The 2012 season is all about defining roles and evaluating the young talent that the Mariners are counting on for the future. For the most part, the young talent has been a disappointment.

Casper Wells has been one of the bright spots this season. Since being recalled from the Triple-A Tacoma on June 13, he has been getting consistent playing time and has been the Mariners most productive hitter.  He is batting .301 with three doubles, one triple and five home runs during this stretch.

Consistent playing time is huge for young players. “It’s allowed me to have a consistent approach and not try to do too much at the plate,” Wells said. “I can be a little more relaxed, just knowing you’ll get a chance to play against righties and lefties alike. I think it’s made me dial into a really consistent mindset and approach at the plate.”

The Mariners got back to work after the all-star break this week, facing their AL West opponent, the Texas Rangers. The Rangers lead the American league in scoring, but against the Mariners, they didn’t do too much damage. The Mariners would lose 2 out of 3 games to them, but would actually walk away with more runs, outscoring Texas, 9-7.

The first game was handled by starter Kevin Millwood, who, despite giving up just 3 runs (2 of which came on an Adrian Beltre home run), would again take the loss for the team. In the 6 2/3 innings that Millwood was in the game, the Mariners couldn’t put across a run. He has been winless since beating the Rangers in late May. His ERA is at 3.70.

Mike Zunino begins his journey in professional baseball with the Everett Aquasox on Thursday. Zunino, the third overall selection by the Seattle Mariners in last year’s amateur draft is expected to be fast-tracked through the minor leagues if all goes well.

The former Florida Gator catcher won the 2012 USA Golden Spikes Award, which is bestowed to the nation’s top amateur baseball player. He also won the 2012 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy, 2012 College Player of the Year Award, the Johnny Bench Award, and was a consensus first-team All-American.

“I’m just ready to go,” Zunino said Wednesday prior to Everett’s game against the Tri-City Dust Devils. “It’s nice to finally be here, meet the guys and get everything going.”

This past week before the All-Star break wasn’t a very good one for the Mariners, as they lost 2-out-of-3 to each of the teams they faced.

Taking games deep into extra innings in 2 of the 3 games played against the Oakland Athletics, the Mariners would come up short both times. Tied at 1 a piece in Game 1, in the 11^th inning, a 3-run, Chris Carter home run would end the duel. In Game 3, a 13^th inning game was won by hitting heroics from Athletics stand-out Josh Reddick. The Mariners took Game 2, 7-1, due largely to a stellar, complete-game pitching performance by Jason Vargas. Kyle Seager and Brendan Ryan came through with multiple-RBI doubles in the contest, in addition to a Casper Wells home run.

Generally speaking, though, on his team’s hitting performance Skipper Wedge felt like he’s watching a movie on repeat. “It’s just been Groundhog Day too many times for me,” he says, and adds that in order to get more run production in the second half they are going to be making some changes and doing a lot of player evaluations over the All-Star break. “Ultimately,” he says of his players, “they’re grown men out there and they’re either going to get it done or they won’t be here.”

Felix Hernandez is an All-Star again and will be traveling to the mid-summer classic in Kansas City next week to perform on a national stage. Hernandez is now a three time All-Star and in his eighth season with the Mariners.

King Felix is the obvious choice. He is the face of the organization and is one of the few bona-fide aces in baseball.  Hernandez is the best player on a last place team. The season is half over and if you take a closer look at his performance so far, he has either been really good or he has pitched like the other four in the Mariners’ rotation. Unremarkable. In May, fans were asking: “What’s going on with Felix?” His velocity was down and he was getting hit hard. He has since turned things around and has been pitching like his old self.

Currently Hernandez is 6-5 with a 3.09 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 114 strikeouts. Those numbers are All-Star quality especially for a team that doesn’t score runs. In his last three starts, Hernandez gave up 2 runs in 23 innings.

To start off the week, the Mariners faced the Oakland Athletics at home. Nicaraguan Erasmo Ramirez started off the series striking out 10 in Game 1, but sadly he didn’t get the win. The Athletics hit a home run in the 2nd inning, which was the winning run of the ball game. The next outing, a Mariners starter would again strike out 10 (it’s the first time 2 Mariners have gone back-to-back with 10 strikeouts since 1999). This time, it would be Jason Vargas. But with the game still tied going into the 8th after Vargas came out, the win went to relief pitching. In the bottom of the 8th, with the score tied at 2, Casper Wells led off the inning with a base hit single to left field. He then stole second as Dustin Ackley struck out, and hustled home on Brendan Ryan’s base hit to right field. The final score of the game was 3-2, Brendan Ryan, the hero of the game, said he was just “glad it worked out. I was just happy to see the ball hit some grass.”

Despite outhitting the A’s 4-2 in Game 3, the game went to Oakland, as those two hits were power balls—home runs. The Mariners had one as well, from John Jaso, but it wasn’t enough, and the Mariners lost, 2-1.

