After 18 tense innings, the Seattle Mariners finally fell to the Houston Astros yesterday in the American League Division Series, having returned to playoff baseball for the first time since the 2001 season. The Mariners, who had been projected by ESPN to finish the 2022 season a hair over .500 with an 82-80 record, showed that 2021 was no fluke, following up their 90-win 2021 campaign by winning another 90 games en route to a Wild Card berth.
Following the game, backstop Cal Raleigh announced to reports that he had been playing with a broken thumb and a torn ligament in his left hand, per Adam Jude of the Seattle Times. Raleigh had been playing through the thumb injury since early September, but he had not revealed the extent of the injury prior to Saturday’s game. Raleigh announced to reporters that he would see a specialist in the upcoming days to determine a course of action for recovery, per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
The second-year catcher had followed up his rookie campaign with a strong .211/.284/.489 slash line in 2022, hitting 27 home runs in 370 at-bats and finishing the season with the eighth-highest wRC+ among all catchers (121), nestled between Sean Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud. An integral cog to the Mariners’ offense, Raleigh was one of four players (minimum 350 at-bats) that had an OPS above .700. Raleigh followed up his impressing regular season with a strong Wild Card showing against the Blue Jays, going 4-for-8 with a homer and a double, but was quieted by the Astros’ pitching, collecting only 1 hit in 14 at-bats while striking out 5 times.
In the wake of yesterday’s defeat, the Mariners’ front office will turn their heads toward the 2023 season and free agency. Long-time Mariner Mitch Haniger, trade-deadline addition Carlos Santana, and Adam Frazier will all be free agents following the World Series.
Haniger entered the 2022 season looking to follow up on his successful 2021 campaign, .253/.318/.486 in 157 games, and reestablish himself as an everyday player prior to entering free agency after missing part of the 2019 season and the entire 2020 season with various surgeries. The outfielder and Mariners avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $7.75MM contract in early April.
However, Haniger would only make appearances in nine games before suffering a right high ankle sprain that kept him on the injured list from late April to early August. Upon his return, Haniger hit a solid .254/.322/.418 in the final 48 games of the regular season (100 at-bats).
The Mariners’ decision regarding Haniger, who turns 32 in December, will be quite complicated. The Mariners boast a crowded outfield headlined by AL Rookie of the Year favorite Julio Rodriguez, with former top prospect Jarred Kelenic, Dylan Moore, former AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis, and Taylor Trammell. Nevertheless, Lewis has struggled to produce at a high level since suffering a right meniscus tear in 2021, and Kelenic and Trammell have both struggled to adjust to Major League pitching.
For his part, Haniger has indicated that he would prefer to remain in Seattle. Following up by saying that he hopes “to be back in a Mariners uniform for sure,” per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.
Santana, who joined the Mariners from the Royals at the trade deadline, continued to struggle in Seattle, slashing a combined .202/.316/.376 across 131 games. The 36-year-old split his time between DH and first base, accruing 3 Outs Above Average for his work at first. It remains to be seen if the Mariners will opt for a one-player ’old school’ approach at the DH position, or if they will cycle players through the role during the season.
Frazier followed up his All-Star 2021 campaign with a weaker .238/.301/.311 slash line across 156 games in the 2022 season. The veteran, who was dealt to the Padres during the 2021 season, was traded to the Mariners in exchange for reliever Raymond Kerr and outfielder Corey Rosier prior to the start of the 2022 season. Moore, who was previously mentioned as outfield depth, has also manned all four infield positions and could see an increase in infield work if Frazier is not resigned.
Transitioning to the bump, with five quality starters under contract, starter-turned-reliever Chris Flexen’s position with the Mariners will be an interesting story to watch unfold. Flexen began the 2022 season as a starter, pitching to a solid 4.02 ERA in 121 innings before being bumped to the bullpen where he worked to a 1.62 ERA in 16 2/3 innings.
It remains to be seen if the Mariners will opt to keep Flexen in the bullpen, utilize a 6-man rotation, or potentially trade Flexen to improve their offense.
As previously mentioned the Mariners only had 4 players finish with an OPS north of .700 (minimum 350 at-bats). As a team, the Mariners finished with the third-lowest batting average (.230), an average on-base percentage (.315), and an average slugging percentage (.390).
Additionally, if they opt to trade Flexen for offense, the Mariners boast three prospects No. 2 Emerson Hancock, No. 5 Bryce Miller, and No. 7 Taylor Dollard, who have all had strong seasons at Double-A Arkansas.
