Manager Scott Servais calls out Mariners’ ‘lack of focus’ on road trip
SEATTLE – In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s 9-4 loss to the Angels, a fitting conclusion to an abysmal 2-6 trip that somehow looked and felt even worse because they were outscored 57-30 and were only competitive in four of those games, Mariners manager Scott Servais lamented his team’s “lack of focus” multiple times, specifically in mistakes on the bases and in the field.
Never one to call out an individual player or the team as a whole in the media, preferring closed-door meetings, Servais’ mentioning the team’s lack of focus resulting in a growing number of mistakes amounted to damning public criticism of the Mariners’ substandard effort and execution on the trip.
“It’s lack of focus,” Servais said. “These are things that we’ve talked about. It’s really important not to give up outs on the bases. We’ve addressed it several times. But that lack of focus, we make mistakes at critical times. You’re not gonna win in this league doing that. I don’t care how many hits you get or how many scoreless innings you get, you’ve got to play clean. You’ve got to make the plays defensively, run the bases really smart, be heads up and be strategic about when you’re taking chances. We haven’t done that.”
A day later, in the afternoon warmth of a cloudless afternoon at T-Mobile Park, Servais wouldn’t let up on that criticism.
Why?
It’s valid.
The Mariners don’t have enough offensive firepower – or at least haven’t displayed it yet – to make mistakes in the field and on the bases and still win games, particularly with a pitching staff that’s hit a bit of a rut in the last two weeks.
“I know we’re not playing our best baseball for a number of reasons,” Servais said. “Early on, we talked about how we didn’t have much going offensively. Recently on the road trip, we had some rough starts from our starting pitching that has been so consistent. Recently, focus-wise, it’s just doing the little things that allow you to stay in games and eventually win games, not just giving them away and losing them.”
Servais referred to Perry Hill’s mantra of “27 outs, no more,” which is about taking care of the baseball and turning expected outs into outs.
“On offense, we have 27 outs to play with, too,” he said. “You don’t want to give them any free outs, whether it’s on the bases or just not being attentive to what’s happening and understanding the game situation. They are things that we certainly are capable of doing a much better job of. It’s up to me and my coaches to make sure we’re on top of that and guys understand it.”
Servais has preached away the idea of valuing outs just as much on offense as defense.
“You don’t want to give away outs,” he said. “It’s in the batter’s box, where you want to have competitive at-bats and swing at the right pitches. It’s on the bases, where you’re making good reads, having good judgment, understanding the score and when you’re at in the game. It’s the little things like that that should be going through guys’ minds all the time. We just need to be a lot more consistent in that area.”
Contrary to popular belief among the fan base, the Mariners aren’t the worst baserunning team in the history of baseball or even this season, at least by data, if not interpretation.
Per Baseball Reference, the Mariners have made 17 outs on the bases (OOB), which is defined as a runner being put out on a baserunning play – like a tag-up on a fly ball or trying to stretch a single into a double. The league average for outs on the bases is 18. The Reds and Guardians lead all of baseball with 28 outs on the bases.
However, OOB does not account for runners caught stealing or picked off. Seattle base runners have been caught stealing 16 times, which is tied with four teams for the third most. The Mariners have had nine runners picked off, which is second most behind the Athletics with 10.
Add it all up and the Mariners have had 44 base runners turn into outs in some way, which is less than optimal. But it could be worse, as their .310 on-base percentage has limited the number for actual base runners that could make mistakes.
Murfee to IL with elbow inflammation
The Mariners placed reliever Penn Murfee on the 15-day injured list with right- elbow inflammation. Murfee exited Sunday’s relief appearance after feeling more discomfort in the elbow. He underwent an MRI on Monday morning, but Servais didn’t have the information before his pregame media session.
It was Murfee’s first appearance after returning from the injured list for a similar issue.
Instead of bringing back right-hander Matt Festa from Class AAA Tacoma, the Mariners made an unexpected move to select the minor-league contract of right-hander Ty Adcock from AA Arkansas and add him to the active roster. To make room for Adcock on the 40-man roster, lefty Robbie Ray, who is out for the season after having Tommy John surgery, was placed on the 60-day IL.
Adcock, 26, started the season with High-A Everett and was promoted to Arkansas. In 18 combined appearances, he posted a 1-0 record with three saves and a 1.35 ERA. In 20 innings, he has struck out 22 batters with three walks.
Selected in the eighth round of the 2019 draft out of Elon University, where he was an outfielder/catcher and closer on the same team as first-round pick George Kirby, Adcock missed the 2019 season due to shoulder-impingement syndrome and the 2021 season after having Tommy John surgery.
He pitched in three spring-training games this spring, throwing an inning in each and allowing a run. He flashed a fastball that can reach up to 100 mph and a slider ranging from the high 80s to low 90s.