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

Episode Date: October 4, 2020

About 36 hours later than planned, D.C. reviews the pitching stats of the 2020 Mariners. Who was the most impressive arm the M's had this season? Spoiler alert: It was Marco Gonzales. In which two categories did Marco lead the league? Find out the answer on this episode of Locked On Mariners. (If you still wish to listen after that tacky blurb.) 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.

Thank you for tuning in to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Hi, yep, another one of those weeks where I just could not get it together. This is either Sunday or very late Saturday, depending on when this actually gets published, this was supposed to be last Friday's show. In any case, this show is Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. please remember to download, rate and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked on Mariner's podcast or any program here on the Lockdown Network.

All you have to do is say, hey, smart device, play something on the Lockdown Podcast Network, play Locked On Team Name Here podcast. Follow us on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners and follow me on Twitter at D.C. Underd underscore Lundberg, yes of course, L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G, if you are scoring at home. On the last show, we talked about the year-end offensive statistics for the Seattle Mariners, so it's only natural that we talk about the year-end pitching statistics for the Seattle Mariners on this iteration of Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, thank you very much. Yes, the Mariners ended the season with a team ERA of 503, 12th in the American League of 15 teams,

so they're in the bottom third there. Whip of 1.378. I do not know where that is, among other American League teams. 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings, 4.0 walks per nine innings, 8.4 hits per nine innings. 469 total strikeouts,

14th in the American League, next to last. 230 walks, 12th in the American League. 79 home runs. That is eighth in the American League, near the middle of the pack there. Mediocre to bad pitching numbers for the Seattle Mariners. However, there were some bright spots on the pitching staff.

Of course, led by Marco Gonzalez, who has solidified himself, ladies and gentlemen, as the ace of this team. He started 11 ball games, wound up with a 7-and-2 record, and I'm not big on one loss record, but he won seven games for, let's face it, a pretty bad team. 3-10 was his ERA, a whip of 0.947.

Pretty good numbers for Marco Gonzalez. 7.6 hits per nine innings, exactly a home run per nine innings. 0.9 walks per nine innings. That led the American League. 9.14 was a strikeout to walk ratio. That also led the American League. Marco's 0.947 whip, by the way, was good for third in the American League. Again, just a great season for Marco Gonzalez,

and if you take away his first game, which was pretty bad, we all know that it did not go very well, take away that first game as ERA goes all the way down to 289, and his whip decreases to 0.918. Again, what else can we say about Marco that I haven't said on the program already? Excellent season for him, building off what he did last year, and his tenure in Seattle thus far in three and a half seasons basically, 84 games, 81 starts, 397 earned run average, whip of 1.261,

and exactly two walks per nine innings. Marco's great. I love Marco. Also pretty good was Justice Sheffield. He proved me wrong prior to the season. I wasn't high on him at all, but in spring training, before everything went boom and got canceled. He was having a very good spring training

because of the pitch that he added to his repertoire and the pitch that he effectively eliminated. He went to a two-seem fastball rather than a four-seam fastball. His control improved. The two-seam fastball, by the way, has much more movement to it than his four-seam fastball did. It missed more bats. Players couldn't barrel it as well as they could as four-seamer,

and he proved to be a little bit more unhittable, and his control improved as well. 10 games for Justice Sheffield during the regular season. All of them starts. 1.301 whip on tat on the high side. 8.5 hits per nine innings. 0.3 home runs per nine innings. That's pretty good.

Only gave up two home runs all season. 3.3 walks per nine innings. That can be improved upon. 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings. I'm not a big strikeout guy. I'm all about keeping runners off base. And that whip, I don't want to say it's concerning because the trend definitely is downward,

and he had a much better season than he did when he was at the big league level last season. I am encouraged. I am encouraged by Justice Sheffield, and yes, ladies and gentlemen, he is a major league pitcher. The only other starter who was in the rotation for the whole season, who had really any modicum of success,

was Justin Dunn, and this guy, I'm still not convinced he is a major league pitcher. Let's go over some of these numbers, though. He also pitched 10 games and started all of them, 4.34 earned run average, 1.358 whip, which is somewhat similar to Sheffields, but that whip came about in a very different way. 6.1 hits per nine innings. The man is not giving up a whole lot of hits, but he's walking a ton of hitters.

6.1 was also his walks per nine innings that is far too high. Two home runs per nine innings also on the high side. 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He's not really interested in that. You know, 10 home runs given up in the 10 games that he started. That's got to come down. The walks have to come down. And if that can, and who knows if it can or not,

I'm not really convinced. And then Justin Dunn will be more than a serviceable starter because he's got the power to back it up. He does strike some people out. Sheffield wind up striking out more hitters. But again, Justin Dunn, the control problems need to be reined in in order for him to be a contributor in the pitching staff. I am higher on Justin Dunn than I am, you say Kikachi.

