2009 was the year of
Ken Griffey's return to a Mariners uniform. I remember the season fondly. For
many people the lasting image of the season is Ichiro and Griffey being carried
off the field on their teammates shoulders at the end of the season. He didn't
help them make the playoffs, and he really wasn't that good of a hitter, but
having Junior back in Seattle was something special and intangibly good.
Like a mentioned
that Mariners failed to make the playoffs in 2009, just like they had the seven
years before and have the eight years since. The team did improve to 85 wins
though. That total was carried almost entirely by their pitching and defense.
The team ERA was the lowest in the American league (AL) at 3.87. The batters
still couldn’t hit a lick. The team scored the fewest runs in the American
League with only 640, which was 275 less than the New York Yankees.
The teams pitcher's
benefited greatly from the defense stealing away would be base hits. The
outfield featured stellar play from Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez. Adrian
Beltre was still holding down the hot corner. Because the voting for the Golden
Gloves is terribly flawed only Ichiro was awarded in 2009, but both Beltre and
Gutierrez deserved recognition. This stellar defense is highlight by the large
difference between the pitchers ERA of 3.87 and FIP of 4.39 (Fielding
Independent Pitching is a measure of expected ERA based on BB, HBP, HR and K),
which was 11th best in the AL.
The best pitcher on
the 2009 Mariners was King Felix, who went 19-5 with 2.49 ERA and 217 K in
238.66 innings pitched. The season
marked the start of a nine year stretch where Felix would strikeout at least
200 opposing batters. It is also Felix's highest win total in a season to date.
This dominate performance on the mound got Felix his first All-Star appearance
and he finished 2nd in the AL Cy Young Award voting to Zach Greinke (this was
completely understandable because Greinke had a lower ERA, and more
strikeouts). Basically what you should take away from all this is Felix
Hernandez was really freaking good in 2009.
The season brought
another new closer to Seattle. This time it was David Aardsma, whose biggest
claim to fame is alphabetically. He is first in the record books, directly
ahead of Hank Aaron. Aardsma was dominate for the Mariners in 2009. He struck
out 80 batters in 71.33 IP, which equates to 10.1 batters per nine innings. He
converted 28 of 42 chances for saves. Aardsma was basically automatic for the
Mariners in the ninth inning, which really helped the offensively inept team
win games.
The season also saw
the debut of two starting pitcher, Doug Fister and Jason Vargas, that would go
on to have strong if brief Mariners careers. Although they will never make the
Mariners Hall of Fame, both will be remembered by fans.
As previously
mentioned the Mariners offense was bad during 2009. They were last in the AL
for runs scored. That said the team did feature some memorable performances at
the plate. The most impressive was probably Russell Branyan who clubbed 31 home
runs. He was the first Mariner to pass 30 HR since Richie Sexson in 2006.
Branyan also hit 21 doubles brining his slugging percentage up to .520, the
highest recorded by a Mariner since Richie Sexson in 2005. Despite all the
extra base hits Branyan managed to record only 76 RBI, which highlights just
how bad the team was at getting on base.
Pretty much the only
guy good at getting on base in 2009 was Ichiro who batted .352 and had an on
base percentage (OBP) of .386. It was yet another great year for Ichiro and yet
another year that fans and media members grumbled he wasn't doing enough because
they were dumb.
At second base Jose
Lopez had an interesting season. On the good side he drove in 96 runs and
batted .272 hit 42 doubles and 35 homeruns. However on the bad side he walked
only 24 times in 653 plate appearances and grounded into 25 double plays, the
second most in the AL.
The final thing I
want to mention is the addition of two
J. Wilsons to the Mariners via trade. I am of course writing about Jack and
Josh, no relation. The Mariners grabbed Josh off waivers from the Padres in
June. They then traded Pittsburgh for Jack in July (the Mariners parted with
former first rounder pick Jeff Clement in that trade). The Mariners acquired
both shortstops in an attempt to try and find an improvement over Yuniesky
Betancourt. Based solely on hitting it turned into basically a wash.
Depending how you
look at it 2009 was either another missed opportunity for the Mariners or a
surprising success. Based on their previous season and their run differential
that team shouldn't have been any good. Instead because of clutch hitting,
amazing defense, and shutdown pitching team managed to win 85 games.
Sources: Baseball Reference
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