The Mariners keep winning despite offensive struggles

What if I told you a team hitting .210 is tied for the 2nd most wins in the American League? Well, as you might have guessed already, that is the Seattle Mariners. As a team, the M’s have the 3rd worst batting average and OPS in the MLB. Crazy right?

I still haven’t figured out how Seattle is 16-13 on the season but I will take it. What’s even more baffling is that the Mariners have played some very tough teams up to this point. They have faced the Giants, White Sox, Twins, Orioles, Astros, Dodgers, Red Sox, and the Angels.

The Mariners just haven’t been hitting

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The Mariners offense has just been awful as an entire team. Mitch Haniger, Ty France, and Kyle Seager have been carrying the team up to this point and you wonder where the team would be without them. The Mariners have the 6th worst xBA, 4th worst wOBA, and 3rd worst exit velocity. The team has also struck out 279 times which is the 6th most in the MLB. That brief snapshot should give you a sense of the team’s struggles.

Although the current offensive numbers aren’t promising, if you are an optimistic fan like myself, you should almost consider the current numbers as a positive. If the M’s can be in 2nd place in the AL West as one of the worst hitting teams in the country, imagine what the team could be once players start to heat up.

Why am I optimistic that things will pan out? I think it’s important to remind ourselves that the lineup is extremely young. The team is pretty inexperienced and it just takes time. I know patience isn’t easy because the Mariners have been bad for so long, but I think you just need to give our guys a chance.

Dylan Moore had a .368 wOBA last season and we are still waiting for him to get back to his 2020 level. The same goes for our 2020 AL Rookie of the Year, Kyle Lewis. The Mariners centerfielder had a .349 wOBA in 2020 and he currently owns a .255 wOBA this season. And, it’s not only these two who are struggling right now. We are still waiting for Tom Murphy, and Luis Torrens to heat up as well. And of course, we are hoping that Evan White and Taylor Trammell can figure things out as the season goes on.

With all of that being said, the M’s might be a bit lucky but I feel like our offensive numbers should improve and would better represent the team’s success. The pitching has been a solid part of the team’s success, particularly the bullpen, but we need to score runs. The M’s will now host the Orioles in what should be a good matchup for Seattle after coming off of a series win against the Angels.