The Mariners have the 3rd best team batting average in major league baseball.  Ichiro Suzuki has been fantastic like he has been his whole major league career.  He is hitting .359 with 61 runs scored, 5 homers, 39 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.  The catchers have been impressive with the bats so far this season.  Kenji Johjima has hit .292 with 28 runs scored, 8 homers and 32 RBIs so far this season and his backup (Jamie Burke) is hitting .350 this year.  Jose Vidro (.286, 3 HRs, 26 RBIs), Jose Lopez (.284, 8 HRs, 47 RBIs), Jose Guillen (.283, 10 HRs, 52 RBIs), Adrian Beltre (.277, 13 HRs and 43 RBIs) and Raul Ibanez (.275, 6 homers, 53 RBIs) have all hit the ball well in the first half of the season.

The Mariners have recalled top prospect Adam Jones.  They will shift Jones to RF, Jose Guillen to LF and Raul Ibanez to DH.  This should improve the lineup as long as Jones is more ready than he was last season when the Mariners called him up.  The 22-year old righty swinging Jones played in 81 AAA games this season and he was 105 for 340 (.309 avg, .963OPS) with 60 runs scored, 21 homers and 72 RBIs.  Jones will essentially be replacing DH Jose Vidro in the lineup and this should be a upgrade for the Mariners.  Vidro hit .286 with 43 runs scored, 3 homers and 26 RBIs in the first half of the season.

The Jason Davis experiment is now over for the Mariners.  He started out well for them but he has been horrible lately so the Mariners decided to pull the plug on him.  He pitched in 16 games for the Mariners and he was 2-0 with a 6.31 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP.  He threw 25.2 innings and he allowed 29 hits, walked 16 batters and whiffed 14.  The Mariners will probably find a team willing to take a chance and trade for him.

Ben Broussard has been a lifesaver this season for the Mariners as he has backed up at firstbase and both corner outfield spots and he’s done a much better job in the field than many thought he would.   But, Broussard bat has been good all season long as he’s played in 51 games and he is 33 for 110 (.300 avg, .807 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 4 homers and 17 RBIs.  The Mariners are lucky that they didn’t get rid of him in the off season as he’s done a great job for them.

Shockingly, Mike Hargrove resigned on July 2nd after the Mariners had won their 8th straight game citing his loss of passion for the game.  If Hargrove doesn’t have a family problem or a health issue this was a cowardly move by him as it could cripple the team.  Hargrove led the Mariners to a 45-33 record this season which had them in 2nd place in the American League West only 4 games behind the Angels.  Hargrove managed 2+ seasons in Seattle and he compiled a 192-210 (47.8% wins) for the Mariners.  Hargrove has managed with the Rangers, Mariners and Indians over his career and he has a record of 1,188-1,173 (50.3% wins).  The Mariners have decided to make John McLaren the new manager, but he has no major league experience as a manager so it’s likely that the Mariners will have a dropoff in the dugout.