The Mariners have been unable to sustain anything resembling a real winning streak. Their longest is two. The fact that they are only four games below .500 is encouraging given that Cal Raleigh’s production has been dreadful (.161 ave., 7 Hrs, 57 strikeouts) is on the Injured List. He wasn’t doing anything before going 0-38 with an oblique strain. It’s worth noting his on-base-plus-slugging percentage last year of .948 was about 200 points higher than his career average. So, his drop-off this year was probably to be expected. As a team, their patient approach at the plate is why they are sixth in walks. That patience has not led to hits, though and that’s the team’s real problem. Their .222 team average is third from the bottom. Randy Arozarena is the team MVP at the quarter pole, leading the team in average (.294). Second baseman, Brendan Donovan is in a platoon situation due to his inability to hit lefties (.174 ave.). Fortunately, he’s hitting .311 against righties and there are more of them. Luke Raley and Julio Rodriguez are averaging .261 and 9.5 home runs. Their consistency is really what has kept the M’s afloat. Dominic Canzone has contribute 4 home runs out of the DH spot. Josh Naylor has added only 5. Rookie, Colt Emerson, started in A ball last year and finished in AAA. He was hitting .255 there this year before we was called up. Hitting below .200: Mitch Garver, Rob Refsnyder, Leo Rivas, J.P. Crawford., and a cast of thousands!

On the mound, they’ve been respectable one-through four. Emerson Hancock (3.07 ERA 1.06 WHIP) is significantly improved over his numbers as a call-up the last two years. George Kirby (3.54 ERA) is right where Seattle expected. Bryan Woo (3.82 ERA) was really good to start the year, but received no offensive help. In his last seven games (4.89 ERA), he hasn’t been good, but he’s 4-1. Sometimes, the numbers don’t make sense. Logan Gilbert (4.04 ERA) hasn’t been bad, but he hasn’t been great, either. Luis Castillo is confusing. His ERA is 6.41 and he has been getting knocked around the yard. But, he’s striking out a batter per inning and isn’t walking a ton. Weird stat of the day: ninth-place hitters are hitting .438 against him and his batting average against is .328 when he’s been ahead in the count. The bullpen has been holding it all together for most of the year. They rank third in MLB (3.08 ERA) according to insidethepen.com. Seattle Andrés Muñoz (4.58 ERA) has blown three saves and is giving up a run every other outing. Six guys have failed to convert eight save opportunities. When your offense isn’t producing, that’s too many.

Forecast: They aren’t terrible. They aren’t good, either. Mariners fans have become used to late-season runs. Does this team have one of those runs in them? If Leo Rivas (.390 career minor league on-base percentage) can get going, he could be the spark. This team won 90 games last year. A bunch of games against Baltimore and Washington should get them going in June. July will be no picnic. August will be even worse. They could easily be 10 games under .500 heading into September. A lot of games against the Angels and Rockies won’t be enough to get them to the playoffs. 74 wins.