That was a tough series loss. The Mariners were in every game despite the sweep. I feel for the fans, but it was a good run.
That game 1 ending changed the course of the M’s. And playing without Haggarty was a blow. Winker? Meh.
They’ll be back with the young guys learning to play the long season,
Not sure if you’re a hockey fan but it felt like one of those series where a team was swept but lost in OT 3 times.
Yesterday was a shootout loss.
You’re a kind man and a good sport Von. So much for that Mariners/Phillies World Series lol, but definitely looking forward to see how far the Phillies will go!
It was great seeing a Seattle home playoff game again! Despite the tough loss. Seeing King Felix in attendance was amazing.
This is a franchise with a really bright future. The returning pitching is incredible, their payroll is in a good spot to make significant offensive additions and they are set up the middle.
M’s have a lot to look forward to. Can’t believe I’m saying this bc I despised them when I was a kid but it’s good to see them back on the radar. Some amazing levels of talent that should be there for years to come.
Kind of hard to understand your hatred for the Mariners franchise that made the playoffs 4 times in the last 45 years prior to 2022! Yeah we beat your team in ’95, but you guys undid one of the best seasons in history in ’01! If you were butt hurt over ’95 while cheering on a team that at the time had 22 World Series Championships, that’s pretty ridiculous! Even for a fan of a team that’s fan base is so unimaginative, their claim-to-fame is reading the starting lineup off the big screen!
If I’m right, your hatred towards our team is like having a ball autographed by every player on a team except one guy you’ve been trying to get all season. While waiting your turn, he apologizes and says he only has time to sign one more and a kid with cancer reaches out with his frail hand and says, “you’re my favorite player and I’m dying, it would mean the world to me to have your autographed ball next to me while I continue to fight this disease.” The player signs the ball and when he leaves, you say to the dying boy, “stupid kid, I wish you were dead!”
So maybe a little hyperbolic, but seriously contextually we are the only franchise to never play in a World Series, we just endured the longest playoff drought among the four major North American sports, our four biggest superstars fizzled out in his prime (Felix), left us for a crappy small market team that treated him like crap (Griffey), left us for extra-stupid money to play for our rival when he was already offered stupid money (A-Hole), and didn’t want to re-sign so we were forced to trade him (Randy).
Could you imagine how different our franchise would’ve been if we had Randy instead of Garcia, a ballplayer who hate baseball (Halama), and D.U.I. Guillen? Extending Griffey and A-Hole, along with signing Ichiro would’ve easily given us one of the best teams in baseball history. A-Hole might have avoided steroids and we would’ve hung two more plaques in Cooperstown!
So, sorry, but there is no getting around you hating a team that has struggled to remain relevant while also nearly being relocated, while you cheer for the Evil Empire! The only reason I’m becoming indifferent to the Yankees is knowing Judge will either tank their payroll in a couple years or leave them with only a draft pick in his wake, the team is very marginal besides him, their ace sounds like Kermit the Frog, and they have a moron GM that can’t guarantee 110 wins every year while signing a top 5 amateur international player each year, spending limitless cash for payroll, and has the ability to draw FAs despite major road blocks because of the allure of simply being a Yankee!
The only people Yankees fans should hate is themselves because they are super annoying and are spoiled fans who feel entitled to wine anytime their team fails to make the playoffs. The Dodgers and Red Sox are getting there, and only the Astros are worse because they’re still cheating!
Side note: Altuve is the only player I think isn’t cheating. Altuve was 0-for-8 in Houston and Seattle both, so looking at #2-6, they had exactly 38 ABs in both places, their final numbers, 9-for-38 in Seattle (AVG of .237, SLG of .342). While playing at home, the same #2-6 were 14-for-38 in Houston (AVG of .368, SLG of .816). This means the Astros middle of the order batted like Adam Frazier in Seattle and 2004 Barry Bonds in Houston! Remember same pitchers essentially and the Astros hadn’t played in over a week! This why I loathe the Yankees but slightly less than the Astros!
If anyone has the Cliff’s Notes version—-please post.
Summarizing comments on here for people not wanting to read will be from this point forward known as Mike notes, in honor of your studious nature!
I always applaud complaining about reading on a blog intended for people to read.
I too would much rather read a series of “yup”, “you’re right”, and 5 word answers, than take the time to read a longer post that the author took time writing to offer a thoughtout response!
