The Mariners just faced one of the best teams in baseball, earning a victory in the three-game series in Baltimore and looking vastly outmatched in the other two. Now, they head to New York to take on the best team (records) in the American League over four games.
But despite the grueling trip to the East Coast, the Mariners still find themselves in first place. As of Monday morning, they are 1.5 games behind the second-place Rangers, who are doing the Mariners a big favor and are fighting hard right now. The defending champions have lost seven of their last nine games, including being swept by the lowly Rockies and losing their weekend series against the last-place Angels.
The Mariners should get some help in New York, with the expected returns of JP Crawford and Jorge Polanco to solidify the infield and deepen the lineup.
Even with the roster reinforcements, the Yankees will be a big early challenge for these Mariners, who cracked the Top 10 in most power rankings this week. Will they do enough to remain among baseball’s best?
Here’s a look at where the Mariners stand:
George Kirby was a stealth Cy Young candidate heading into the season, and still could be if he were better in the first inning. After allowing two more runs against the Orioles on Sunday, Kirby has a 6.30 first-inning ERA in his 10 starts in 2024.
The Mariners went 3-3 against two of the other teams in this tier last week, which is pretty much what one would expect from their solid but flawed roster. They still haven’t solved their rushing scoring problems and Julio Rodríguez’s power outage to start the season is starting to be a little worrying.
Julio Rodríguez has a .333 slugging percentage with only 14 RBIs. You’d like to see a lot more of the offense as a whole, but you have to start with the superstar. He needs to overcome his early season struggles and start a long hot streak. In his last seven games, he is 12-for-28 (.429), so maybe this is it.
Seattle’s bullpen recorded one win, three saves and four holds last week, and with that group backing a stacked starting rotation, the Mariners have as good a pitching staff from top to bottom as any team in baseball. The question mark is an offense that is hitting .228 while leading the majors in strikeouts.
Sterling’s rotation is tested with four games at Yankee Stadium.
They haven’t been playing very well lately, with that pitching staff (this is the Seattle Mariners‘ symbolic statement), with that coaching staff, if they can score three or four runs a game, you’ll win most of baseball. games. I like the team, they’re not playing fantastic, but they still lead the American League West. —Ben Verlander
Seattle Times Sports Staff
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