Mariners’ memorable past now gives way to a worrying present

It was a truly wonderful weekend of celebrating 50 years of Mariners baseball, but now it’s back to reality and a fast-fading playoff push.

Glorious. Emotional. Wonderful. Fulfilling. We could go on with the adjectives, but this weekend could not have gone much better with the celebration of 50 seasons of Mariners baseball in Seattle. Unfortunately for anyone connected with the organization, they all have to now come back down to reality – the crushing reality that the team’s playoff push suffered during this same weekend.

It was hoped that the celebrations could somehow spur the current team on, especially with several of the players including the likes of Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby named among the top 50 Mariners in franchise history. Well, the M’s did fight hard versus the Rays, but ultimately got swept by the team with the best record in the American League.

As a result, the Mariners fell to seven games below .500 for the first time this season. They remain in third place in the AL West and 4.0 games off the division summit, while also sitting 3.5 games back of the third wild card spot. No one expected this turn of events for a team which entered the season favored by many, to win their first ever AL Pennant.

No doubt as to the number one reason for the M’s struggles to win consistently

For all the struggles, the inconsistency and injuries the Mariners have gone through this season, the biggest issue has been their offense. This was unfortunately on full display during the weekend, as the M’s only managed a total of four runs during the three-game series versus the Rays. Most concerning of all, the lineup seems to have regressed even more of late.

Ahead of Monday’s action, the Mariners now sit last in the majors with an average of 3.88 runs per game, one season after finishing tied-ninth. No matter where you look it makes for ugly reading, whether it’s being tied-last in team batting average, 28th in OPS, tied-second last in wOBA and so on. It gives us no pleasure to regurgitate this information but, it is what it is.

This is a lineup which is so much better than what it has shown this season – so much better. Aside from Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez, we’re talking about the likes of Josh Naylor, Randy Arozarena, Brendan Donovan and the recently acquired Taylor Ward. That is quite clearly a ridiculously talented lineup, which if it was even performing close to average, would be enough for this team to be in a favorable position.

Yes, there’s been some wonderful success stories such as Cole Young and Dominic Calzone, while Arozarena has been excellent all season. (Not so much on defense, but this isn’t a criticism limited to just him.) However, it doesn’t help when Raleigh has followed up his best ever season with arguably his worst. Rodríguez and Naylor have also both underperformed, while Donovan just hasn’t been able to stay healthy.

Still hope for the Mariners but it really is now or never for their playoff push

The surreal thing is the Mariners still have a shot at a playoff spot with 43 games remaining, thanks to playing in a division which no one seems to want to win. However, it’s not going to be easy as, they embark on a tough nine-game road series which includes the Yankees and Major League-leading Brewers. Arguably most important however, is the three games sandwiched in the middle in Houston versus the Astros.

The Mariners have actually already clinched the head-to-head season series against the Astros, but this won’t mean a thing if they can’t catch them in the standings. At the very least it’s imperative the M’s take two out of three in Houston, if not sweep the series. It’s certainly feasible, although Dan Wilson’s team are 23-34 so far on their travels this season and haven’t won a road series since late-May, when they swept the Athletics.

It’s tough to quantify how the Mariners are in this position, again just because of the genuine talent a their disposal. However, you can’t change what’s happened and now it’s a case of focusing on what you can do moving forward. For all the rumblings within a dispirited fanbase that Wilson should be fired, this is about the players collectively finding that switch, flipping it and accessing their true capabilities.

We’ve written before about defining points in this season, and this is now the latest and most definitive one. It’s time for the Mariners to show the baseball world what they can do, and we’ll find out over these next nine games just how strong their mental fortitude is. As much fun as the celebrations were over the weekend, it’s time for the current team to add their own positive memories to the history of this franchise.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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