Quick question, do you hate books? Sounds like your version of pleasure reading is the back of a cereal box while eating your Fruity Pebbles!
No one expects to read an entire article tho in the comments mate. TLDR lol
Ahh—life22 simply stated that he despised the Mariners when he was a kid….and I can make a guess that all of us can trace it back to ONE play. He then said he was happy for them. You went on to give us a detailed history of hatred, the Yankees, the Astros with a bunch of made up quotes and almost twenty letter words.
You could have simply said thanks to the guy as we can all assume he’s not a kid anymore, Pretty sure we all disliked a team or two along the way for personal reasons.
And, I’m an Apple Jacks guy….too many colors in Fruity Pebbles and Froot Loops for me.
Yup you’re right
Well played, Kong
Maury, you’ve spelled Frazier’s name two different ways in the article, and also last Santana as “Santa” when you address his situation. Please feel free to delete this comment when you fix these. Not looking to do anything but give you a heads up. Good article otherwise!
Who cares how he spelled it. Were you confused by it? Stop being that person.
If no one else, I guarantee he cared. That’s who.
He deleted one of my posts in another article that had nothing that breaks any sort of guidelines in it.
What a game! A marathon for the ages, in my book.
Absolutely evenly matched up to about the 99.9 percent level.
I had to follow it on Gameday only. I can’t afford TV anymore and can’t go to games, but I was amazed at how the Mariners held up and fought all the way.
The future looks bright indeed.
It was such an ugly game at least on the Houston side. So many 3 or less pitch ab. At one point altuve had back to back ab with a total of 2 pitches. Game could’ve gone either way, mariners are definitely a team to watch next season. Great series, I posted the other day about how weird but awesome it would be if the Astros braves dodgers and Yankees all lost. Have a chance to get 3/4 of that right
@Latino Heat, there was ugliness all right.
As I said, I followed it on Gameday, which is a perfect way to follow a game.
Gameday lets you see every detail.
I had gamecast up too. The ump blew so many calls on both sides
Both teams got into a mode of ending it on one hit. But Altuve took it to a new level. Still how good are the Astros when they sweep and Altuve goes 0-16.
Astros’ offense is rather pedestrian (slightly above league average).
Altuve is not 100%. He will most like continue struggling with his injury issues.
Astros will either thrive or dive with their pitching. Which is the best in the Team’s history.
I thought the Mariners would win the ALDS. highly talented roster that is on par with the Astros.
Not quite on par with the Astros but getting close
After a forgettable season it’s easy to overlook Jesse Winker but he’ll be in that crowded OF/DH mix too.
I dunno. The trade for Winker got them the “other guy” in Suarez. 🙂
And it seems like that brawl that Winker started really fired the M’s up. They won like 14 in a row after that.
So he was good for something.
People always write players off after big down seasons, then they often bounce back. Winker will likely be at least serviceable next season.
Yeah I kind of have him slotted in as starting DH. He will probably absolutely rake next year. He will also probably be traded before that raking occurs unfortunately
I don’t know. Jerry isn’t the type to sell low on a guy because he’s impatient. I think Winker will play out next season as a Mariner.
This may be ‘old news’ for most M’s fans by now but if Ryan Divish is right- and he is rarely wrong on this type of thing:
Jesse Winker has likely played his last game as a Seattle Mariner. If the M’s can move him they will. His teammates are tired of his shtick and his lack of a work ethic rubs his teammates the wrong way.
Winker not only avoids the gym but he is never seen putting in any time trying to improve defensively. Winker’s class clown act is tolerable ONLY if he’s carrying his own load.
He gone!
It will be interesting to see how this goes and I lean more toward 50/50 now that Winker will be on this roster next season.
Divish has a reputation for considering his sources’ words as gospel. He made a lot of people very angry when he was proven to be repeating one of Seager’s lies last offseason. He may be right, but he may wrong.
No.99 would sure look good in the Pacific Northwest.
No. Please don’t shell out that kind of money for Judge. Let him stay in New York or LA.
I’d rather see No. 17 in Seattle, starting in 2024.
I’d rather have about league average ops legit lower. The difference between the mariners and the Astros is essentially alveraz. The Ms need a thumper and bad. This lineup with a honest go god threat hitting 3/4 beats the Astros, the. Goes on to beat the Yankees and probably goes 6 games vs the Padres and wins. Sounds crazy but it’s 100% doable.
Adding Turner at either second or shift Crawford over there would be a nice boost to the team.
