Image Courtesy of Bing |
While
the Mariners have had some truly great positional players, they've
also had some pretty good pitchers. They also have one of the most
ecliptic rotations I've put together. We'll start with a king.
Starting
pitcher: Felix Hernandez King
Felix has toiled for the Mariners for 13 seasons. Some years he's
been okay. Other seasons he's been very good. And some seasons he's
been great. Twice Felix has led the AL in starts and ERA. Three
times Felix has led the AL in hits allowed per 9 innings. Currently
Felix's record sits at 160-114 with an ERA of 3.20. He's a six time
all star and winner of the 2010 Cy Young award winner. Felix's WAR
for his career is 52.2. The King's reign might be winding down, but
he's been one of MLB's best pitchers in the last 50 years.
Starting
pitcher: Randy Johnson I was
surprised to see Randy had spent 10 seasons with the Mariners. Randy
led the AL in strikeouts in four of those seasons. His record for
1995 was an amazing 18-2. He also led the league in ERA with a mark
of 2.48. In addition, he was the strikeout leader with 294. Not
surprisingly, he won the Cy Young award that season. All total,
Randy led the AL in strikeouts four times while with the Mariners.
Johnson's career record with the Mariners was 130-74 with an ERA of
3.42. In addition to the huge season he had in 1995, Randy nearly
duplicated it in 1997. Randy went 20-4 with an ERA of 2.28. Johnson
spent part of the 1998 season with Seattle before being traded to the
Astros. There Randy went 10-1 with an ERA of 1.81. He was a pretty
good stretch run acquisition. Johnson finished his time in Seattle
with a WAR of 39.3.
Starting
pitcher: Jamie Moyer While
Jamie Moyer and Randy Johnson were both effective left handed
pitchers for the Mariners, they went about their business in very
different ways. While Johnson was overpowering, Moyer used finesse.
Jamie won in double figures 8 times in the 11 seasons he spent with
the Mariners. Twice Jamie won 20 games or more. Moyer finished at
147-87 with an ERA of 3.97. Moyer was a workhorse, 7 times pitching
200 innings or more. Jamie's best season was 2003, when at 40 years
old, he went 21-7 with an ERA of 3.27. Moyer's WAR while in Seattle
was an impressive 34.6.
Starting
pitcher: Hisashi Iwakuma Hisashi
has spent six seasons with the Mariners, and has had good results in
five of them. Currently, Hisashi's record sits at 63-39 with an ERA
of 3.42. In 2014, he went 14-6 with an ERA of 2.66. That was good
enough to merit an all star selection and a WAR of 7.0. He has
averaged 7.3 strikeouts against 1.9 walks. While 2014 was a huge
season for Iwakuma, he's had a WAR of at least two in every season
he's been with the Mariners, except for an injury ridden 2007
campaign. Hisashi Iwakuma has been sneaky good in Seattle.
Starting
pitcher: Freddie Garcia Freddy
came over to the Mariners from the Astros in the trade for Randy
Johnson. While Freddy wasn't The Big Unit, he was pretty good. In
Freddy's rookie season, Garcia went 17-8 with an ERA of 4.08. In
2001 Freddy had his best season, going 18-6 with a league leading ERA
of 3.08. In six seasons with the Mariners, Freddy went 76-50 with an
ERA of 3.89. His WAR was 18.8 while in Seattle. Freddy was a two
time all star and was a solid performer while in Seattle.
Relief
pitcher: Kazuhiro Sasaki Kaz
started his run with the Mariners in the 2000 season and won Rookie
of the year honors with his work out of the Mariners pen. He
recorded 37 saves that season while striking out 11.2 hitters per 9
innings. The following two seasons he was named to the AL all star
team. In four seasons, Kaz became the Mariners all time saves leader
with 129 saves. He finished with a WHIP of 1.084 and 9.8 strikeouts
per inning. Kaz did some nice work out of the Mariners pen, but
seems to have been somewhat forgotten.
Relief
pitcher: J J Putz J J Putz
had a nice career with a number of teams but got his start in
Seattle. J J spent his first six seasons with the Mariners,
recording 101 saves and an ERA of 3.07. His best season in Seattle
was 2007 when he saved 40 games and made the AL all star team. His
WAR of 4.0 was outstanding for a reliever. Putz's other big season
with the Mariners was 2006 when he saved 36 games.
Relief
pitcher: Tom Wilhelmsen Wilhelmsen
has worked in various roles out of the Mariners pen for six seasons.
Tom's numbers don't jump out at you, but six seasons with an ERA of
3.01 and 8.3 strikeouts per 9 innings is pretty good stuff. Tom also
adds to his resume with 68 saves.
So
there's the foundation of my Mariners pitching staff. Agree?
Disagree? Let me know.
You might also enjoy my cartoons.
No comments:
Post a Comment