The Seattle Mariners Are MLB’s Most Exciting Playoff Contender
It’s been a while since Seattle was a baseball city. In fact, the last time the Mariners even played in a playoff game was 21 years ago. Now in 2022, the years of frustration for diehard fans finally seem to be over.
As of Sept. 13, the Mariners are sitting pretty. Seattle is in second place in the AL West with a 79-61 record behind the Astros. This places the Mariners at the top of the heap for the Wild Card slots. It’s safe to say that they will appear in the newly founded Wild Card round as this team is simply different.
What makes them different is they are solid across the board. As a team, they have a collective earned run average of 3.48 which is fourth in the AL. None of their starting pitching staff, led by Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert, and Marco Gonzales, has an ERA below 4.00 which says a lot.
A big factor for the Mariners is their young studs coming up. The craze for Seattle is Julio Rodriguez. He is practically a surefire Rookie of the Year and has the statistics to back it up. The 21-year-old center fielder is batting .277/.340/.494 with 25 home runs and a 141 OPS+.
Other standouts include the third baseman Eugenio Suarez who leads the club with 30 homers and Ty France who has an OPS+ of 127. Other than Julio, there arguably aren’t really any superstars on this Mariners team, but a great group of solid ballplayers — until you talk about their bullpen.
Seattle’s bullpen is something to marvel over, specifically the two pieces in question. The first is Erik Swanson who has a 1.19 ERA, 2.11 FIP, and a 0.860 in 45.1 innings pitched. The man is practically unhittable.
Their closer, Paul Sewald, has been a fantastic surprise for them as well. The right-hander has an exceptional ERA of 2.67 backed by an even more impressive 0.733 WHIP. No wonder this team has been able to win as many games as they have.
The big question concerning Seattle is how they will fare in a playoff series. With the new format, they will play a best-of-three. This will be a true test, but also a saving grace. If they were in the same situation last year, they would’ve had to play a one-game playoff. The new way gives them a chance.
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