I totally agree sign turner or one of the other better shortstop free agents ask them to play second or ask jp Crawford.
If you can get Turner, you TELL Crawford he’s moving if it’s best for the team, you don’t ask him.
Raleigh is a boss. He’ll be back and crushing it for us.
Why didn’t Santana bunt with runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs? The very next batter Frazier flew out to deep right center…coulda been a run. I know you could coulda shoulda all day but I think that is a definite bunt situation.
Some players can’t bunt. Maybe it’s a mentality thing. I was thinking the same thing with the whole left side of the infield open.
Unfortunately,most players don’t know how to bunt
@flanster, that’s on the coaches. Every player should know how to bunt, and should have practiced it thousands of times. If that didn’t happen, then the coaches are at fault.
Actually, I saw Santana bunt vs. the shift for a base hit this year, and I believe they mentioned he did it last year as well – so he doesn’t mind bunting at all. based on that.
Haggerty would have definitely been in this series. Could’ve easily turned the tide, it was THAT CLOSE!
They didn’t acquire Santana to bunt.
So many times in that game I thought the same. Astros had 2nd and 3rd less than 2 outs with Vasquez up and altuve (who was awful the entire game) on deck. I was really hoping for a suicide squeeze. Think that was the 8th or 9th inning
Santana isn’t up there to bunt, he’s a very patient hitter who bangs.
They were such a fun team to root for. They’ll be back and ownership will make sure they have the resources to return.
We are gearing towards one of the most boring postseasons in recent memory. Hope the rankings tank so Manfred rethinks this stupid wildcard nonsense.
@tradeacuna, understandable why fans of teams not from Philly, San Diego, Houston & possibly Cleveland might share your thoughts. The fans in those 4 cities are thinking much differently right now!
The only likeable team remaining is Cleveland (they still didn’t move on tho). I wouldn’t mind if Philly wins, but the bitterness is still part of me, especially when they played like **** all season against the Mets. Surely, I will never root for the Padres or Yankees.
Astros, Indians, or Philly for me i guess.
Frankly, I hope Astros win so people can just shut up about 2017. They are still an elite team despite the naysayers. Let them clear their past, so we can all move on.
People will never shut up about 2017. They’ll keep booing altuve, Bergman and pretty much every Astros player even though most weren’t even on the team that year. Why doesn’t Cora get booed?
@latino, Bregman became a monster AFTER the 2017 season. No statistical evidence at all he was involved (not an Astros fan and no relation either lol)
The altuve hate is what makes me laugh the most. The reports all stated that he hated the cheating the most. He would get mad at teammates for trying to do it during his ab.
Why don’t you like the Padres? They actually won me over with their sheer exuberance and love for the game. You could tell by watching them yesterday putting the Dodgers to bed how much passion they have. Even Machado has won me over and I’ve always considered him as a villain in baseball. The fans were awesome, dudes were dancing all funky chicken in the dugout, everyone was just soaken wet but nobody cared. And Bob Melvin is a class act, Tier One manager.
I’m not rooting for a team that spends stupid money and hogs all the free agents/trade pieces. They are not much different from the Mets/Yanks/Dodgers.
I do agree somewhat regarding Machado. I do love how much he wants to beat LA though. His hate is strong. With that being said, he matured. Him and Harper both became likeable as they matured and got humbled a bit. I don’t like Soto. Too arrogant!
Sota/Acuna/Tatista…three of the biggest piece of ****s and babies in the sport now.
I see an ownership willing to spend money and an aggressive GM who is trying to make his team better. Wouldn’t any baseball fan want that from their home team?
Absolutely! I know I might not speak for some Seattle fans, but one of the reasons I dislike the Yankees, Dodgers, Astros and Braves so much is due to jealousy. Those franchises have historically (and/or recently) been so well-run that even if they have some down years you know they’ll be back in the mix sooner than later. I believe the Mariners are finally in a good position to have a lengthy window of opportunity for title contention, and that it’s a testament to better overall management of the franchise in recent years. Here’s hoping more success in the near future can lead to even more success in the long run.
People who point out that the Astros repeatedly cheated over the course of several years are not “naysayers”, regardless of whether the Astros were a good team.
Every team cheats. Every single one, some in different degrees but all of them cheat. To think otherwise is a bit short sighted. You even have actual players who agree with this statement. As the original Latino Heat Eddie Guerrero once said “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying to win”. (Just kidding 🙂 )
The thing is man, Altuve had one of the greater hits in the last decade and his AWKWARD avoiding celebration of / didn’t want my jersey to get ripped off/had a bad undone tat (Yeah ok) thing was very blatant and points to the obvious
It’s not like the Braves didn’t have a $200 million dollar payroll too and going up a lot this year.
