The Mariners have played 25-30 ball through two months, and it’s great

It’s the second of June and the Mariners are five games under .500, they’re fourth of five in the AL West, and they’ve played way better than they should have to this point.

I know, that last statement seems pretty non sequitur, but it’s true, and I’ll explain why. The Mariners have spent much of the season using one-fifth of the pre-season rotation. They lost Mitch Haniger, the AL WAR leader at the time, to injury. They’ve seen Segura, Cano, and members of the bullpen hit the DL as well.

Yet this team is clinging to life after 55 games. They should not be only 4.5 games back of a wild card spot after sustaining the aforementioned losses. Yet they are, and things are looking up. As they are starting to get guys back, they’re starting to string together wins and become a formidable opponent.

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They just took 3 of 4 from the team with the second-best winning percentage in the National League. It’s not anything too amazing, but it’s a start. James Paxton balled his life out in his return, showing that this Mariners team is not to be trifled with when healthy.

So let’s take a look back at the ups and downs of the first two months of the season.

April

The best thing to happen during the first month of a season was a six game stretch where the Mariners took five. They swept the Rangers and went 2 of 3 against the Marlins, but sadly, that wasn’t enough to even pry them out of the depths they were left in due to the down of April.

The worst part of April can be found quite easily, in the 2-8 start to 2017. To most fans, it felt like the season was over, and that we should just mail 2017 in right then and there. Pairing the overall record with the demoralization that came with the 10-9 meltdown loss against Los Angeles, things were grade-A awful in Seattle.

Yet they fought back into May, and things started happening.

May

On May 10th, the M’s hit the highest point they’ve been all season. After coming back twice in the same game the night before from four run deficits, they slapped the Phillies around in 11-6 fashion and pulled to .500 on the season. Yet the momentum died, and that brings us to the low of the month.

A four game sweep at the hands of the then-hapless Toronto Blue Jays sent the Mariners spinning into the depths of mediocrity.

Somehow, though, they pulled it together down the stretch of the month, and the M’s are now looking to add to what they’ve done in the last week and start rolling toward the All-Star break.