The Seattle Mariners entered the conversation for being part of the playoff race after a hot start to August. After a small stumble, they are back rolling and officially in a wild card spot as of now.
Winning their last 7 games, making their August record to 14-4 as of August 22nd, 2023, 10 am.
This team started off August going 8-1 and winning 8 in a row. Then they lost 3 in a row, which caused me to be cautious of believing in them as a contender. Since that 3 game skid, Seattle has won 7 in a row including a weekend sweep over the Astros.
This 14-4 run in August has the Mariners holding on to the last spot in the AL wild card race and only two games back from the Rangers for the AL West division title.
How good are the 2023 Mariners, how good could they be in October, and why you should or shouldn’t take this team serious moving forward going into the playoffs.
Seattle Mariners in the Playoffs?
At the trade deadline, Seattle was one of those teams nobody knew what they were up too. Nobody called them buyers, nobody called them sellers, at the time not too many people even called them a baseball team. They were an after thought of the 2023 season.
With the Rangers, Astros, and at the time Angels making noise in their division, the Mariners were under the radar to say the least.
Three weeks later on the heels of some great baseball being played by the entire team, especially Julio Rodriguez. Rodriguez joined the record books this past weekend for obtaining 17 hits over 4 games. Yes, 17 hits over a 4 game stretch, wow!
The Toronto Blue Jays are the only team within reach to dethrone the Mariners in the wild card spot that they hold. Blue Jays are one game back from the Mariners, while the Red Sox are the next team at 4 games back.
Can and Will the Mariners Make the Playoffs, and How far can they go?
With about 37 games left in the season, roughly 5 weeks, anything can truly happen. It is hard to predict that the Mariners continue to play this hot and even harder to predict the Blue Jays don’t at least go out swinging if they go out.
If the Mariners can make the AL playoffs via a wild card birth, they will likely be the last team in and have to face a juggernaut at the top first round.
However there is a scenario where the Mariners can steal the division from the two Texas teams that have been fighting for it all season. Again, Mariners are only two games back from the first place Rangers.
If this were to happen, Seattle not only would have home field advantage through the first two rounds, they would also have an extra boost of confidence. Not that this team is lacking confidence, yet, it is just a bigger accomplishment to win the division.
However the Mariners make the playoffs, if they do at all, they will be a scary team to face. Above average pitching both in the starters and the bullpen as well as a lineup that on paper boast some of the best young hitters in the league.
We watch last season as the Mariners broke the 20+ year curse of missing the playoffs. We also watched as Seattle tormented the Astros with three hugely competitive games. Anything can happen on the diamond, the key is to get there and allow the magic to happen.
Rowan Donaghey is a Sports and Betting insider for Stare Down Sports. You can follow him on twitter via @RowanDonaghey
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