Bitter Braves fan.
This postseason is absolutely riveting and I have no baseball ponies in the race.
Fu. ck Aaron Boone
Weak bullpen. Weak manager.
No it’s just the manager.
Wrong thread but I will say when the Yankees and dodgers both lose a playoff game in the same day, that’s good baseball
Lowest IQ- No, it’s not.
I still would like to keep Chris Flexen and Marco Gonzales in bullpen role with starts here and there maybe as for Lewis I feel bad for the kid but he can’t stay healthy and as for Kelenic he can’t seem to see the ball maybe needs glasses or contacts
@bigdawg12 it would be incredible if Kelenic is the real life batter version of pitcher Rick “wild thing” Vaughn in Major League. That scene when he was squinting to see the pic of Nolan Ryan on the wall…all he needed was glasses. Imagine Kelenic at the plate in 2023 with thick black rimmed glasses and a skull on the bridge………and hitting like JRod
That would be awesome
Is the game over yet, or are we entering the 83rd inning?
The 2021 season likely was a fluke, but management recognized that and they made improvements.
True, this season it didn’t seem to me like they were winning so much with smoke and mirrors.
Trea Turner please!!!
@ 30M? Not!
hoof, $30M is perfectly reasonable for Trea Turner.
I know it’s cold comfort for M’s fans, but you can say it took Houston four games to take the series, since last night’s affair was two full games.
The M’s should’ve won at least the first game, but for Servais electing to pitch to Alvarez. Oh, well. Good luck next year.
All three games were winnable. The magic sauce stopped working for the Mariners.
Sadly, the bullpen lost the magic. Lights out all season and faltered down the stretch.
Of course the idea for the Mariners is to continue the upward trend. Naturally, part of that idea is to contend with the Astros for the division title. In order to do this, I think they need to load up on hitting. I for one don’t want to see them relying on Winker, Lewis, Trammell and Kelenic to start hitting. I would prefer to see that group traded, possibly along with Marco Gonzales for more hitting (if any of the aforementioned players have any trade value). Nor do I want to see them re-signing Santana and Frazier. Why not keep Haniger for RF and Flexen as 5th starter (he isn’t as homer-prone as Gonzales), sign a couple of good FA hitters (like Turner and a DH), and trade for another good hitter (like an outfielder). If one of the young SPs beats out Flexen in spring training, Flexen would be fine in the pen. Haggerty and Moore seem fine as utility players. Whatever happens, Hot Stove League should be fun this winter!
I just think winker needs more time to figure out American League I think he will
Be a good Ave.260 home runs will be around 20 to 25 and that is decent for any out fielder but definitely need a true dh that can maybe play first base when haniger or someone needs a day off in the outfield
I think it’s very likely Winker bounces back. It was suggested he was playing through injury, plus he had some tough luck. Maybe he won’t be peak Winker but I think regressive analysis would suggest he has better outcomes next season.
Don’t trade Flexen, trade Gonzales.
Sometimes it feels like Marco is a HR waiting to happen.
Jerry Dipoto will not stand pat
The awesome thing is Jerry doesn’t even have to focus on pitching this off-season. He can zero in 100% on offense and hopefully land two big bats. Maybe one via trade and then sign one of the free agent shortstops. I think Xander Boegarts would really augment that lineup well.
Given the injury news about Raleigh’s thumb, it really surprises me that Servais worked him that entire 18 innings. That’s really egregious…I mean, I guess Servais was counting on his offense to come thru for us but his thumb was tattered and it was affecting his swing. We had Casali and Torrens on the bench who could have given him a spell. 18 straight innings of catching with a thumb in that condition is no bueno.
On the other hand, if he asked Raleigh if he wanted to come out of the game, he might’ve said no. My guess is, he probably would’ve said no.
He’s had the injury for weeks, he just never publicly revealed the extent of it. He’s been trying lots of methods of pain reduction.
Last nights game was the game that would never end. Seattle can be proud, even though they were eliminated they went toe-to-toe with the best team in the AL for 18 innings and won their first playoff series in two decades.
