crawford, we've gone over Kyle Seeger, and we've gone over Kyle Lewis. We'll talk about Evan White next, who ended this season with a 176 batting average, 252 on base, and 346 slugging. He hit eight home runs in 182 at bats, seven doubles and drove in 26. Obviously not the season the Mariners were hoping for out of their rookie first basement after giving him a major league contract. Had some problems making contact. Struck out obviously way too much in over 40% of his plate appearances.

I think 41.5% of his plate appearances ended in strikeouts. That is way, way too high. That's almost Mike Zanino territory. And, you know, his season low for batting average came after the Mariners 17th game, his 16th game, where he was hitting at 105 on base 175, slugging 193. From that point forward, he played an additional 38 games and slashed 208-28-48-48-416. He was actually pretty consistent with his batting average from that point on. Again, not a very good season from Evan White, but hey, he's young.

This was his first taste of Major League action. There were some very, very good players who struggled this season. Christian Yelot had a very off year, for example, and much like Shedlong Jr. In the season that he had, I'm willing to throw these numbers away, come back next year and see what he can do in a full season. Speaking of Shed Long, his season was abbreviated because of an injury. He had lost his starting second basement job anyways on top of that. But in 34 games, he slashed 171, 242, 291. Those are really, really bad numbers.

Last season in his cup of coffee, 42 games, 263, 333, and 454. Much, much better end to last season than this one. And if you combine those numbers, he gets 76 Major League games. He slashes 223, 294, 383. Still not acceptable for a starter. 17 doubles and eight home runs are in those major league statistics. He had five doubles and three home runs this year. He's got some pop in his bat.

So again, throw these numbers away, come back next year, and see what he can put up for you. Dylan Moore had his season start and stop a few times because of some injuries and the unfortunate concussion that he had to end his season. but he wound up leading the Mariners and slugging with 496, 255 batting average, 358 on base to go along with it, and he was barreling many more pitches than he was last year, and he started off, pardon me, very, very well. In his first 20 ball games, he was slashing 297, 381, 568. And I think, 205 last season, I think. 206, pardon me.

206 302-3-89 his numbers from last season, which he spent entirely at the big league level as a utility man. And again, that 297 batting average went down to 205. The 568 slugging, which is high for him, went down to 496. He's got sneaky pop in his bat. He's fun to watch. And he may be an option at third base going forward if the Mariners don't think Kyle Seeger can hack it anymore or they want to move on.

And Moore is not a prospect. Dylan Moore is 28 years old. So he's not among the younger players on the Mariners roster, but he's still obviously very, very valuable. And maybe he does fit in to a starting role at some point next season. He was kind of an everyday utility player until he got hurt, played a lot in right field, left field, some in the infield. And had usurped Shed Long's job as the second baseman late in the season,

again before that injury crept up. The rest of the roster is not really filled with prospects or players or anything of that sort. I'm just going to kind of quickly go over them. Jose Amar Malajos started off really badly before being sent out, hit everything in sight upon being called back up, and then ended again in a slump. He winds up at 206, 261, 411, 4 doubles, and six home runs among his 22 hits in 107 at bats. Tim Lopes also started out like a house of fire, hitting everything in sight, and then cooled off significantly.

He ends at 238, 278, 364. I think if he gains a little bit more patience and discernment at the plate, that it'll carry him a very, very long way. He's got back to ball skills. I think he needs to be a little bit more selective and maybe even draw a few more walks. He also tied for the Mariners team lead in doubles with 12, and he did that in 143 at bats, as opposed to the 203 at bats, it took Kyle Seeger to do. As a mariner, Ty France slashed 302, 362, 453 in 23 games. That's 86 at bats.

Telegram Sam also hit everything inside upon his recall before his season was ended, and he cooled off kind of quickly, but he was still pretty consistent. He ended at 260, 315, 400, four home runs, and 1.4,000. one home run among his 13 hits. He played 13 games and 50 at bats. Braden Bishop, I like Braden Bishop. He is a good dude. He is a straight up good dude.

But I don't know if he's going to have a lot more opportunities or chances at the big league level because, you know, this latest one also did not go very well. He is probably the best defensive outfielder in the Merrittor's system. He can play center field. He's the best defensive center fielder. in the Mariners system right now, and he can also play left field and right field. And I thought that bat to ball skills would be a little bit better than what he has shown so far. He slashed 167, 242, 233 at the big league level this year in 12 games.

He's never going to be a power hiter, but I did think he was going to hit for a little bit more consistent contact than he has shown. Jake Fraley also may not be getting many more opportunities at the big league level. I don't know. These are just my assumptions, ladies and gentlemen. I haven't heard anything. But the fact that he didn't make the roster out of summer training camp said a lot to me. And I later found out the reason was because they didn't like the looks he was giving him in summer camp. And they said, you better start the season at the alternate training site.

At the big league level, he played seven games slash 154, 241, 269. Again, not a very good showing. And then finally, Sunshine Superman, Donovan Walton got into five games, and he projects to be more of a bench player, I think, than a starter. But he's got a very, very good glove. He can play second base and shortstop for you. Arm plays better at second base. He's never going to be that much of an offensive player.

He slashed 154, 214, 214, 213, but he's still a valuable piece to come off that bench and play some late inning defense for you or even pinch run because he runs the bases very well too. Ladies and gentlemen, I think that's just about going to do it. for today. We are in fact over time, so it is definitely time to wrap up. Join us on the next program where we break down the Mariners pitching numbers and here with me to do that next time will be Tommy Pickles, Gordon Shumway and a tire iron. Remember to download

rate and subscribe, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you can think of. Follow us on Twitter. L.O. underscore Mariners is the address there. And I'm on Twitter as well at E.C. underscore Lundberg, please follow me as well. Thank you for listening to today's program. Join us next time where we're talking pitching numbers. Talk to you then. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.