Maybe someone with more baseball acumen can answer this for me:
Why is the hitting SO VERY sporadic? Obviously there is hitting talent in the lineup, so are they being used wrong? Or coached wrong? Something else?
It's a combination of things.
1. Some of the good hitting talent is about 29 to 32 to 34, etc, which is when superstar bats begin to struggle some, a little. M's have a history of getting superstar bats that 29 to 34, that had a big year, get paid by Seattle, and then either not motivated because already got paid, an or 29 to 34 year old related age struggles.
2. Some of the good hitting talent is rookie prospects. Rookie prospects usually either are like how Julio Rodriguez that have a hot bat for 1 season for Seattle, and then either stay 1,2 seasons, go cold, an or stay hot, then either get traded, or free agent go somewhere else, where usually go red hot somewhere else, or go cold somewhere else.
3. Related to 2 above, sometimes it's like Kelenic, that A. Struggle because overused, too much pressure put on them, coached, used incorrectly, etc, and then go red hot elsewhere.
4. Related to other points above. Usually the way current M's scouts, GM's, President, VP, Coaches, etc, use talented hitters, is they try to get them all to swing for homeruns, when it's a player that like a Ichiro that usually doesn't hit homeruns, and because they are pressured, coached, used, etc, to try to get them to hit homeruns, etc, then they strikeout all the time, don't lay down, get bunts down, don't get infield or regular single base hits, don't steal bases, don't succeed in moving runners over, don't even get to first base, etc.
That's why the average batting average for M's hitters, line up, is the lowest in all of baseball, this season, and why their the lowest get on first base percentage in all of baseball, and why their moving runners over, scoring with runners in scoring position, etc, is lowest in all of baseball.
If M's players would play right, execute, be coached right, used right, not pressured, better motivated, not so polar opposites, both old and very young, lay down bunts, hit singles, don't constantly swing for power, Homer's, move runners over, steal bases, etc, in other words play small ball baseball, and get players better suited for small ball baseball, and use the players they do have right, coach them right, etc, then the hitters, offense, etc, would either be a lot better, or would seem a lot better.
But that's too much to ask.
It really starts at the top, with the owner, president, VP, Team manager(HC), scouts, coaches, etc. Get the right people in M's Leadership, etc, and the hitting, offense, defense, pitching, etc, would be a lot better.