M's manager doesn't deserve to take the heat for team's troubles

The losses are mounting. They fan the flames of discontent. Fans are growing frustrated and the drumbeat for change has begun.

More was expected from this Mariners season. More is expected.

The franchise didn't give up a healthy chunk of its future — Adam Jones, Chris Tillman and more — for left-handed ace Erik Bedard, to battle Texas for last place in the American League West.

But as the team returns from its 1-5 road trip that followed a 2-4 homestand, that is exactly where the Mariners find themselves.

They are 0 for May, following the weekend sweep by the Yankees. They aren't hitting. They aren't fielding. And they are squandering some of the best starting pitching in baseball (Carlos Silva's first disappointing start of the season Sunday being a rare exception). It wasn't supposed to be like this. This team was built to contend.

But now, even though it is early, very early, in the season, the Mariners look like a team in trouble.

Aside from Ichiro, who has awakened from his traditional April slumber, they are the hitless wonders. They can't even put a rally together. They can't string two or three hits in a row. They can't put pressure on a defense.

After Adrian Beltre's two-run home run in the first inning Sunday, they didn't advance a runner past second.

The Mariners are six games below .500 — and 6 ½ out of first — and the town is getting angry. And the heat on manager John McLaren is intense.

I believe it is largely undeserved.

The players are letting the manager down, not the opposite. The players, not the manager, aren't doing their jobs.

McLaren is a player's manager. Unlike a lot of his brothers in the business, he always has his players' backs, always defends them in public. And he celebrates their successes with uncommon emotion.

He is a good guy and a good baseball man. And the players owe McLaren much more than they are giving.

If the Mariners continue to stumble through May and start to lose touch with the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A's, McLaren will be the person who pays.

But sometimes, the problem isn't the manager. Sometimes, it's the circumstances. And sometimes, it's the players.

Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for McLaren.

Bedard missed his second start of the season and went on the DL for much of April. And the bullpen, the muscle of last year's team, has been a work in progress.

Automatic closer J.J. Putz was hurt in the second game of the season and hasn't found the command of his fastball since his return. Eric O'Flaherty, who was supposed to be the left-handed setup man that George Sherrill was last season, lost his job.

And Brandon Morrow started the season in Class AA, rediscovering his high 90s stuff. With a healthy, sturdy bullpen, the M's probably would have had at least five more wins.

McLaren also can't be blamed for his shallow bench. Before last week, when Jeff Clement and Wladimir Balentien were recalled from Tacoma, there were few in-game moves he could make.

And, it isn't his fault that, after Jones was traded to Baltimore, the team never came up with a viable plan for right field.

The Mariners are off to an awful start, but sometimes, the players should have their manager's back. They should reward his support. This is a veteran team that shouldn't have to be driven every day by some Billy Martin clone.

Through these first five weeks, the players, not the manager, have underachieved.

The manager and his staff came into this season expecting the revival of Richie Sexson's bat. They expected Kenji Johjima, Jose Vidro and the now-departed Brad Wilkerson to hit.

But this batting order is a mess.

McLaren wants to put the game in motion. He wants to play small ball, but he can't run if he can't get runners on base.

And the Mariners' gloves have disappeared with the base hits. The double-play combination of Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt still hasn't matured. Both still are too casual on too many plays.

Former big leaguer Tony Phillips was invited to come to spring training to light a fire under those infield prodigies. Now it appears they need a refresher course.

It's too early to panic. But the concern is as obvious as the batting order's 0-fers.

And it's past time for this talented team to rally behind its manager.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com