The Mariners just faced one of the best teams in baseball, salvaging one win over the three-game series in Baltimore and largely looking outmatched in the other two. Now, they head to New York to face the best team (record-wise) in the American League for four games.
But, despite the grueling East Coast trip, the Mariners still find themselves in first place. As of Monday morning, they sit 1.5 games up on the second-place Rangers, who are doing the Mariners a big favor and scuffling badly at the moment. The defending champs have dropped seven of their past nine games, including getting 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 J.P. Crawford and Jorge Polanco to solidify the infield and deepen the lineup.
Even with the roster reinforcements, the Yankees will be a massive 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 he might still be one if he were better in the first inning. After giving up two more runs against the Orioles on Sunday, Kirby has a 6.30 ERA in the first inning over 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 you’d expect from their solid but flawed roster. They still haven’t solved their run scoring issues and Julio Rodríguez’s power outage to start the season is starting to become a little concerning.
Julio Rodríguez is slugging .333 with only 14 RBI. You’d like to see a lot more from the offense as a whole, but it’s gotta start with the superstar. He needs to shake his early season woes and get it going with an extended hot streak. In his last seven games, he’s 12 for 28 (.429), so maybe this is it.
The Seattle 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 of a pitching staff 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 rotation gets stiff test with four games at Yankee Stadium.
They haven’t been playing great lately, with that pitching staff — this is the token statement for the Seattle Mariners — with that staff, if they can put up three or four runs a game, you’re going to win the majority of baseball games. I like the team, they’re not playing fantastic, but they are still leading the AL West. — Ben Verlander
