Remember back at the end of June when the Mariners were 38-42, and we all sort of went 'well so much for that'?
For the second season in a row, the Seattle Mariners have used a huge August to catapult themselves back into the conversation and absolutely annihilate the competition. And yes, typically I am not a fan of a team coming from the depths of the division to take first, because it does tamper with the narrative that's been going the whole year, in this case the Rangers and their multi-run games. But...the Rangers ran out of steam. They stopped the 10+ run stuff after early June. They were in danger of the Astros lapping them. And while they got hot a few weeks ago, they couldn't hang onto that, got swept by the Brewers, and are dropping like a stone. Even if the divisional narrative has belonged to them, they've done nothing to conserve that.
At the same time, the Mariners solved a ton of their internal issues, somehow won the Paul Sewald trade by getting Josh Rojas to hit, got solid production out of Suarez and Hernandez finally, and, AND...gave Julio enough space to let him get back to his 2022 tricks without pressure. That insane stretch he had last week, where he was outhitting everybody and carrying the whole team on his back? That was 2022 Julio again. And now that the kid's got 82 RBIs, 35 steals, 22 homers and a 4.8 WAR, the center of this team has been restored.
Now so many of the pieces that made the 2022 team a force have been added back. Cal Raleigh certainly wasn't awful earlier this year, but he did take a little while to get back to what he was doing. He currently leads the team in home runs with 25; kinda odd that he's the home run king on a team with Geno Suarez and Teoscar Hernandez, but happy he's stayed as good of a power hitter. I was worried he was just a one-dimensional replacement guy last year, but Raleigh might be the Mariners' safest, most consistent catching option since Dan Wilson. And remember, this is a team who's always struggled with catchers; sometimes they're good defensively and can't hit [Kenji Johjima], sometimes they're good hitters that can't catch [Jesus Montero], sometimes they can't do a single damned thing [Mike Zunino]. Cal Raleigh is decent defensively, excellent offensively and can hit for power. That is range.
It is nice to have these defensive pieces, like Jose Caballero and Cade Marlowe, coming in and aiding the team as it continues to power-hit the shit out of everybody. And it does say something, considering how noticeably strong power teams the Rangers and Astros are, that the Mariners have caught fire and made it to the top at all. You've got league-wide home run contenders on those teams, Garcia and Tucker, and the Ms don't have anybody with over 25; all you have are just a widespread array of power hitters that can all come through for you, and that does not go unnoticed.
The Mariners' stay at 1st base may not be permanent, considering that the Astros won a game with 17 runs today, and logic dictates they're probably gonna try and make their way towards first again. But I do think this M's team has a lot going for them, and they've turned this team into a very fitting and satisfying sequel to the team that broke the playoff streak. Plus, with series' against the A's and Mets coming up, the baseball gods want the Mariners to keep this going for as long as they can, and I hope they do.
Coming Tonight- The Blue Jays had no room for him to play. The Diamondbacks, on the other hand, needed catching help.
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