Does this make sense to you??

[AceKeptic]

I was elsewhere when I saw a little of the Sunday game, and at one time, a guy walks up and points out how the first half of the season is practically meaningless, that things don't matter until after the All-Star Break.

Now, I wasn't sure what to make of this, because you don't want to be down TOO far in the standings by the ASB, but does that make any sense to you at all?

 

[Logicallylethal]

I think it's the same way of thinking as the Pete Carroll philosophy on it's not how you start but how you finish. In my opinion that's more of a motivational slogan than a logical way of thinking.

Because it does matter how you start and play in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd quarter. If you start the game 23-10 through 3 quarters as opposed to 10-23, now you don't have to mount a miracle comeback drive to win it.

In this case I think what people are trying to say is it's too early to panic and it's still a long season. However, every game matters and is weighted the same. There isn't a game that means less in April than in June or July or August.

 

[NWinAZ]

Every game has the same meaning. A win in April has the same value as a win in August. One more win last April and we were playing a one game match to see if we make the playoffs. People who say that always point to a team that comes back in the second half of the season but what they fail to mention are the teams that don't come back because the first half gave them such a mountain to overcome that they couldn't.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Things are bad right now. There is no way to look at this and think sunshine and rainbows. I don't think its full panic mode season over bad but its concerning. They are 10-15 with 5 of those 10 wins coming against a bad Rangers team. They also haven't won a game by more then 3 yet where pitching and hitting clicks the same game.
I just don't see where the strength on this team is?

-Its not the rotation. Iwakuma's health concerns have been validated and the rookie pitchers are pitching like rookies. Good one game bad the next.
-Its not the bullpen as two of the guys have been sent down for being ineffective.
-Its not the lineup. You were relying on Ackley who has never proven anything, a catcher who strikes out half his ABs, a first baseman who hasn't proven it consistently and a platoon in right
-Its not the defense. Other then Seagar and Cano this is a very poor defensive team and even Seagar has been bad so far.
-Its not the base running as they have run into numerous outs.

Is there time to turn it around? Yes there is plenty of time. But the first 25 games aren't meaningless. If they were then roster moves wouldn't be being made as we speak.

 

[cezero]

There's no way a fan can look at what they see on the field right now, and think of poor play at the beginning of the season as being anything approaching meaningless.

It isn't the Angels or the Dodgers of 2014 who got off to rough starts, and ended up going on tears. They had proven commodities throughout their lineups and pitching staffs who were underperforming, and it was reasonable to assume that it was just a matter of time before they played better. And they did.

the Mariners aren't analogous to teams like those in any way. Based on what we're seeing (not fantasies, not magic, not what happened last year), it's just as reasonable to conclude that most of the team will continue to play the way they are right now as it is to conclude that a bunch of them will play better.

Nobody will be happier than I if Paxton, Walker, the pen, the lineup, and the defense all turn things around.

 

[gowazzu02]

I remember last year after the 7 game losing streak I was pissed......I made a post calling the season lost.... and then that post got bumped the rest of the year. So I will hold back on freaking out.

 

[AceKeptic]

I should also point out, now that I remember, is that the same guy said that as a team, you don't want to peak too early, which is why the games in the first half are meaningless to him. Might have a point; who wants to have a great start only to fizzle down the stretch? I seem to recall that happening in '02 and '03, when the FO started to refuse any help to keep the team hot.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

Actually the first half is MORE important than the 2nd half... and the reasoning is simple...

teams with good records are buyers, teams with bad records are sellers... If you are not going to be good enough in the first half to be in playoff contention then it will be very hard to get into playoff contention when you are not making the moves to get into contention...

 

[cezero]

There is a lot of space between "freaking out" and saying "nothing matters until after the all star break."

It is possible to discuss what we see without resorting to either polemic.

Cano will probably get better this season. So will Seager. It becomes trickier from there based on what's in front of us.

 

[wazzu31]

Every game has the same meaning. A win in April has the same value as a win in August. One more win last April and we were playing a one game match to see if we make the playoffs. People who say that always point to a team that comes back in the second half of the season but what they fail to mention are the teams that don't come back because the first half gave them such a mountain to overcome that they couldn't.

This basically in a nutshell. The first half "doesn't matter" if the team is good just struggling or not clicking. But for every 1 team that goes on a surge to make the playoffs there are what 5 who miss out on the playoffs because a rough patch.

And as was pointed out the first half is crucial for a team like Seattle because of the deadline. Being in no mans land sucks cause you don't know whether buy, sell or go Pat Gillick.

 

[WizardHawk]

Every game matters the same. The worse you do at the start the more above average you have to be to make up for it at some point. Every team has slumps/dips whatever, but when you have this bad of a start you have less margin of error to still have other slumps without falling so far behind that you cannot catch up.

5 games below .500 itself at this point isn't a death nail, but every lost opportunity makes the job that much harder to get far enough above .500 by seasons end to reach the playoffs.