Coming into the 2012 season, the Seattle Mariners expectations were to define roles and to continue the development of its young core players like Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager, Jesus Montero, Michael Saunders, and Justin Smoak.

Seager, Montero, and Saunders have exceeded expectations while Ackley and Smoak have been disappointments so far. Ackley is hitting .245 and is far from the panic that Smoak’s performance is flirting with.

Smoak is hitting just .209 with a .271 OBG, 11 home runs and has 32 RBI’s.  He was projected as a cleanup hitter but currently is buried down in the order and now bats 7th.

Four years ago Saturday, in his only at-bat of the season, Felix Hernandez hit a grand slam. When asked what makes him happier, his grand slamor the Heat winning the NBA Championship, he couldn’t say. Felix Hernandez is a Miami Heat fan. Though he loves hitting, and this past Saturday, on the anniversary of his special bag-clearing home run, Felix tagged a 2 RBI double, and became the only Mariner pitcher with 2 extra base hits.

King Felix, helping out on the mound as well, threw 10 strikeouts as the Mariners won their first game against the Padres this season, 5-1. This was the second time in a row that Felix had gone 7 innings, allowing just 1 run. “It felt good,” he said. “I have to be more consistent and get it going for the rest of the season.”

On Monday Roger Clemens was acquitted on all charges that he obstructed and lied to Congress in denying that he used performance-enhancing drugs to extend his career. He was charged with one count of obstructing Congress, two counts of perjury, and three counts of making false statements. If convicted of all six, he faced more than 30 years in federal prison.

On October 14, 2000 Roger Clemens pitched the game of his life against the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 in the ALCS. He struck out 15 and carried a no-hitter in to the bottom of the seventh inning. The only hit was an Al Martin double off first baseman Tino Martinez’s glove. Clemens pitched one of the best post-season games in history at age 38.

Game 4 was a must win for the Mariners. They were down 2-1 in a seven game series and needed to take care of business at home before returning to New York for game 6 and 7. The Mariners still had A-Rod, Buhner, Cameron, & Olerud and were poised to make a run for the World Series. They lost the series in six games.

The 2000 Mariners won 91 games and finished a half game behind the Oakland A’s to win the franchise’s first wild card berth. This was the Mariners’ third time in franchise history to make the playoffs.

The Mariners swept the Chicago White in the 2000 ALDS, while the Yankees and A’s were involved in an epic series that went the distance. The Mariners were going into the ALCS rested with the rotation set.

I was at game 4 at Safeco and witnessed Clemens spin his gem against the M’s. Mariners’ starter Paul Abbott gave up a fifth inning three run homerun to Derek Jeter and it seemed like the game was over then. David Justice followed with a two-run bomb off Jose Mesa in the eight and that was the ball game.

To all critics who think the Mariners don’t have any good fans, or that these fans fill an unwelcoming ballpark, look no further than, “Cheeseburger!” This fastfood taunt was yelled by a Mariners fan sitting behind the camcorder this past Saturday’s game, while Giants 3^rd baseman Pablo Sandoval (otherwise known as Kung Fu Panda in MLB circles), was batting. It’s little secret that the Panda has struggled lately with eating a bit too much bamboo, and Sandoval can only respond with “I’m workin’ on it,” when questioned about his weight. The Mariners went on to win this game, 7-4, which included 2 home runs from outfielder Casper Wells and Jesus Montero.

The Mariners took 2 from the Giants this past weekend, making their record for the week 2-4. Earlier in the week, the Mariners lost 3 to the San Diego Padres (the team with the worst road record in MLB baseball). Before game 2 against the Giants, the Mariners had a 6-game losing streak going at home, their 2^nd longest losing streak of the season. Over this time the Mariners only managed to score 13 runs, and went 15 straight innings of no-run baseball. This sparked talk of Mariners’ bad juju at home, ballpark (outfield) remodels, and all sorts of negativity. But the proceeding wins against one of the National Leagues best ball clubs, along with a couple friendly home runs, nipped those discussions in the bud.

Before game 2 against the Giants, Ron Fairly (former Mariners announcer) summed up the general opinion of what was needed for the Mariners to get some wins, when he said blankly, “Hit better.” So, that is what the Mariners did; they managed to score 7 runs in that game, which included 12 hits, 2 first-inning homeruns, and late inning heroics by struggling shortstop, Brendan Ryan, who had 2 RBIs in the game. In game 2 the Mariners batted 4 for 7 with runners in scoring position. After the game, starting pitcher Kevin Millwood gave Ryan a big bearhug, and Ryan professed in the post-game interview that they were probably “gonna play some loud music in the clubhouse.”

Surprisingly, though, post-game announcers said that no loud music could be heard. What was playing instead was mellow country music, and someone joked that “perhaps Justin Smoak got there first.” That may be the case, as he might’ve needed to relax and focus in preparation for his game 3 heroics in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over the San Francisco club. After a diving play in the 8^th to save a threatening run, Justin Smoak hit the game-ending RBI in the bottom of the 9^th, clinching the series win.