Mariners takeaways: M’s continue meaningful stretch, Murphy heats up in final month
It’s been 113 days since the Mariners were swept.
It was a three-game stretch of dominant baseball by the host Padres in late May, including a 16-1 blowout in the opener. Seattle’s team batting average ranked last in the American League, and their record fell to a season-worst 21-26.
It seemed as though Seattle would meet their 2021 expectations: another rebuilding year that focuses on a flourishing young group of highly-touted prospects. They’d improve upon their 27-33 finish in a pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but their playoff window would remain closed.
That young core remains the spotlight, but it would come as a surprise to hear in a lowly May that a team batting below .200 — and no-hit twice in their ballpark that month — would play meaningful baseball through September.
“Always interesting, always entertaining,” manager Scott Servais said. “That’s it. 2021 Mariners.”
After leaving San Diego, the team put their short memories to work. They maintained their mantras: doesn’t matter, get better. Control the zone.
“We will stay consistent through the remainder of the season here,” Servais said last weekend. “Why would we change at this point? It’s worked pretty well for us.”
They worked their way back to .500 in June, and continued their rise in July. August saw their recent success sustain. Their opening weeks in September confirmed it.
It’s been five years since Seattle played contending baseball this late in September. They put up an 89-73 record in 2018, but fell reasonably behind in the race in late August. Oakland eliminated the Mariners in game 161 in a down-to-the-wire season, and it took their final contest to prove the playoffs unattainable in 2014.
This time around, Seattle doesn’t field the oldest team in baseball. In fact, they’re on the other end of that spectrum, having brought up the first handful of prospects in their loaded farm system.
Even if their late-season rally doesn’t equate to a World Series trophy this season, it’ll pay dividends going forward.
Why? It’s an invaluable experience, Servais said.
“It’s a different mindset coming to the ballpark. ‘What can I do to help the team win today?’ versus ‘what do I need to do to stay in the big leagues, or try to establish myself?’ It’s a totally different mindset.”
They’re exceeding expectations, and having fun while doing it.
“The biggest thing we’ve done is mitigate those down stretches, really,” Tom Murphy said. “To find a way to win somehow to break up the monotony of losing two, three, four games in a row.
“And this is the best team I’ve ever been on when it comes to that.”
Even after back-to-back walk-off losses to a last-place Rangers team in August, the Mariners bounced back and won a series in Tampa Bay. After dropping three of four in the Bronx to the Yankees, they swept the Rangers, and won another series against the Blue Jays.
“They’re always getting on each other. They’re holding each other accountable,” Servais said. “They’re always in each other’s business. I just think it makes it fun, but it alleviates maybe some of the outside pressures that are there, that maybe others want to throw at them.”
MURPHY HEATS UP IN SEPTEMBER
On Friday afternoon, Tom Murphy turned to his hitting coaches, and muttered a quick, confident sentence. The game hadn’t started — in fact, it was hours before — but he knew what was coming.
“He’s gonna throw me a changeup right down the middle at some point. And I’m going to hit it out,” Murphy said.
Seattle’s catcher called his shot. A half-court shot, at that. But it took only two innings — and three pitches — for Murphy to crank a middle-middle changeup into Edgar’s Cantina that gave Seattle a 3-2 lead.
He pointed to the dugout, and flashed a smile.
The weekend before, Murphy faced Arizona lefty Madison Bumgarner three times: walk, strikeout, walk. He whiffed on Bumgarner’s changeup, and couldn’t muster a hit.
He knew he’d get another chance.
“The changeup was the best pitch I had to hit (the) last time I faced him, and it was only a week ago,” Murphy said after Friday’s 5-4 win. “I figured he was probably gonna come back at me (with it) again.”
Actually, Bumgarner came back with his changeup twice. Murphy crushed his first offering, and four innings later, he tried it again.
Murphy found it again.
He called his shot, but he likely didn’t expect to cash in twice. Murphy’s sixth-inning blast extended Seattle’s already-existing lead, and raised his September batting average to .333.
Seattle’s catcher had shown promising flashes through a rebuilding 2019 season. Murphy’s .273 batting average two years ago — and his 19 home runs — still lead this season’s numbers, but a meaningful stretch in September is a good time to heat up.
Murphy missed all of a shortened 2020 season due to a foot injury. He hoped to use spring training to ease his way back to the field, but struggled.
“I know it’s just spring training, and people say that all the time, but it means something to me,” he said.
