ESPN’s Kurkjian: Mariners “as good as any team in the division”

Count ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian as one of the believers in the Seattle Mariners in 2015.

Kurkjian talked to 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk” live from the Mariners’ spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz., on Friday, and he had a myriad of reasons why the Mariners are in good shape to snap their 13-year playoff drought. Here’s a breakdown of what Kurkjian sees out of Lloyd McClendon’s club.

Improvement to the already strong pitching staff. The starting rotation isn’t just Felix Hernandez and whoever is healthy this season – No. 2 starter Hisashi Iwakuma is ready to go after missing the first month with an injury last year, as are James Paxton and Taijuan Walker, two young players with high ceilings who now have more than just a taste of the Major Leagues to their credit.

“With Iwakuma starting the season fresh and healthy, that’s a big bonus. With James Paxton being ready in theory right away, that’s a big bonus,” Kurkjian said. “When Taijuan Walker is bidding to be the fifth starter on a team, meaning in theory you got four guys ahead of him, that’s pretty darn impressive. As John Baker, backup catcher, told me today, ‘He throws 100 miles per hour and he looks like the biggest kid you’ve seen in little league who just comes out and throws harder than everyone else.’ That’s what he looks like here.”

The pitching strength isn’t limited to the rotation, of course. The bullpen was the best in baseball last year, and it’s been left largely intact. And judging by a story new Seattle slugger Nelson Cruz relayed to Kurkjian about a conversation regarding the Mariners he had with Angels star Albert Pujols last year, opposing hitters are well aware of what Seattle’s relievers are capable of.

“Albert said, ‘Well you better get to their starters because you’re not gonna get a hit off any of their bullpen guys, they all throw 100 miles per hour.’ So when you hear stuff like that you pay a little bit more attention to the Mariners, and when you lead the league in ERA and bring back in theory an even better pitching staff, that’s pretty darn good.”

The Cruz effect. After leading the MLB in home runs as an Oriole last year, the Mariners brought in Cruz to be the right-handed power bat they’ve been missing for the better part of a decade and provide protection to superstar second baseman Robinson Cano in the lineup. Whether that will come to fruition is yet to be seen, but at least on paper Seattle’s offense looks much more formidable with Cruz’s addition.

“There’s a big difference between playing 81 home games in (Baltimore’s) Camden Yards and 81 home games in Seattle … but this guy is so big and so strong and such a threat, I think he changes the look of this lineup,” Kurkjian said. “Cano had 20 intentional walks last year; in theory he’s gonna see a lot more pitches to hit if he’s got Cruz standing right behind him.”

A declining field in the AL West. Either the Los Angeles Angels or Oakland Athletics have been the division champs in 11 of the last 13 seasons. Both teams appear to be headed downward, however – the Angels are aging quickly while offseason trades have drastically altered the Athletics’ roster from a year ago. Combine that with the Mariners’ upswing and it very well looks like Seattle will take control of the West in 2015.

“I just saw the Angels yesterday, and I’m not saying the Mariners are great, I’m just saying with the step backward that I believe the Angels have taken and with Oakland having traded half of their team seemingly, that’s why I put the Mariners right in the middle of this,” Kurkjian said. “I’m even more impressed with what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard than I was when I got here (to Mariners spring training). I think they’re as good as any team in the division, and it should be another great race.”