{"id":45053,"date":"2022-08-14T12:14:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-14T12:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mariners-face-familiar-foe-fail-to-focus-fall-7-4-to-rangers\/"},"modified":"2022-08-14T12:14:52","modified_gmt":"2022-08-14T12:14:52","slug":"mariners-face-familiar-foe-fail-to-focus-fall-7-4-to-rangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mariners-face-familiar-foe-fail-to-focus-fall-7-4-to-rangers\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariners face familiar foe, fail to focus, fall 7-4 to Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"
The idea that \u201cfamiliarity breeds contempt\u201d is one that’s been around for thousands of years – the ancient Roman prose writer Apuleius is believed to have first used it in his work De Deo Socratis.<\/em> In other words, the more you truly know something or something, the less you come to appreciate or tolerate it. It’s a cynical phrase, to be sure, and while it’s never a fun feeling to experience, contempt is something many of us have dealt with following this familiar team over the years (\u201cJos\u00e9 L\u00f3pez is hitting cleanup AGAIN?! GOD!\u201d oh why is Yovani Gallardo still getting starts in July??\u201d).<\/p>\n As we charge into the second half with the M’s in a playoff spot no matter the result of tonight, I’ve noticed that concept bubbling up again in regards to Marco Gonzales. Yes, he and Mitch Haniger are the sole Mariners that were around in 2017 – just five years ago – and yes, he was a stabilizing force in the rotation at the end of the Can\u00f3\/Cruz era and the start of the rebuild, but his last handful of starts have been… not great. This is a fact. The decision to move Chris Flexen rather than Marco to the bullpen to shorten up the rotation was puzzling to some at the time. Now, though? I’m guessing that may have been the wrong move.<\/p>\n Despite all this, however, Marco’s familiarity remains one of my favorite things about him. Since coming aboard LL as a writer before the 2018 season, I had recapped sixteen Marco Gonzales starts before tonight, easily the most of any Mariners starter. He is often a delight to chart: I appreciate any pitcher that works quickly and whose pitches are easy to differentiate to my eye. For the first three innings, he was just that, needing just under 40 pitches to breeze through the first time through the Rangers’ lineup. Ezequiel Dur\u00e1n did lead off the third with a double, but Marco bounced back by striking out Bubba Thompson before retiring Elier Hern\u00e1ndez and Marcus Semien on a combined four pitches. This felt familiar. Just the one strikeout over three isn’t what you want to see, but this felt nice, like a favorite T-shirt that’s starting to get some holes but you can’t bear to throw it out.<\/p>\n