In some ways, the NBA regular season suffered from a seemingly random dispersion of outcomes. Anyone could beat anyone. The prevalence of that pesky Three Point Shot lead to disappointing losses from teams that would normally blow each other out. It was ultimate “make or miss league”.

Watching the first 5 games of round 2 is either proving this exists in the playoffs or that all the teams secretly stink! The Celtics bricked 45 threes in game 1 against the Knicks (loss). The Wolves are 14-76 in the last two games from deep (including a disgusting loss last night). Shoot some two’s guys. Maybe all these teams really do need a mid-range killer like Kevin Durant!

Cavs - can’t happen. Can’t lose like that. Send this team to Cancun. I am so, so disappointed that the Eastern Conference Finals is going to be Pacers/Celtics. I’m also wildly reacting to a terrible loss when the Cavs can definitely win 4 of the next 6.

Wolves - every time I buy a ticket to this Wagon, they do this. They’re still going to win the series.

Ken Griffey Jr. Slugfest. Do I need to say more? Released in 1999, the Mariners team of title star Ken Griffey featured A-Rod, Jay Buehner, and Edgar Martinez (plus Griffey, Joey Cora and more). That team absolutely mashed and it didn’t hurt to have Randy Johnson either. Small KMARK had to wait until Friday to fire up the Nintendo and get on the sticks, but man, no calls please till Monday!

Ichiro and Brett Boone (new Rangers hitting coach) had their moments. Since then, the Mariners are the definition of an average hitting baseball team. They’re actually worse than that, I’m being nice. They blamed the ballpark. They tried signing Robbie Cano. The cheaped out on lineup after lineup with little thump. Are things changing in Seattle? Let’s find out.

Here’s a Big Kid article: Suddenly, the Mariner Are Mashing. This is researched, uses data to support arguments, follows a narrative arc. All stuff that real writers do. Author Jay Jaffe is one of baseball’s best. He’s approaching Zach Lowe territory. Do you think he’ll mind if I chop this in bits and give y’all the Cliff Notes? I don’t think he’ll mind. Let’s use this to talk M’s and proper sports journalism.

Set the Stage

- Last year, when the Mariners fell one win short of a Wild Card berth, they ranked 10th in the AL in scoring at 4.17 runs per game, 14th in batting average (.224), and 12th in slugging percentage (.376) -

The Mariners boasted the league’s best starting rotation last year. 4 starters stayed healthy, reached 30 starts, and sported tidy ERA’s below 3.6. Had this team ever hit the ball, they would’ve made the playoffs. The one, clear obvious opportunity is to improve the offense.

Mariner’s GM Jerry Dipoto is frequently haunted by one quote to describe his roster building philosophy: “If you go back and you look in a decade, those teams that win 54% [87 wins] of the time always wind up in the postseason. And they, more often than not, wind up in the World Series”. None of that came true for Jerry last year and an 87 win team with an underperforming offense missed the postseason by 1 game.

Introduce the Protagonist

- On August 22, when the team was 64-64, the Mariners fired Servais and DeHart, with Dan Wilson taking over as manager and Martinez, who previously spent 2015–18 as the team’s hitting coach, returning to that role for the remainder of the season.

Martinez is no longer the hitting coach; instead he’s now their senior director of hitting strategy — a role that involves less travel — while Kevin Seitzer joined the staff as the hitting coach after 10 years in that capacity for the Braves. -

Edgar Martinez is a living legend in Seattle and Mariner fans celebrated his return to the organization. He’s also the first full time DH elected to the Hall of Fame. He knows one or two things about getting the barrel to the ball.

Develop the Story

- This spring, with the help of Martinez and Seitzer, Polanco closed his stance, reducing the angle at which his feet deviate from a straight line to the pitcher. -

Here we have the first tangible example of a change dedicated to the new regime. Polanco is crushing the ball this year. More on Polanco please.

Data for Evidence

- he’s increased his average bat speed a bit (from 70.2 mph to 71.9), his fast swing rate from 8.6% to 20.8%, his squared-up rate from 23.1% to 35.4%, and his blast rate from 9.4% to 20.8%. -

The measurement in baseball is on a level that even national broadcasts don’t get into. All of these batted ball measurements are designed to explain why batting average and slugging improve. More than anything, teams use these to determine predictive changes in a player’s profile. These metrics are designed to filter random events (bloop singles) from lasting changes that win games (three run tanks).

Research, Quotes, Anecdotes

- Seitzer told Kramer. “I like simplified — when guys get in a good position when they get into their weight transfer, they get to their heel plant, they’re in a good position to fire from their body position and into their hands.” -

Cut the numbers and get into baseball speak. Polanco suffered a knee injury in years prior. Hitting with a more open stance might have been the body correcting to reduce pressure on his lead leg, but put him in a compromised position. He wasn’t staying closed long enough to hit off his back leg. He’d spin early and lose weight transfer needed to generate power.

Conclusion

- It’s too early to anoint the Mariners as the team to beat in the AL West, but after barely missing out on playoff spots following slow starts in 2023 and ’24, this is certainly an improvement. -

I skipped so, so much of this article. Jaffe gets into multiple players and the adjustments they’ve made post-coaching change. Please give the entire article a read. For now, consider that the AL West has been dominated by the Astros (Assholes). After losing Correa, Bregman, and Kyle Tucker, the AL West is suddenly up for grabs. This should be the year the Mariners emerge and win more than 87 games.