3 lessons the Mariners' front office must learn from surprising first month

After the first month of the regular season, the Seattle Mariners find themselves leading the American League West. It's a close race, with fewer than four games separating them from the last place Los Angeles Angels, but the Mariners' 16-12 record is on par with other powerhouse teams.

With another 134 games to play, what are some of the key takeaways the front office can carry forward to push the team into the postseason?

The team still needs a true first baseman

After a rough start, Rowdy Tellez has seemingly turned it around. He has had some defining moments on the way to finally pushing his offensive production past league-average. Thanks to a .985 OPS over the last two weeks, he now has a 103 OPS+ for the season. His Baseball Savant page looks much better than it has in years and he has gone back to crushing fastballs.

That said, there's still time for him to regress to the numbers of the past two seasons, a level of performance that may be his new norm. Before things get bad, it would serve the Mariners well to have a backup plan. If nothing else, they need a platoon option given Tellez's .167 OPS against left-handed pitchers.

With Luke Raley covering for Victor Robles in right field and Donovan Solano going through his own struggles, the team's best bet could be calling up one of their own top prospects. If not, rumors of the Mariners pursuing infielders on the trade market have been circling for the past few weeks.

For the time being, the situation at first base is manageable. But if the front office wants to make a push to be competitive later in the season, they'll have to keep a close eye on things.

The bullpen needs another high-leverage arm

Although they've improved as of late, Seattle's bullpen could still use some help.

The recent injury news about Gregory Santos is softened only by the fact that he struggled immensely while an active member of the roster. Tayler Saucedo has been bouncing back-and-forth between the minor leagues and the big league roster, while Trent Thornton's 7.71 ERA leaves quite a bit to be desired.

There are still plenty of gems, like Andrés Muñoz maintaining a perfect 0.00 ERA over14 innings, Gabe Speier posting a 0.77 ERA over 11.2 innings, and newcomer Carlos Vargas pitching to a respectable 2.70 ERA over 13.1 innings. However, a successful bullpen will need more than three strong options, especially as the competition stiffens.

The recent news about Matt Brash's recovery has been encouraging and he's expected to return to action soon, but more is always better. If the front office does end up making a trade, a solid reliever capable of taking the ball in high-leverage situations would be the most likely target. It likely wouldn't cost the organization too much by way of prospects but could make a big difference down the line.

The rotation is shakier than expected

During the offseason, the starting pitching was solid enough for even the most cynical Mariners fans to be at ease. Unfortunately, it hasn't quite lived up to expectations after a month of outings.

The rotation has combined for a 3.88 ERA, placing them 14th in MLB. Bryce Miller has seemingly taken the biggest step back, although his 2024 had a similar slump in May before he ascended to another level in the second half. Logan Gilbert, despite being as dominant as ever, will be missing time due to a recent injury.

Few anticipated that this would be a point of concern for the Mariners. Last year's durability may have been taken for granted and without a solid sixth option, this could become a major problem the longer that Gilbert is on the injured list.

Starting pitchers almost always come at a premium unless an organization is able to turn lemons into lemonade. And while Seattle has had great success developing their own homegrown talent, they've struggled to improve arms that have already been around the big leagues.

On the other hand, help is already on the way. George Kirby should return from his own IL stint soon and in the meantime, Logan Evans could be the latest in a long line of top-tier pitching prospects that have come up through the organization.

It isn't a perfect solution to Seattle losing their ace, but it's a better band-aid than most teams could muster. Nonetheless, whether it'll be enough to maintain the Mariners' narrow division lead remains to be seen.