Robbie Ray, Seattle Mariners.
It’s September, and unlike last season when the Seattle Mariners were chasing a playoff spot, they are actually in a playoff spot. At the time of this article, the Mariners were tied with the Rays for the top Wild Card spot, 3.5 games ahead of the Orioles, who were on the outside looking in.
The M’s have played 131 games, meaning that there are only 31 games left in the season. Only 10 series left in the season. Three series against teams that are in playoff position. One series against a team that is near .500. Finally, six series against teams that have and will continue to have losing records.
The four-game series at home against the Guardians was an epic showdown of pitching, defense, and bullpen work, with just enough offense to take three of four. The Seattle Mariners line up very well from a starting pitching standpoint against Cleveland, with Luis Castillo, Robbie Ray, and George Kirby getting the nods, plus the M’s will miss Shane Bieber.
Seattle should expect to take 2 of 3 games, and the Mariners have one of the best road records in the league.
The White Sox have underperformed based on their talent. They will fly to Seattle to start a series against the M’s. Chicago has been flirting with .500 baseball all season, and the significance of Seattle’s momentum coming out of Cleveland can’t be understated. The Mariners should take 2 of 3 from Chicago.
Atlanta has the best record of any team that isn’t a division leader. They have everything the Seattle Mariners have and a little bit more. They have pitching and an elite bullpen but have a much stronger offense than the Mariners.
This will prove to be a really important postseason test. Seattle fans should be happy to walk out of this series, taking at least 1 of the 3 games.
The last team the Seattle Mariners will face with a winning record on the season will be a quick 2 game series against San Diego. The Padres have a lot of stars but not a lot of chemistry.
Talent is important, but team chemistry is also important, and if a team has both, then they have the makings for magic. Splitting this series should keep the Mariners in a strong position to end the postseason drought.
All teams with losing records, all teams that the Seattle Mariners have had some issues with this season. The M’s are 8-7 against the Angels, but some of that was without Trout. It could be an even more competitive series now that LAA’s superstar is healthy.
Against Oakland, the Mariners are 8-5. Aside from this series, Seattle will also play the Athletics at home for the second to last series of the season. Oakland gutted their team once again.
Their talent level is way down, and they could finish with the worst record in baseball. It won’t be a cakewalk; for some reason, they always play the M’s well in August.
The Mariners and Kansas City have only squared off for three games this season. Seattle won all three despite giving up 12 runs and going to extra-innings once. They also faced Kansas City before the Royals called up the rest of their rookie crew, including Nick Pratto.
The Seattle Mariners should win six of these nine games because their pitching is at an entirely different level than these also-ran opponents. Anything less than five wins in these nine games would significantly hurt the Mariner’s postseason aspirations.
Hopefully, the Seattle Mariners have locked up a postseason berth by the time the last ten games of the season start. Depending on where they sit, manager Scott Servais may be able to set up his rotation for the first round of the playoffs as well as rest some regulars.
Seattle has absolutely owned Texas this season to the tune of 12-4. With Seattle’s pitching, this should remain the case when they face off in late September. We already covered Oakland.
Finally, Detroit really struggled at home against the Mariners. They face off for four games in three days series during the first week of October. Seattle owns Detroit in every single offensive and pitching category and should win three of four at a minimum.
Overall it would be disappointing if the Mariners walk away from the homestand .500 or worse in the ten games.
If we take the assumptions made at the end of each section, the Seattle Mariners would end up 17-14 at worse in the final 31 games. That’s the worst-case scenario. At 17-14, the Mariners would finish the season 90-72 for the second straight season. This time 90 wins seem very close to a lock to clinch a playoff spot.
The M’s are 35-17 since July 1 and have a .673 winning percentage. If that percentage holds for the rest of the season, and there’s a really good chance it does, then the Seattle Mariners would go 21-10 and finish 94-68. and That will be more than enough to clinch a playoff spot and be the second-highest win percentage in club history.
Joe Swenson is an award-winning international playwright. His award-winning baseball play, “The Final Out,” will be featured in Greeneville, SC, in late September before transferring to Vet Rep in NYC in mid-November.