The End: Mariners vs. Athletics Series Preview
The final series of the season has no playoff implications, just vibes.
With wins yesterday from the Royals and the Tigers, the Mariners were officially eliminated from the postseason on their day off. All of that last minute improvement didn’t end up paying off and they’ll spend the last three days of the regular season playing meaningless baseball against the A’s and thinking about what could have been.
The A’s just wrapped up their final series ever in Oakland and will spend the final days of this season playing away from their former home. The end to the M’s season was sad and disappointing, but it doesn’t come close to comparing to the brutality of having a team torn from its home. The end to the 2024 season cannot come quick enough.
From a previous series preview:
The A’s have churned through a ton of young, fringe players hoping to strike gold with a couple of them this year and they’ve uncovered a couple of gems. Lawrence Butler has been the most encouraging breakout; he had posted a 56 wRC+ through June, but has slashed .314/.353/.692 over the last two months with tons of power and a stable plate discipline profile. He joins Brent Rooker as two big boppers that can anchor this lineup. Jacob Wilson, son of former Mariner Jack Wilson, is a highly regarded prospect who flew through the farm system thanks to a batting average over .400 across 53 minor league games this year. He has ridiculous bat-to-ball skills, though he doesn’t have the power to really take advantage of a profile like that.
Probable Pitchers
From a previous series preview:
JP Sears improved nearly all of his peripherals last year except the one weakness he’s always struggled with: his home run rate. He allowed 34 dingers in 2023 and that’s the biggest reason why his FIP outpaced his ERA and xFIP by more than half a run. In an effort to curtail those long ball woes, he’s shuffled his pitch mix this year to feature his sweeper as his primary pitch while also increasing the usage of his sinker. His flat four-seam fastball will always generate an above average amount of whiffs thanks to its shape, but batters simply crush it when they make contact with it. The adjustments have appeared to have paid off; his ERA and FIP are much lower than they were last year and he’s already accumulated 1.2 fWAR, doubling his career total.
From a previous series preview:
Joey Estes made his season debut against the Mariners back in early May and held them to just a single run in five innings of work and then held them scoreless across 6.1 innings in a start a month later. He’s had a pretty good start to his big league career; he’s running a great strikeout-to-walk ratio thanks to a fantastic walk rate. His fastball is his best pitch with a ton of life up in the zone and pretty good command of it. His secondary offerings are average or worse, though his two breaking balls have shown a bit of promise this year.
From a previous series preview:
Mitch Spence was selected from the Yankees in the rule-5 draft this offseason and spent the first month of his major league career pitching out of the bullpen. Injuries to Paul Blackburn, Alex Wood, and Ross Stripling forced him into the starting rotation where he’s enjoyed a bit of success. He doesn’t have overwhelming stuff but generates a ton of contact on the ground thanks to natural sink on all of his pitches in his repertoire. His sweeping slider is his best pitch and he also throws an occasional 12-to-6 curveball to keep left-handed batters at bay.
The Big Picture:
The Astros wrapped up the division title on Tuesday and are far enough behind the Guardians in the standings to make their final series in Cleveland meaningless besides being a potential preview of an ALDS matchup. The Angels were just swept by the White Sox, setting a franchise record for losses in a single season and denying Chicago the opportunity to make history.