There has been no Logan Gilbert and George Kirby on the active roster, leaving the team notably vulnerable on a good chunk of their starts.
There were no big-name additions to the club in the offseason, leaving frustrated fans vexed once again.
The pitching staff that had the second-best earned-run average in baseball last season has been just a morsel above mediocrity, with its ERA now 13th in MLB.
And yet the Mariners (22-14), winners of eight of their past 10, were tied for the most victories in the AL after Wednesday’s 6-5 victory over the Athletics. Go figure that.
This is where the word “despite” becomes one of the favorite words for the Mariners faithful. That particular preposition can work both ways, but it’s a friend in this case. Some of the Mariners’ best features – the pitching staff and center fielder Julio Rodríguez – have not played up to expectations for most of the season. Which makes this 36-game start one of the most auspicious in club history.
Wednesday’s victory encapsulated the best of the old Mariners and new. The old was their ability to win tight games — a defining feature of the club over the past decade or so. The new was an offense being as colossal as it was clutch.
For the 15th time in their past 24 games, the M’s posted at least five runs. They now sit fifth in MLB in runs after finishing 21st last year. They also got a sixth-inning home run from Rowdy Tellez — his fifth of the year — putting Seattle fourth in MLB in dingers (51) this season.
More noteworthy was the Mariners’ comeback from five runs down after four innings to establish a three-game lead in the AL West. True story: If not for the Dodgers and their $331 million payroll, the M’s might be the best team in baseball right now.
“Incredible comeback again from this group,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson told reporters. “It’s almost like a broken record, just how well these guys, you know, keep fighting to come back.”
One night earlier, Seattle trailed the A’s 3-2 in the top of the ninth when Cal Raleigh hit a two-run single en route to the Mariners’ 5-3 win. And of course, there was the April 9 game vs. Houston, when the M’s rallied from five runs down in the final two innings to pull off the 7-6 stunner. The Mariners were 4-8 going into that game. They’ve now won 18 of their past 24.
Even more encouraging is that Rodríguez – about on cue – is emerging from his typical start-of-the season slump. The Dominican went 2 for 5 in Wednesday’s win and 3 for 4 with a home run and two runs scored the night before. He’s still not playing at the All-Star form he showcased in his first two seasons, but it looks like he’s coming back.
Of course, nobody in the M’s lineup is hitting at the level of Raleigh and Jorge Polanco, who are slugging .567 and .707, respectively. They aren’t just playing like All-Stars, they’re playing like people who might be in the MVP voting if this keeps up. And all this is happening as Seattle awaits Gilbert’s and Kirby’s return.
This hitting might not continue this pace, but the pitching almost certainly will improve. It’s early, yes. It’s also exciting.
“Everybody is leaning on each other and trusting each other,” Tellez said. “There’s really no panic right now, and that’s big for us.”
Some might say that the Mariners needing to come back so often and win so many tight games suggests they aren’t as dominant as their record implies. Maybe so. Seattle’s plus-31 run differential pales in comparison with those of other first-place AL teams such as the Tigers (plus-63) and Yankees (plus-60).
But when you consider what they’ve done over the past 24 games, not to mention who they’re waiting on to return, they seem as capable as anyone.
“This is an incredible group. We keep saying it over and over again,” Wilson said. “Everybody’s doing their little part. We talked about little things a lot, and that’s what we’re seeing – little things all over the place from everybody.”
The ebbs and flows of a baseball season are as unpredictable as they are unmerciful. Whether it’s regression or progression, the mean tends to win out in the end.
But you can’t deny what the Mariners are doing right now despite some surprising shortcomings. Hard to say if it’s real. Easy to say it’s real entertaining.