Mariners Struggle as Postseason Dreams Fade

The Seattle Mariners find themselves in a difficult spot as their postseason dream drifts towards impossibility. Despite having the best earned run average in the MLB, their inability to produce runs has left them with a 64-63 win record, and a 5-game deficit to the AL West leaders. A season that promised so much more has ultimately resulted in the Mariners considering what might have been while preparing for their season to end prematurely. As the postseason quickly begins to recede in the Mariners’ rearview mirror, management must now look to the offseason in hopes of revitalizing their team to become more competitive.

The Mariners enjoyed a healthy lead at the end of the first half of the MLB season, leading the AL West by a massive 10 games. A stark contrast to date has seen the lead squandered to a 5-game deficit following a run that has seen the team lose seven matches of their last eight. This is primarily due to their incapacity to produce runs, with the team 0.5 runs worse in both metrics than the league average. Jerry Dipoto, president of baseball operations for the Seattle Mariners, expressed frustration at his and the team’s performance while discussing the most likely approach to fixing the situation, simplifying the hitting process, or changing management. Dipoto’s candid criticism and reflections point towards the conclusion that management is deeply concerned about the direction in which the Mariners are headed and the effectiveness of their current strategy.

The ballpark that the Mariners call home, T-Mobile Park, is considered to be a pitcher-friendly ground that suppresses runs. The ground has indeed detained runs this season, but at a great cost, the Mariners being substantially one of the worst at producing runs in the league. It lies in the bottom 20s in OPS-plus, and are in the bottom third of the teams in the league in terms of total runs produced in their games. Their team slug at .371, pipping only the chicago white sox. Their team had a high strike-out rate from their players, which was only exacerbated by the departure of their two highest-strikeout players, Eugenio Suárez and Teoscar Hernández.

As the Seattle Mariners begin their journey towards the offseason, speculations and conjecture are rife that there may be moves in the making to help improve their roster. On that subject, MLB writer for MLB.com, Mark Feinsand, suggested that the Mariners could make a substantial move for Alex Bregman, third baseman for the Houston Astros. The team would benefit if these events come to pass as it would add an additional run-provider and batter, as the team gets ready to play the rest of the season for pride. It remains to be seen what will transpire this offseason and what moves will be made to change the course of results and direction of the Mariners team.