He had another bad season. Nine games pitched, all of them starts. 517 earned run average. That's no good. Whip was actually lower than that of Justin Dunn or Justice Sheffield at 1.298, so it's actually right around where Justice Sheffield was. 7.9 hits per nine innings, 3.8 walks per nine innings, too many walks, too many free passes, nine strikeouts per nine innings, he can strike some people out,

and he's not giving up a whole lot of home runs, 0.6 home runs per nine innings, as opposed to the two home runs every nine innings he gave up in 2019. If you combine his two seasons with the Mariners, he gets a 359 ERA, pardon me, a 539 ERA, a whip of 1.466, 10.2 hits per nine innings, 1.7 home runs per nine innings, three walks exactly per nine innings and seven strikeouts per nine innings. The difference in strikeouts, I think, was due to the increased velocity that he saw this season. Again, the walks just are too high. He walked a full battered more per nine innings this year than he did last,

but again, fewer home runs and fewer hits given up overall and a lower whip. The other two starters who saw any significant time in the rotation, Taiwan Walker, who was now a member of the Blue Jays, Nick Margievichis, who pitched seven ball games. We'll get to him in just a little bit, and L.J. Newsom, who started four. Margievich's first. He did appear in 10 ball games. He started seven of them after Kendall Graven went on the disabled list.

He finished him with a 457 ERA, whip of 1.258, 8.3 hits per nine innings, three walks per nine innings, and 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings. Walks need to come down for him, too, but I thought he looked good. I mean, I liked what he offered. And finally, L.J. Newsom, who pitched in five balls. games, started four of them and joined the rotation after Taiwan Walker was traded to the Blue Jays. He ends the season with a 517 ERA. He had a couple of very good games and a couple of very bad games.

And that's kind of why the ERA is a little bit on the high side for what I expected. He pitched better than what that reflects. 517 earn run average, whip of 1.340, 11.5 hits per nine innings, 2.3 home runs per nine innings. And again, this is only in 15 innings. a very small sample size, but he hardly walked anybody. He walked only one batter all season, which leads to a walks per nine innings of 0.6. So I'm just going to stop because this is just not a big enough sample size to analyze.

He's got very good control. That is his best asset for sure. We'll talk about the bullpen a little bit in the second half of the show. First, the Mariners trivia question. On the last episode, we asked about the final game in Kimisky Park and Chicago, which the Maritors were a part of. Also, that same day, two years ago, was the final game in Safeco Field. The Mariters won that game who was the final batter.

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of terrific protein bars, drink powder, and BiltGo for that boost of energy. Answer to the trivia question, Mariner's final game in Safeco Field did occur on September 30th, 2018, Year of Our Lord, which was a three-to-one victory over the Texas Rangers.

Final pitcher was Sean Armstrong, not Edwin Diaz. Sean Armstrong earned his first and only save as a Seattle Mariner. Edwin Diaz did not appear in the ballgame if he had saved this ballgame that would have given him 58 and sole second place for

all-time saves in a season. He would have to settle for sharing second place with Bobby Thigpen, who we mentioned on the last episode. Anyways, the final pitcher, Sean Armstrong, as we mentioned, final hitter was Hanser Alberto, who flew out to left-fielder Cameron Mabin. Yeah, remember, Cameron Mabin was at one time a Seattle Mariner. If you've got a question or comment, send it on over to Lockedon Mariners at gmail.com, and I will read it and reply to it on the air.

We will be doing an email segment sometime next week. I'm not exactly sure. I might not do it on Friday. I might do it earlier in the week. In any case, Locked on Mariners at gmail.com is that email address. Question need not be about baseball. It can be about anything. I've talked a lot about bowling last week and this week.

Rock and roll we've mentioned on the show. Those are two of my favorite things. Ask me about curling. Ask me about anything, ladies and gentlemen. And if it's not lewd, I will read it and reply to it on the air. More Locked on Mariner's following this from Rock Auto. With the ever-increasing numbers of makes and models, it is impossible to stock all the parts that are needed in a traditional chain store front. Wyander often pointless or seemingly intimidating questioning and wait while the counterman orders the parts on his computer,

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Second half of Locked on Mariners talking about the year-end pitching statistics of the 2020 iteration of the Seattle Mariners went over pretty much the entire starting rotation, which I didn't plan on doing in the first half, but hey, that's how it worked. And now we talk about the bullpen, which was far less successful than the starting rotation was. Overall, the Mariners went through 29 pitchers

in this 60 game season. That's amazing. Actually, they went through 28 pitchers and an infielder. Tim Lopes did pitch one ball game, the end of one ball game. At the bullpen. You know, again, not the Mariners' strongest suit last year. There were some bright spots.

