Now that, by contrast, was fun!
Your Seattle Mariners have won 3 of their last 4 games by scoring exactly 8 runs. Eight runs! This is an incredible, well, run, and demonstrates that with a few hitters getting hot and the right call-ups (thank you Ben Williamson!), we suddenly have a potent offense that gives our overall team a very high ceiling.
The other thing that gives us a very high ceiling is Emerson Hancock pitching like he’s a true part of this staff. His last two outings have been solid gold and today he got to run out the pitch count and his performance (unlike his last go) and the team was rewarded for its faith with a 6-inning 2-run gem in a ballpark where people score runs just by walking outside the stadium. And the offense had built him such a lead that even a bullpen implosion from the latest flavor du jour (in this case, Legumina) couldn’t derail the chance for us to dance.
I want to talk about JP Crawford. It’s not just because he’s my favorite player or even because he hit the only foul ball I have caught in a non-exhibition MLB game. It’s because he’s on the precipice of having possibly his greatest season of his life, which is saying a lot for a guy with a Gold Glove on his shelf and 2023 in his past.
All Mariner fans know that 2023 was a career year for JP. He hit at an unprecedented level and seemed to truly break out, finishing 16th in MVP voting and leading the AL with 94 walks. He hit 19 home runs when his prior season-high was just 7 and finished with a .266 BA, .380 OBP, and .818 OPS that all combined to make him look like a genuine powerhouse.
What people don’t remember about that season is that he started slowly. He hit his first home run on … April 26! That’s right, he went 23 games without a dinger in a year that he finished with 19! Eleven games into the year, he was hitting a measly .189 with a .556 OPS. He only walked thrice in that whole span.
Hmmm, interesting, he hit his first home run in Game 24 that year? That was actually a game I attended, in Philadelphia, in which he hit a grand slam and finished with 4 RBI after going 3/4.
Last night, he finished with a HR (his first of the year) and … 4 RBI after going 2/4 with a walk.
With that, JP’s OPS is over .700 (.714) for the first time this season. He has as many walks (16) as strikeouts. And he has 4 multi-hit games in his last 6!
He’s going to be a big asset for the rest of the year. Just you watch. And if our #9 hitter and #5 starter are going like this, we’re going to be hard to beat.
Mariners Stats:
Comeback Wins: 7
Wire-to-Wire Wins: 6
Comeback Losses: 5
Wire-to-Wire Losses: 6
Multi-Homer Games: 6-4
Single-Homer Games: 7-3
No-Homer Games: 0-4
One-Run Games: 4-3
Extra-Innings Games: 2-2
Record When Scoring >5 Runs: 6-2
Record When Scoring 2-5 Runs: 7-4
Record When Scoring <2 Runs: 0-5
Personal Stats:
Watched on TV: 2-6
Listened on Radio: 5-1
Mixed TV/Radio: 5-3
Followed on Gameday: 1-1
