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2018 Seattle Mariners season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2018 Seattle Mariners
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkSafeco Field
CitySeattle, Washington
Record89–73 (.549)
Divisional place3rd
OwnersBaseball Club of Seattle, LP, represented by CEO John Stanton
General managerJerry Dipoto
ManagerScott Servais
TelevisionRoot Sports Northwest
(Dave Sims, Aaron Goldsmith, Mike Blowers)
RadioESPN-710
Seattle Mariners Radio Network
(Rick Rizzs, Aaron Goldsmith, Dave Sims)
← 2017
2019 →

The 2018 Seattle Mariners season was the 42nd season in franchise history. The Mariners played their 19th full season (20th overall) at Safeco Field, their home ballpark. After the Buffalo Bills of the NFL clinched a playoffs spot for the first time since 1999, The Mariners entered this season with the longest active playoff drought in the four major North American professional sports,[1] failing to make their first postseason appearance since 2001. At several points in the season, the Mariners were 10 games ahead of the Oakland Athletics in the American League (AL) Wild Card race, but ended up finishing eight games behind them. The Mariners were eliminated from playoff contention on September 22 with the Athletics win against the Minnesota Twins.[2] The Mariners began the season on March 29 against the Cleveland Indians and finished the season on September 30 against the Texas Rangers.

Offseason and spring training

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On December 7, 2017, the Mariners traded three minor leaguers to the Miami Marlins for Dee Gordon and $1 million in international slot money. General manager Jerry Dipoto stated he planned to use Gordon in center field instead of his usual second base.[3]

On March 6, 2018, the Mariners signed free agent Ichiro Suzuki to a $750,000 contract salary with incentives up to $2 million. He returned to Seattle after five years with the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins.

Other notable transactions

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Regular season

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Standings

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American League West

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Houston Astros 10359 .636 — 46‍–‍35 57‍–‍24
Oakland Athletics 9765 .599 6 50‍–‍31 47‍–‍34
Seattle Mariners 8973 .549 14 45‍–‍36 44‍–‍37
Los Angeles Angels 8082 .494 23 42‍–‍39 38‍–‍43
Texas Rangers 6795 .414 36 34‍–‍47 33‍–‍48

American League Wild Card

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Division leaders
Team W L Pct.
Boston Red Sox 10854 .667
Houston Astros 10359 .636
Cleveland Indians 9171 .562
Wild Card teams
(Top 2 teams qualify for postseason)
Team W L Pct. GB
New York Yankees 10062 .617 +3
Oakland Athletics 9765 .599 —
Tampa Bay Rays 9072 .556 7
Seattle Mariners 8973 .549 8
Los Angeles Angels 8082 .494 17
Minnesota Twins 7884 .481 19
Toronto Blue Jays 7389 .451 24
Texas Rangers 6795 .414 30
Detroit Tigers 6498 .395 33
Chicago White Sox 62100 .383 35
Kansas City Royals 58104 .358 39
Baltimore Orioles 47115 .290 50

Record against opponents

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2018 American League record
Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2018
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET HOU KC LAA MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL
Baltimore —3–163–42–52–41–62–41–51–67–121–51–68–113–45–147–13
Boston 16–3—3–43–44–23–45–16–04–310–92–44–311–86–115–416–4
Chicago 4–34–3—5–147–120–711–82–57–122–42–52–44–24–32–46–14
Cleveland 5–24–314–5—13–63–412–73–310–92–52–42–52–44–23–412–8
Detroit 4–22–412–76–13—1–58–113–47–123–40–73–42–43–44–36–14
Houston 6–14–37–04–35–1—5–113–64–22–512–79–103–412–74–213–7
Kansas City 4–21–58–117–1211–81–5—1–610–92–52–51–50–72–52–56–14
Los Angeles 5–10–65–23–34–36–136–1—4–31–510–98–111–613–64–310–10
Minnesota 6–13–412–79–1012–72–49–103–4—2–52–51–53–42–44–28–12
New York 12–79–104–25–24–35–25–25–15–2—3–35–110–94–313–611–9
Oakland 5–14–25–24–27–07–125–29–105–23–3—9–102–513–67–012–8
Seattle 6–13–44–25–24–310–95–111–85–11–510–9—6–110–93–46–14
Tampa Bay 11–88–112–44–24–24–37–06–14–39–105–21–6—5–113–67–13
Texas 4–31–63–42–44–37–125–26–134–23–46–139–101–5—3–39–11
Toronto 14–54–154–24–33–42–45–23–42–46–130–74–36–133–3—13–7

Season summary

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Starter James Paxton threw a no-hitter on May 8 against the Toronto Blue Jays, becoming the first Canadian pitcher to throw an MLB no-hitter in Canada.[7] Paxton shared the AL Player of the Week Award following his no-hitter[8] and later won the Tip O'Neill Award, given to the best Canadian baseball player.[9]

Closer Edwin Díaz set a franchise record with 57 saves, tied for second-most in an MLB season. He won the AL Reliever of the Year Award.[10]

Catcher Mike Zunino was named to the Wilson All-Defensive Team.[11]

Díaz, Nelson Cruz, Mitch Haniger, and Jean Segura were named to the All-Star Game, with Segura selected via the Final Vote.[12][13]

The Mariners' payroll of $162.5 million ranked 9th in MLB.[14]

Notable transactions

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Game log

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2018 game log: 89–73 (Home: 45–36; Away: 44–37)
March: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
1March 29Indians2–1Hernández (1–0)Kluber (0–1)Díaz (1)47,1491–0W1
2March 31Indians5–6Carrasco (1–0)Paxton (0–1)Allen (1)35,8811–1L1
April: 15–10 (Home: 4–4; Away: 11–6)
DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
3April 1Indians5–4Leake (1–0)Otero (0–1)Díaz (2)24,5062–1W1
4April 3@ Giants6–4Gonzales (1–0)Blach (1–1)Díaz (3)40,9013–1W2
5April 4@ Giants1–10Cueto (1–0)Hernández (1–1)—42,5823–2L1
6April 5@ Twins2–4Duke (1–0)Altavilla (0–1)Rodney (1)39,2143–3L2
7April 7@ Twins11–4Leake (2–0)Berríos (1–1)—18,4164–3W1
–April 8@ TwinsPostponed (inclement weather); Rescheduled for May 14th.
8April 9@ Royals0–10Junis (2–0)Gonzales (1–1)—12,3244–4L1
9April 10@ Royals8–3Hernández (2–1)Skoglund (0–1)—14,8505–4W1
10April 11@ Royals4–2Vincent (1–0)Grimm (0–1)Díaz (4)14,3146–4W2
11April 13A's7–4Altavilla (1–1)Coulombe (0–1)Díaz (5)25,5327–4W3
12April 14A's10–8Bradford (1–0)Graveman (0–3)Díaz (6)29,0138–4W4
13April 15A's1–2Manaea (2–2)Hernández (2–2)Treinen (3)25,8828–5L1
14April 16Astros2–1Paxton (1–1)Keuchel (0–3)