I think we should sign José Abreu for dh first baseman to a 2 year contract sign one of these shortstops in order Trea Turner xander bogarts and Dansby Swanson leave flexen and Marco in the bullpen add a fifth starter by either trading or free agency or one of our double a players maybe add a back up catcher
Murphy should be back next year as. a second catcher in his last arb year. Not sure about Marco. Definitely Flexen though.
I see Swanson staying with the Braves. But then again, I never thought Freeman wouldn’t be a Brave.
Well freeman’s agent kinda dropped the ball on that the Braves said they came up a little on the offer and freeman said his agent never told him I think in sports contracts like that they should have an out in the contract
I’m cool with all of that except Marco in the pen. His stuff plays down as a reliever. I think we’ll keep Tom Murphy as backup but don’t mind if Dipoto goes shopping for one.
Enh. I’m for signing Ohtani to DH in 2024. Anything that gets in the way of that, I don’t want.
I hope the resign Haniger. Frasier I’m ‘meh’ about but 2nd does need an upgrade. Santana I don’t see coming back. Winker is a puzzle. I’ve often thought that changing leagues is a bigger thing than we think it is, moreso for batters than pitchers. I’m tempted to keep Winker for that reason.
I think the biggest need now is a legitimate lead off hitter so Julio can move down to the 3 hole. Someone with a high average and speed.
They are set at catcher with Raleigh and Murph. France at 1b. Frazier had an off year, but not opposed to an upgrade. Suarez at third, JP at SS. Again upgrade potential. Julio is CF. Haniger I could see re-signing for a year. Winker an off year but still potential. I love Kelenic, but the results aren’t there. He is very young however. Trammell is trade bait.
Haggerty could hit lead off, Moore a super utility. The rotation is set, bullpen could use another good arm.
But I have absolute faith in Trader Jerry and next year they take down Houston and advance to the Series!
Let Santana and Frazier walk. Better options. Edman or Segura(if Phi decline option). solid bats and gloves at 2b.
If hanigers injury issues would stop popping up, i figured that Sea would have locked him up to multi year deal. Now, give him a 1 and let him hang around for the ride. Can’t depend on Trammell and Kelnic-yet. Flexen has shown enough to be of interest to SP starving teams: Pitt,KC,Det,Minn. Even Stl has had some issues with healthy SP. All those are central teams, hmm.
Flexen and 2 other good young talents to Pitt for Rynolds. Heck, I’d even include Kelnic. OR flexen to StL for Edman.
Jerry should go after the new pitcher coming over from Japan. If he turns out could be a big get for us. We could keep Flexen in BP if he is OK with that if not trade him and Marco for a 2nd BM who is ready to make debut. Frazier also started hitting the last 3rd of the season. We could go with him and see how he does. I know Marco is the hometown guy and so people are pulling for him. I think there are better options. I would hate to see Hancock held back for Marco. Lots of good to take away from this season need to build up and go on.
If Ms continue to use Munoz as a setup, they need a bonafide closer. Hopefully this year’s experience will show their hitting coaches that they need to be more selective in swings. The rally-killing strikeouts will reduce them to no more than 1st or 2nd round participants. They do need another thumper, whether 1B, OF, if DH. Kelenic needs to be told to just play the game. He looks tighter than a wound up rubber band. Even during the celebrations he doesn’t look like he’s enjoying himself, not smiling, looking like he’s upset it wasn’t him getting the adulation. And finally, please tell Ty France to quit pulling out on his swings. It’s ok to take an outside pitch to right field.
If Ms continue to use Munoz as a setup, they need a bonafide closer. Hopefully this year’s experience will show their hitting coaches that they need to be more selective in swings. The rally-killing strikeouts will reduce them to no more than 1st or 2nd round participants. They do need another thumper, whether 1B, OF, if DH. Kelenic needs to be told to just play the game. He looks tighter than a wound up rubber band. Even during the celebrations he doesn’t look like he’s enjoying himself , not smiling, looking like he’s upset it wasn’t him getting the adulation. And finally, please tell Ty France to quit pulling out on his swings. It’s ok to take an outside pitch to right field.
If the Ms are going to keep Munoz as setup, they need to find a bonafide closer. They also need to do something about these rally-killing strikeouts; put the ball in play! As for Kelenic, he needs to be told ‘just play the game’, quit trying to be the hero. Even during the celebrations he didn’t seem to be enjoying himself, hardly smiling.
They do another thumper, whether 1B, OF, or DH. And the hitting coaches need to tell Ty France to quit pulling off the the ball when he swings. It’s ok to take an outside pitch to right field!