His slump continued when games started to count, too. Murphy’s seven-hit month of April and nine-hit May ate at him. He didn’t consider himself “a good baseball player.” It was the lowest point in his career, he told reporters Friday.
In a league where “everything’s based on the fastball,” he couldn’t catch up to one, or put one in play, at the least.
What helped Murphy recover was his team. They never stopped believing in him, he said.
“I just was so frustrated with myself,” Murphy said. “But like I said, everybody around me didn’t see that, or didn’t add to that frustration, by any means.
“The amount of belief that those guys had in me is something I’ll always look back upon and appreciate more than anything.”
When the hits weren’t coming, Murphy worked on his swing path. His ‘niche’ was always “killing lefties,” but had yet to string together hits against right-handed pitching. He works as hard and prepares as well as anybody, Servais said.
It didn’t surprise anyone when Murphy found the opposite field, and found his power stroke. Given his called shot on Friday — and backing it up twice — it certainly wasn’t a surprise for the catcher.
“I think I’ve whiffed on more changeups than anyone in baseball,” Murphy said. “But just the way he pitched me last time and some of the pitches I had to hit… It was just something that (was) planted in my subconscious.”
MARINERS SHUT DOWN LEWIS FOR THE SEASON
If the Mariners want to rally and clinch their first playoff berth in 20 seasons, they’ll have to do it without the help of Kyle Lewis.
In his final stages of recovery before making the short drive to Tacoma for a rehab assignment, last season’s AL Rookie of the Year aggravated his knee during sliding drills.
Lewis told trainers that he “felt sore” the following day, which later revealed itself in the form of a bone bruise. With less than 20 games remaining in the regular season, Seattle decided to shut down their center fielder for the remainder of the year.
“Where we’re at on the timeline, it’s not going to be able to happen for him,” Servais said last Tuesday. “And give him a ton of credit for trying to figure out a way to get back and help us this year, and going through everything he has.
“But the clock is ticking. (There’s) just not gonna be enough time to get him out with rehab games and everything else.”
Servais said Lewis will be ‘100 percent’ come Spring Training. The decision to shut him down provides him with a head-start to accomplish that.
“He’s going to be a big part of this going forward,” Servais said. “There’s no question about it. It’s just not going to happen this year.”
INJURY, ROSTER UPDATES
Justin Dunn, who hasn’t appeared since June 17 after straining his throwing shoulder, threw a simulated game on Friday at T-Mobile Park.
Even though Servais told reporters that Dunn’s crispness to his pitches “wasn’t quite there,” it was to be expected, given the rust pitchers show after nursing an injury. Given the situation, he looked “okay,” and they plan on letting him throw another sim-game before going on a rehab assignment.
“It had been a while since he’d thrown to a live hitter,” Servais said. “So we’ll see how he feels coming out of that, and build upon it.”
If Dunn can return to the Mariners before the season ends, he’d assume a role in the bullpen. A starter for Seattle, Dunn’s injury brought about the need for the Mariners to add to their rotation at the trade deadline. Considering Tyler Anderson’s consistent production as their fifth starter, Dunn appears to be on a path similar to Justus Sheffield, who returned to the team and joined an already-great group of relievers.
There’s no timetable for Dunn’s return at this point, but Servais and the team hope to activate him at some point this season.
“(We’ll) just have to wait and see how he feels coming out of the workout.”
Jake Fraley, currently on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation, took at-bats from Dunn in Friday’s simulated game. He feels and looks good, Servais said.
The outfielder started a rehab assignment Saturday at Triple-A Tacoma, and planned to appear in the outfield Sunday, before the game was postponed. Servais hopes Fraley can rejoin the team sometime this week as Seattle kicks off a vital, three-game series against the Red Sox.
The Mariners placed starting pitcher Tyler Anderson on the bereavement list on Thursday, and recalled infielder Kevin Padlo from Triple-A Tacoma to fill his roster spot. Anderson was reactivated Sunday.
UP NEXT
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
It’s not a question of whether the next three games will shift the direction of Seattle’s season. It’s how.
After a tough series loss against Arizona, Seattle (77-66) hosts the Red Sox (81-64) for a three-game set. They’re only three games behind Boston entering Monday, who currently hold what the Mariners desire: a coveted AL Wild Card spot.
Logan Gilbert takes the mound Monday for the first of three.
“We’re looking forward to the next series,” Servais said. “We can’t do anything about what just happened. It’s over. We have to look forward, see where we’re at, and go out and win a game (Monday).”
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Mariners takeaways: M’s continue meaningful stretch, Murphy heats up in final month."