Bias towards Mariners continues in latest Power Rankings

The latest power rankings from ESPN came out on Thursday morning on the 26th, and they remained constant. What I mean in saying that is that, once again, they have ranked the Mariners lower than they should be.

The Mariners went 4-2 over the last week, and their slight rise from 16th to 14th is likely due to the destruction that occurred in the first two games of the Houston series, losing 27-4. So, even though they had a winning record, their run differential was -13. Seems to go in line with the Mariners season. Win close games or get blown out.

Mainstream media continues to doubt the Mariners success

There are a few things that pop out to me when looking at the power rankings this time around, the Week 20 edition posted by ESPN. The first one is Oakland. The Athletics are ranked 10th, despite losing both games to the Mariners and four straight in total. They also lost their best pitcher, and are just one game ahead of Seattle.

Then, there is Toronto. They’ve lost eight of their last 12, including two of three to Seattle. They are also two games back of Seattle in the standings. Yet, they’re ranked 12th in the power rankings.

When you look at the power rankings, you get a sense that there are only 14 teams still in the playoff race. The team ranked 15th is the Phillies, and they have a record of 63-63, and are five games back of the streaking Braves.

You could make the argument that the list grows to 16 once you include the Phillies, as well as the Cardinals. I say this because the Cardinals, despite being 64-61 and 3.5 out in the wildcard (even though they’re trailing the Padres and the red-hot Reds), have the same playoff percentage as the Mariners at 4.8%.

That number seems oddly low for the Mariners. They’re 10-3 over their last 13, and you would think that would get them a bit more love from the evaluators. Instead, a disproportionate amount of interest and weight is put on the Mariners run differential. Even though when you look at their 25 largest wins and 25 largest losses, they have a run differential of -61 in those. That means that over the rest of their 77 games, they have a run differential of +5.

Is that pulling numbers to make a point? Sort of. I think that it is justified though. The Mariners win close games (26-14 in one-run games and 12-4 in extras), and when they lose, they lose big. It’s indicative of how they’ve played this year. They fight back when it’s close, scrapping their way to wins, or just sending Ty France to the plate in the 9th.

This doesn’t mean that I think the Mariners are a top-five team. That would be a ridiculous argument to seriously make. However, they should be sitting somewhere around 10, based on how they’ve played lately paired with their pitching this month outside of the Astros series.

You know what though? Keep doubting the Mariners. It always seems to be what the team thrives on. No one thought this team would be in contention with five weeks left, yet here they are. #SeaUsRise.