In the Mariners clubhouse players’ lounge, which is rarely used for pre-game meetings, a small library has been set up, which is used even less frequently, if at all, and contains a collection of books dealing primarily with motivation and self-help, leadership and improvement.
For many of them, reading the leadership of the Mariners—front office and field workers—with the talking points and vocabulary that pervades the organization is popular and mandatory reading.
You hear them every day: process, preparation, effort, journey.
They are the core belief that feeling organized is the key to sustained success.
But as the Mariners found a way to hit a new low in this season of disappointment in 2023 — though things could get worse — a few other things may be true.
Effort is not enough. Process and preparation have yet to lead to production. And it’s not a journey if it leads nowhere, it’s called “being lost to the point where playing Take Me Home, Country Roads endlessly won’t bring you home.”
Less than 24 hours after giving one of baseball’s worst teams a win when they failed to score a run despite having loaded bases and no outs in the 10th inning, the Mariners somehow suffered an even worse defeat by losing 4-1 to the Washington Nationals .
It was a performance unworthy of the sun-soaked Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.
Seattle’s feeble offense looked even more lifeless against a pitcher who’s been terrible for most of three seasons.
Left-hander Patrick Corbin threw seven innings without a goal for the first time since 2019 and the Mariners never really threatened to take the lead or end the game after starter Logan Gilbert conceded three runs in the first four batters of the game.
A commonly used phrase, not found in the library, but a favorite of Seattle executive Scott Servais: “This is a results-driven business.”
And all too often this season the results have been dismal to deplorable.
“Where should I start? We obviously haven’t been playing good baseball for the past few days,” Servais said.
But it’s more than the last few days. Throughout the season, there were a number of two- and three-day periods when the Mariners played sloppily on the field or dimly on the field. That’s why they top the .500 mark, not quite good enough to make a run but just good enough not to fall apart. That could take a turn for the worse in the coming weeks.
“It didn’t gain any traction at all,” said catcher Tom Murphy. “We’re just as frustrated as everyone else. It feels like every day you walk into the park is a matter of life and death. It really is at this point in the season and it’s a tiring way to play. I believe these feelings will subside. We’ll find a groove. We’ll find a way to relax.”
The loss in that three-game streak was particularly galling considering it was against a team with the fourth-worst record in baseball. Seattle now hosts the team with the best record in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays, in a three-game series that begins Friday. This is followed by a trip to San Francisco and Houston.
“Today you go into the game trying to make up for last night’s disappointment and they jump on us early,” Servais said. “We didn’t manage to get the momentum going. If you drop out early you have to find a way to get back into the game.”
The free-spirited but outgoing Nationals led 3-0 before most of the 26,437 spectators who enjoyed a “long lunch” made their way to their seats.
Logan Thomas took the lead with an infield single, Luis Garcia hit a single right, Jeimer Candelario hit a run with a double left, and Keibert Ruiz hit two runs with a single before Gilbert hit an out.
“I have pretty high standards for myself, especially in a game like this that we need to win the series,” Gilbert said. “It’s tough not being able to put us in a position to win.”
Gilbert managed to throw six innings and allow four runs in his outing. It wasn’t a great start, but it should have been enough to make the game competitive.
But it never became competitive. The Mariners made Corbin, who came into the game with a 4-9 record and a 5.32 ERA, look like old Steve Carlton. A left-hander who can throw a slider with any kind of bet will almost always thwart Seattle batsmen.
“Bad offensive day, that’s all you can say about it,” said Servais.
There isn’t much that hasn’t already been said. The Mariners’ commitment to an approach is sporadic. You chase results. You stagger and miss too much. Aside from the seven goalless frames, Corbin allowed five hits and beat a season-high nine batters. His previous high was six.
“Corbin had his ups and downs throughout the game,” Servais said. “They hope you can do something about them. We didn’t do anything against him. They beat us.”
Since Corbin was a World Series hero in the Nats’ 2019 season, it’s mostly been setbacks. By the start of his game against the Mariners, he had posted a 21-51 record with a 5.72 ERA in 89 starts, dating back to the start of the 2020 season. According to Baseball Reference, he was worth -2.2 wins over reserve during that period, which is the worst stat among full-time starting pitchers.
The Mariners had first- and third-ranked runners, including one in second, followed by back-to-back singles by Eugenio Suarez and Murphy, who scored three of the Mariners’ six hits in the game. But Corbin knocked out AJ Pollock and got Dylan Moore to come out for shortstop.
“I thought he made some shots in the middle of the plate that we didn’t hit,” Servais said.
Seattle’s only run came in the eighth when Jose Caballero hit a solo home run from reliever Amos Willingham, who was making his MLB debut.
The Mariners’ top four hitters in the lineup — JP Crawford, Julio Rodriguez, Ty France and Teoscar Hernandez — combined 0 for 12 with six strikeouts.
“Momentum in baseball is a crazy thing,” Servais said. “We have a kind of dynamic team. At the moment things are not going according to our expectations. It turns a little. We have to turn it off, turn off the faucet a little, because it’s going against us. You can say, “Oh, we don’t get breaks, that’s unfortunate.” You have to make your own luck. you create it You put pressure on the opponent, create chances and manage to get through.”
If they succeed and turn the tide in this rapidly evolving season, Servais can author his own coaching book to add to this unused library.
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