The season is still young. Sample sizes are only starting to grow, there are 117 games left to win, and just last week, I was depressed because the Mariners went 3-4.

After irrationally considering every win a step towards the World Series and each loss a step towards total oblivion, I tried buying into The Plan. You know, the whole, “we’re not contending this year, but we’re still worth watching” Plan. And as much as I hate to say it, Jack Z may be onto something.

Tonight, some of the Mariners looked great, and some of the Mariners looked awful. Hector Noesi made a strong showing through 8 innings, surrendering 3 runs on 3 hits, walking 2, and striking out 7 of 29 batters. With the help of Lucas Luetge and Steve Delabar, he snapped both the Rangers’ 15-game home run streak and the Mariners’ 3-game streak of handing out home runs.

As a team, Texas is batting just .161 against Seattle this week, stranding 21 and going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. It’s not as if the Mariners have bragging rights, however, as they went 1-for-9 with Justin Smoak’s RBI single. Then again, it’s worth pointing out that they managed a 6-1 win yesterday and only went 2-for-9 with RISP. Go figure.

While it may be ill-advised to get excited about a team who struck out 20 times in 2 games, I can get behind a rotation that is starting to look a little more solid behind Felix Hernandez. Sure, Kevin Millwood’s complete game shutout was a wonderful anomaly, and Blake Beavan’s 6-4 win may have more to do with the fourth-place Rockies than the third-place Mariners, but a 7-strikeout game against the Rangers is nothing to sniff at.

On Wednesday, Millwood faces RHP Scott Feldman, a last-minute replacement for Neftali Feliz, who landed on the DL Monday with a right elbow sprain. Perhaps by tomorrow afternoon the Mariners will manage to coordinate their defense and offense for a series win.

Next game: vs. Rangers | May 23 | 12:40pm

Big, bad Texas is coming to Seattle.

Tonight, pitching phenom Yu Darvish takes on Seattle ace Felix Hernandez. Tomorrow, RHP Matt Harrison sees Hector Noesi, while Kevin Millwood battles RHP Neftali Feliz on Wednesday.

Current record: 26-16

Last game: vs. Astros. Against their future AL West competitors, the Rangers walked away with 2 of 3 games in their first interleague series.

They are 3-4 in the past week, with a series win against Houston, a loss against Kansas City, and a split with Oakland.

Last series against Seattle: April 9 – 12, 2012. Last month, the Rangers got creative. They tested their skills with an 11-3 blowout, pitched a 1-0 shutout, and experimented with a close lead of 5-3. Only once did they take a loss, handing Kevin Millwood a win on the back of John Jaso’s 9th inning RBI single.

In five years, the Mariners have taken quite a beating from the Rangers. They hold a 28-52 record since 2008, with a 13-30 split at Rangers Ballpark and a 15-22 one at Safeco Field. The last time Texas came to town, they took the series 2-1, falling only on Blake Beavan’s 4-hit shutout.

Toughest player: Josh Hamilton. You can easily make a case for any part of Texas’ heavy-handed lineup, of which only one starter holds an average below .250. Hamilton still rises to the top, batting .384/.437/.788 with 18 home runs in 38 games and 167 PA.

Weakest link: Mike Napoli. In 37 games and 172 PA, Napoli has a 30.6% strikeout rate, and 9.5% walk rate. He currently holds a line of .244/.333/.457, and went 3-for-21 in his last 5 appearances.

Expected result: You don’t want me to predict the outcome of this series, trust me. Of the three matchups scheduled this week, tonight’s face-off between the newest star to grace Texas’ rotation and our faithful King Felix will be one to keep an eye on.

After this weekend’s sweep in Colorado lifted the spirits of both the team and its fanbase, I have just one piece of advice for the Mariners: don’t bring Brandon League in to close out the game. I think we’ll have enough heart-pounding plays as it is.

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For up-to-date news on the Rangers, check out Big Game Claws.

How it feels to face the Rangers. (Credit: 3eanuts.com)

It’s only two weeks into the new season, and I’ve already given up trying to predict the outcome of these games. Monday night saw four home runs from Texas. Tuesday night saw one run, also from Texas. Wednesday night will see many or few runs, but the only thing I’m certain of is that the bulk of them will belong to Texas.

On to the links for today…

In Case You Forgot — Funny enough, I did forget, which is why I’m sharing this post with you now instead of writing two sentences about it last night. Yesterday, the Mariners got four hits off Neftali Feliz. Before yesterday, the Mariners had no hits off Neftali Feliz. Jeff Sullivan explains why.

2012 Organizational Rankings: #23 – Seattle — Well, look at it this way. The Mariners placed ahead of the White Sox, Twins, Padres, Pirates, A’s, Astros, and Orioles. If only that was saying something.

Mariners’ Lucas Luetge a pitcher who learns fast — Lucas, this year’s Rule 5 draft pick for the M’s, talks to Larry LaRue about his first game, the correct way to pronounce ‘Luetge,’ and the pitcher he admires most on the team.

Kyle Seager could create interesting problem for Mariners — Don’t worry, it’s the good kind of interesting. Well, unless you’re Mike Carp.

Felix, Velocity, and Ground Balls — Dave Cameron explores the reasons behind Felix’s dropped velocity, and how it may affect his effectiveness this season. You can find Cameron’s expanded analysis on FanGraphs here.

What have you read this week? Share it with us in the comments!

No, wait, that would be the title for last night’s game. This time, the bats were silent as Blake Beavan and Neftali Feliz battled to a 1-0 finish, which unfortunately did not end in Seattle’s favor.

For his first major league start, Feliz was on fire. He lasted 7.0 innings, striking out 4 of 26 batters and allowing just 4 hits, which were divided by Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero.

Beavan was never far behind, going 6.1 innings with 6 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. His only donated run arrived on David Murphy’s RBI line drive to Munenori Kawasaki, who leapt, caught the ball, then watched it pop out of his glove as Michael Young came around to score.

If you are wondering why that was Kawasaki’s ball to botch, and not Brendan Ryan’s, Greg Johns tells us that Ryan’s on timeout for an “accountability issue.” I suppose Wedge thought it was a lesson best learned on the bench.

Here’s the part of the recap where I would try to muster up some encouraging words about Chone Figgins (0-for-3 with a leadoff walk) or praise the Mariners’ ever-increasing offense (4-for-30), but the best thing I can say about it today is that the Rangers’ bats were nearly as quiet. Thanks to Beavan and his sole reliever, Tom Wilhelmsen, the Rangers stranded runners on third four times in four innings.

One last note as we steel ourselves for Game #3 in Texas: With the tying run on third, Miguel Olivo made the longest slide into first base known to mankind. I counted no fewer than 13 tweets immediately clamoring for the return of John Jaso.

Next game: @ Rangers | April 11 | 5:05pm | 3 days until Opening Night

Albert Pujols. Yu Darvish. Yoenis Cespedes.

Welcome to the AL West, home to some of the biggest names in baseball, two back-to-back World Series appearances, and a large divide between the privileged Rangers and Angels and the less fortunate Athletics and Mariners.

Before the season kicks off on Friday, Aerys weighs in on the challenges facing each team, as well as the players and situations to keep an eye on this year.

Follow the jump for the three biggest questions facing each of the AL West teams in 2012…

» Continue reading “Three Things To Watch In The AL West”