3 Biggest Takeaways for Seattle Mariners Following MLB Opening Week

The Seattle Mariners completed an up-and-down first week of the 2015 season with a 8-7 win against the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

Following an impressive win on Opening Day over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Mariners dropped three straight while scoring a total of three runs. It was far too early to draw any conclusions whatsoever about the team as a whole, but the lack of offense may have caused some flashbacks to the Seattle teams of the past decade.

There were a few concerning signs, as newly acquired right-handed bats Nelson Cruz and Rickie Weeks looked a little lost at the plate through the first four games. Taijuan Walker was also unable to carry over his brilliant spring, constantly elevating his pitches in a 12-0 rout against Oakland on Friday.

Still, the Mariners were able to bounce back with what felt like an important 11-inning victory on Saturday led by Cruz's first home run as a Mariner and a game-winning double from Brad Miller. Seattle then overcame a lackluster start by Felix Hernandez and a Fernando Rodney meltdown to beat the A's again on Sunday aided by another Cruz dinger in the 10th inning.

There isn't much that can be discerned from individual statistics so early in the season. Still, a few things can be taken away from the Mariners' first week.

Chris Taylor needs to get healthy as soon as possible

Even without suffering a broken wrist midway through spring training, Taylor may not have won the starting shortstop job over Miller, who is playing well early in the season. But it's becoming increasingly clear that Taylor deserves a spot on the 25-man roster even as a backup.

Willie Bloomquist got the start on Friday in his first regular-season action since undergoing microfracture knee surgery last summer. As you might expect from a 37-year-old coming off a major knee procedure, Bloomquist's range at the position was severely limited.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

While that's a really small sample size, Taylor clearly has more upside at the plate and in the field at this point in his career. The Mariners like Bloomquist's versatility, but Weeks was brought on to play multiple positions and can at least hit for power.

Taylor would give the Mariners some nice flexibility, as he would bring some speed to the bench and could shield Miller from tough lefties. Seattle could use that out of the 25th man on the roster, so hopefully Taylor will be ready to go sooner rather than later.

Giving Carson Smith the last bullpen spot was the right move

It appeared Smith's role this season would be to wait in Tacoma until a member of Seattle's bullpen got hurt or was ineffective. Instead, the club made the slightly surprising decision to put Smith on the roster while demoting Dominic Leone.

That had nothing to do with Leone's performance, as he posted a 2.17 ERA (3.07 FIP) with a strikeout rate of 25.7 percent during his rookie season. The club likely saw something with Leone's mechanics during the spring, and Smith's dominant potential made the move the logical choice.

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press/Associated Press

Smith immediately made the move pay off, striking out Mike Trout on four pitches in a high-leverage situation on Opening Day. He did run into trouble Saturday against Oakland and allowed an inherited runner to score, but Smith's stats to begin his career are very impressive: 12 innings pitched, just three hits and five walks allowed and 17 strikeouts.

Manager Lloyd McClendon talked about putting the young pitcher in such a big situation just days after it looked like he wouldn't make the team, per Jayson Jenks of The Seattle Times: "He has an angle that most right-handed power hitters just don’t see.I don’t think he fears the hitters that are in there. Maybe he doesn’t know who was hitting. I don’t know.”

The 25-year-old already looks like he's ready for a setup role and is certainly the organization’s closer of the future.

The offense looks more explosive this year

Before things started to turn around in Oakland, the lack of offense through the first four games had to be a little disheartening for Seattle fans, even in a way-too-small sample size. In both victories to close out the week, the Mariners showed they can pile up runs in a hurry.

Sunday's game was a perfect example of how this team might be different. The Mariners trailed 3-0 entering the sixth inning and were being completely shut down by Jesse Hahn, which would have felt like an insurmountable deficit even for last year's successful team.

This time around, the Mariners were able to put up four runs in the frame, with every hitter from seventh to fifth in the lineup contributing something. They added three more the next inning on a Weeks pinch-hit homer.

Gone are the black holes that have plagued Mariners' lineups for years. Rather than needing Robinson Cano or Kyle Seager to do everything, Seattle appears like it will be able to generate at least some production from every spot in the order.

All stats courtesy FanGraphs.com unless otherwise noted.