On paper, the Seattle Mariners should have no problem taking this weekend series from the Boston Red Sox.
After all, the M’s are 39-37 and in first place in the American League West while the Red Sox are 29-43 and own the fewest wins in the American League.
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Seattle is coming off a series in which it took two-of-three from the Baltimore Orioles while Boston is coming off getting swept at home by the Toronto Blue Jays.
So, given all that, why is this a nightmare matchup for the Mariners?
I discussed that on the most recent ‘Refuse to Lose Territory’ podcast.
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) pitches in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
“But this feels to me like the worst possible matchup for the Mariners. And I am frankly terrified of this series.
And there’s a handful of reasons why, but right at the top of the list is the fact that I told you the Red Sox are 12-25 at Fenway. They’re 17-18 on the road. So they are right around a .500 team on the road. They play better away from home. That inherently makes me nervous.
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But the real thing is: the Red Sox are going to throw three left-handed pitchers in this series. We know about the Mariners’ woes against left-handers. We know that Randy Arozarena is not playing in this series. I can’t tell you what Julio Rodriguez is going to do in this series, so you are taking a team that is already bad against lefties, or has already struggled against lefties, and you are removing at least one of your prominent right-handed hitters and maybe Julio for a portion of the series.
And even if he does play, is he 100 percent? This terrible matchup for the Red Sox (Mariners). And I’ll be fascinated by what Dan Wilson does with his lineup as well because there’s a handful of ways to do this, but none of them yield the Mariners their best possible roster.”
Is Dan Wilson going to spend all weekend playing Rob Refsnyder, Victor Robles, Mitch Garver and Connor Joe and sitting Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley?
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Is he going to play one of Canzone or Raley and mix-and-match the righties? It’s all possible, but it makes for a less than 100 percent lineup for Seattle.
And then, don’t forget that Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman is left-handed as well, meaning that matchup issues will exist for Seattle at both the front and back end of games.
You can listen to the full ‘Refuse to Lose Territory’ podcast here, or you can watch on YouTube below:
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