The Mariner’s Aces Up Their Sleeves

Although there were not too many bright sides in the 2011 season for the Seattle Mariners, there were a couple pitchers that made the year better for the team. Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda were bright spots in the Mariner’s pitching rotation that can make huge differences in Seattle’s future. Although Hernandez finished the season with a 14-14 record this season, he was better than he seemed. Hernandez had a very manageable ERA of 3.47 but he did not have the best offense behind him. So even though Hernandez gave up an average of 3.47 runs every start, the Mariners only scored on average 3.43 runs a game. Even though these averages are close, it shows even if Hernandez was on top of his game he was not completely guaranteed to get the win. There were 7 games this last season where Hernandez gave up 3 earned runs or less and still lost. Felix Hernandez’s other pitching feats this season were him placing 2^nd in the AL or American League in complete games with five. He finished in 4^th place for most strikeouts this season with 222 as well. Hernandez has also shown a tendency to stay health because he finished 6^th in innings pitched and games started out of all AL pitchers in 2011. Hernandez also had an appearance at the 2011 All-Star because of his great pitching prowess.    

These statistics makes it seem that if the Mariners had a normal offense that produced runs on a regular basis, Hernandez would be a twenty game winner every year. This is especially true since he was getting close to seven strikeouts a game and giving up less than seven hits a game on average. Hernandez should have a better record as well because he went deep into baseball games. There were only three cases all year when he did not pitch into the 7^th inning. So if the Mariners can get their bats hot more next year, Hernandez can take another stab at getting the Cy Young Award again. He has a chance to win it again because every year he pitches great and next year will not be any different. With Hernandez at the number one position is the starting rotation; Seattle’s had a second pitcher, rookie Michael Pineda, who put up some good numbers as well this last season.

Even though it was Michael Pineda’s rookie year, he had a remarkable year for being on a struggling offensive team. Pineda finished the year with a 9-10 record and with an ERA of 3.74. And like Hernandez, Pineda felt the pain of weak support by losing five games where he lost even though he only gave up three earned runs or less. This is more upsetting because Pineda only gave up an average of 4.75 hits per game, a very low average for a rookie. Pineda showed a lot of promise this year and can be beneficial to the Mariner’s pitching for years to come. Pineda ended his rookie season with an All-Star appearance where he joined Hernandez at Chase Field in Arizona. Pineda finished 2^nd in the AL in strikeouts per 9 inning average with 9.105 a game. Pineda was in this category in front of Justin Verlander, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and right behind Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher, Brandon Morrow. Pineda got 5^th in the AL in hits allowed in a 9 inning average which put him in select company with the greatest pitchers of the 2011 season. Pineda excellence was seen when he finished 8^th in the AL in walks & hits per inning with an average of 1.099. This means at the most he gave up one hit or base on balls every inning he pitched this season. Pineda did all of this for Seattle with a $141,000/1 year contract. So if the Mariners signed him to the team for more money and years, it would feel like Seattle would have two Felix’s on their team.

            These two pitchers show that there is hope for the Seattle Mariners in the future if they anchor their pitching rotation around these two pitchers. It seems that if the Mariner’s bats come alive all next season, these two aces can deliver the wins. This means that Mariner’s fans should be excited for next year because if these two bring their A game and the bats are hot; it will be a good season.