Behind the numbers with Mariners
Some interesting numbers to ponder as the Mariners turn the page on 2015 and begin looking forward to the 40th season in franchise history:
20: Managers the Mariners will have had in their four-decade history when 2016 opens with Scott Servais at the helm, with 17 of those being full-time skippers and three serving on an interim basis.
91: Games decided last year by two or fewer runs, the second most in the Majors behind Tampa Bay's 94 and a club record (old mark 86 in 2009 and 1989). The Mariners were 43-48 in those games.
84: Home runs Nelson Cruz has hit in the past two seasons, the most in the Majors. Mike Trout is second with 77.
90: Home runs hit by the Mariners at Safeco Field last season, their second most since the park opened in the middle of 1999. The record is 92, set in 2000.
2,142: Career strikeouts by Felix Hernandez in his 11 seasons. The only pitchers in MLB history with more before the age of 30 are Walter Johnson (2,302), Sam McDowell (2,271) and Bert Blyleven (2,250). All three are in the Hall of Fame. Hernandez will turn 30 on April 8.
Video: OAK@SEA: Hernandez notches 2,000th career strikeout
.159: Combined batting average of Mariners catchers Mike Zunino, Jesus Sucre, Welington Castillo, John Hicks and Steven Baron. Tampa Bay had the next-lowest batting average by its catchers at .201. Three National League teams had pitching staffs with higher batting averages -- the Nats at .167, Mets at .163 and Giants at .162.
.881: The combined OPS of Seattle's right fielders, the top mark in the American League. That number was greatly bolstered by Cruz's production in 80 games in the field, with Seth Smith and Mark Trumbo also getting considerable time in right. As a group, Mariners right fielders put up a .290/.361/.520 line with 35 homers and 91 RBIs.
482.7: Feet that Cruz's longest home run was projected to travel by Statcast™ measurements, ranking as the fourth longest in MLB on the season. He connected off Wandy Rodriguez at Globe Life Park on April 29.
Video: Must C Crushed: Cruz crushes homer into second deck
119.0: Miles per hour off the bat of Cruz's hardest-hit ball of the season, according to Statcast™, on a bases-loaded single off Neftali Feliz on a walk-off hit against the Rangers at Safeco Field on April 19. That was the fourth-hardest-hit ball in MLB last season, with the top three all rockets from Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins, who topped out at 120.3.
Video: Statcast™ breaks down Cruz's walk-off hit vs. Rangers
94.1: The average mph of all of Trumbo's batted balls in play for the season, which ranked 12th in MLB and topped the 93.7 mph of teammate Cruz. Those two sandwiched Angels star Trout (93.9 mph) in another stat led by Stanton of the Marlins at 99.1 mph.
.330: Robinson Cano's batting average over his last 82 games (along with 17 home runs and a .920 OPS), after hitting .238 with four homers and a .621 OPS over his first 74.
71.79: Percent of instant replay challenges the Mariners had overturned, with Lloyd McClendon winning 28 of his 39 requested reviews. That was the second-highest success rate in the Majors behind only the 75 percent of the Yankees (24 of 32 calls overturned). Across MLB, 48.9 percent of the 1,338 calls challenged were overturned.
.351: On-base percentage of shortstop Ketel Marte, the fourth-best mark by a rookie in franchise history behind Alvin Davis (.391 in 1984), Ichiro Suzuki (.381 in 2001) and Phil Bradley (.373 in '84) among players with at least 200 plate appearances.
4.15: The Mariners' bullpen ERA, which ranked 25th among MLB's 30 teams. Seattle had the top mark in the Majors in 2014 at 2.59.
60.53: Seattle's percentage of successful stolen bases (69-for-114), which ranked 29th in MLB. The only team worse at swiping bags was the Angels at 60.47 (52-for-86).
18: Infield hits by Cruz, the most on the Mariners (Austin Jackson was second with 13).
47-33: The Mariners' record in games started by Hernandez, Taijuan Walker and Hisashi Iwakuma. In games started by seven other pitchers, Seattle went 29-53.
6.94: The number of strikeouts for every one walk issued by Walker over his final 20 starts, compared to 1.70 in his first nine outings. Walker started the year going 1-5 with a 7.33 ERA when he issued 23 walks with 39 strikeouts. The rest of the way, the 23-year-old was 10-3 with a 3.62 ERA, with 118 strikeouts and 17 walks.
Video: LAA@SEA: Walker strikes out seven over seven frames
4.5: The number of runs the Mariners averaged in the 94 games after Edgar Martinez was hired as hitting coach, compared to 3.4 in the 68 games before he came aboard.
8: Consecutive wins by the Mariners on Opening Day, the longest streak in the Majors since the Reds won nine straight from 1983-91 and the longest AL streak since the St. Louis Browns opened with nine in a row from 1937-45.
145: Days until next season's opener in Arlington on April 4.