Baseball Chat

[blackcat]

Here's some ugly proof that this team can't run bases - now or probably ever!

In 2015, according to FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, and the eyeballs of baseball fans everywhere, the Mariners were far and away one of the worst baserunning teams in MLB. They were slow, bad at stealing bases, and seemed to commit bone-headed outs on the basepaths every damned game. It was frustrating to watch.

Enter new hires Scott Servais and Jerry Dipoto. Although these gentlemen inherited a roster from the Jack Z regime that was not particularly fleet of feet, Scott and Jerry promised to make significant changes to the M’s run game. They both acknowledged that the team had struggled on the basepaths in '15 and there was ample room for improvement. This was an issue that they felt sorely needed to be addressed.

In 2016, according to FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, and the eyeballs of baseball fans everywhere, the Mariners are far and away one of the worst baserunning teams in MLB. They are slow, bad at stealing bases, and seem to commit bone-headed outs on the basepaths every damned game. It is frustrating to watch.

This year, the Mariners have successfully stolen 26 bases while being thrown out 22 times. That's a SB% of 54.1%, which is very last in MLB. (The league average is 71%). It's easy to blame this on Aoki who has an atrocious SB% (4 for 11 - just 36.4%!) and the worst SB% of any player with 8+ SB attempts. Despite having only the 53rd most SBA, only two players in MLB have been thrown out more often than Aoki. HOWEVER, it's not just Norichika's fault. Even if you take away his "contribution", the team's SB% is still below 60%. In fact, the only Mariner to have a better than average SB% is Shawn O'Malley who has gone 2 for 2. The inability to correctly read a pitcher, get a good jump, and make a good slide appears to be a systematic problem for the Mariners.