Anthony Masevich appeared in the most games for the Mariners. He appeared at 21 of the 60 games. Ended the season with a 405 ERA. That's pretty respectable. Let's see, whip of 1.3.00, 9 hits per 9 innings. 2.7 walks per 9 innings. That is pretty good. And he struck out 11.3 per 9 innings.

That is, you know, that's on the high side as well. It's very, very good. 11.3 strikeups per nine innings was also the exact same number that Johann Ramirez put up, although he gave up a ton more walks per nine innings. Johann Ramirez somehow wound up with an ERA of 2.61, and I'm not sure how he did that because, as I said, he walked a ton of batters, 20.2 innings for Ramirez, and he walked 20, 20 batters in 20.2 innings. Justin Dunn walked 31 batters, but that was in 45 and two-thirds innings. Johan Ramirez 8.7 walks per nine innings. Way too high, ladies and gentlemen.

3.9 hits per nine innings, though. So his runners were almost exclusively getting on via the walk. He only gave up nine hits all season. Whip of 1.403. That high walk number still worries me quite a bit. That's got to come down, and I've said this a lot. He's got great stuff. He's got a filthy, filthy slider and, you know, power stuff. He can blow people away, but this is why I'm not exactly interested in pitchers whose sole asset is simply blowing people away, because he has major control problems. As I said, 20 walks in 20 and two or three innings, that's ludicrous. I'm going to Continue with the players who are only currently on the Mariners roster, because we could go to Taylor Williams or Dan Altevilla or players like that.

But we're going to go now to Joey Gerber, who ended up pitching in 17 ball games after he was brought up from the alternate training site. 402 was his ERA, whip of 1.149, pretty good for a relief pitcher. He didn't strike out hardly anybody. Only 3.4 over 9 innings, or 3.4 per 9 innings. Walks per 9 innings was 2.9, pretty good. Wasn't giving up a whole lot of home runs. In fact, you only gave up one all season.

That's the thing about the bullpen is you're getting into pitchers who didn't pitch very many innings, so it's hard to analyze them. But in any case, a whip of 1.149 over 15 and two-thirds innings, you know, I'll take that. The Mariners' clothes are going into the season was going to be Yoshihisa Hedano, but he had tested positive for COVID, so the start of his season was delayed. Once he got back, not very impressive. 13 ball games, ERA of 5.84, whip of 2.2.108, a ton of hits, 13.1 per 9, way too many walks, 5.8 per 9, 8 strikeouts per 9 innings. He's 36 years old. He's the only player on the Mariners roster who's older than I am.

So for that reason alone, I hope he stays just because I don't want to feel all that old. that's being selfish, ladies and gentlemen. Anyways, Kendall Graven appeared in 11 ball games, started two of them, and then finished the season in the bullpen for health reasons. 579 was his earned run average whip of 1.2. 7.2 hits per nine innings, 7.2, strikeouts per nine innings as well. Walk rate was a little on the high side, 3.9 per nine innings.

And then we're going to get into players who just did not pitch very much. They pitched 15 innings, 10 innings, maybe even less than that. Again, the collective ERA as a team for the Mariners was 503, 12th in the American League, next to last in strikeouts, and again, I'm not a big strikeout guy. My philosophy is keep those damn runners off base, and you're not going to have a whole lot of people scoring. Don't issue free passes and don't allow a ton of home runs. That is my philosophy. Mariners had a whip of 1.378 as a team, as I mentioned, 8.4 hits per nine innings as a team,

four walks per nine innings as a team. I'd like to see that number come down and 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings for those of you who are proponents of the power pitching game. Next time on Lockdown Mariners, we're going to do a little bit of a tribute to the players, former players who passed away during the 2020 season

or during the 2020 calendar year for that part. Definitely going to touch on Bob Gibson who passed away yesterday as I taped this on October 2nd. Lou Brock passed away earlier this year, and I know I'm forgetting Tom Seaver as well. Tom Seaver passed away earlier in the season. And to those whose names I am forgetting, I apologize. But that will be our next episode of Locked-on Mariners.

I hope to make it kind of on the upbeat side, even though it is a somber subject. I'm going to celebrate these gentlemen's lives, or at least I'm going to attempt to celebrate these gentlemen's lives and careers. So that is coming up next time on Locked-on Mariners, and I'm not going to make up a bizarre panel just because I do not want to disrespect the deceased. And if I were to do that at this particular time,

I kind of feel like I would be doing that. So I'm just not going to go there. Remember to download rate and subscribe to this program. Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, whichever podcasting out that pops into your brainhead, look for us there. Also, find us on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners, and follow me on Twitter at D.C.

underscore Lundberg. Thank you for listening to this show. Thank you for listening to our prior shows. Sorry, this one is as late as it was. Again, just one of those weeks where Lundberg just did not have it, could not get anything started. Just weird week, but hopefully next week will be a better one. I can't promise, but I can hope and I can try.

Talk to you next time. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.