Grading the Staffs - Seattle

By Derik Hettinger
Love of Sports Correspondent

The pulse of Mariner nation feels like many shoppers do after succumbing to the oily suave voice in cable infomercials: cheated.

Little return for a high price has never been so true for the Mariners pitching staff as it has been in 2008. For a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in seven seasons, the bar’s been set relatively low for quite some time. This season represented raising that bar enough for tenuously hopeful playoff expectations.

In this regard, the team’s failed miserably during the first six weeks of the season. I realize the 2008 campaign is in the early stages, but if the next five months go like the first one did, it’ll be a long summer in the Pacific Northwest.

As painful as it is to admit, the Mariner staff begins and ends with Erik Bedard. The trade for him set in motion a cataclysmic set of events that unraveled the staff from top to bottom. During the early stages, the trade made all the sense in the world. Only until the season began did the team feel the repercussions of its dastardly decision to pull the trigger on a seemingly monumental move.

The Starters: The Mariners starting pitching can best be described as hit and miss. All the starters have experienced some sort of hot streak, only to be followed by a series of horrendous starts. The exception would be Bedard, whose nagging hip injury and two week stint on the disabled list didn’t allow for any momentum, neither positive or negative, to occur. Carlos Silva began the season 3-0 and was the team’s best pitcher for the first three weeks, living up to his $44 million contract. Felix Hernandez was dominant during the first month of the season, but he had no run support, and this is evidenced by his lack of wins. Recently, he’s fallen on hard times and is 0-3 in his last four starts with an ERA over 7.00. Jarrod Washburn and Miguel Bautista have been maddeningly inconsistent, and their pitching didn’t help offset the injury of Bedard and the mixed performances of both Silva and Hernandez. Bedard’s injury has led to spot starts by Chai Sung Baek and R.A. Dickey – neither of which went well. However, the team ranked in the Top 5 in starter ERA for the majority of April, and the starters are pulling their weight when compared to the other components of the team. During a season where optimism is hard to come by, let us appreciate the silver lining that is present, albeit small.  MY GRADE: C+

The Bullpen: This is where the Mariners pitching woes go from bad to worse. The trade of Bedard affected the bullpen more than the starting rotation, since there were no subtractions from the starting staff to obtain the former Oriole ace. Nobody knew that George Sherrill, a veteran left-handed set up man, was the linchpin of the Mariners bullpen until he was traded away. Mariner management insisted that Eric O’Flaherty, a young left hander, could fill the void, but the 20.25 ERA he collected before being sent down to the minors can vouch for their error in judgment. The Mariners are susceptible to left-handed hitters now that Sherrill is in Baltimore enjoying newfound success as a closer. Arthur Rhodes returned from injury with a valiant series of pitching outings, but has since become very hittable and looking all of 38 years old. The team lacks a clear plan of attack in regard to pitching matchups before the team can hand the ball over to J.J. Putz. Even Putz, a former All-Star, is no guarantee anymore. The Mariners have far too many young players in their bullpen to shut down opposing offenses in the late stages of the game. Bringing up Brandon Morrow from Triple-A has infused the team with energy and excitement, but his obvious talent set is rendered insufficient by his lack of experience. It’s unfortunate this learning process has mired the Mariners bullpen in a stagnant slump.  MY GRADE: D+

The Closer: Putz enjoyed a historical 2007 season in which he saved 40 games, made the All-Star team and won the Rolaids Reliever of the Year Award. His success didn’t carry over to this season the way everyone expected it to, though. A great deal of his trouble is due to the bullpen’s inability to get outs and grant Putz save opportunities. During the first series of the year, he blew a save and injured himself. He has only three saves this year and an ERA upwards of 5.00. He may be the only constant in the Mariners bullpen in 2008, despite his mundane performance, and that’s something to be prized for a pitching staff that has no stability and even less talent.  MY GRADE: C