3 Takeaways from the Mariners' April atop the AL West

Takeaway #1- The starting rotation could be the best in the American League

8-1 with a 1.22 ERA in their last 12 starts as part of a historic run. They also have an insane 10.46 K/9 in that range, which is a difficult number for an individual to attain but almost impossible for five guys to accomplish together. Seattle's rotation had a slow start, with guys like Luis Castillo and George Kirby struggling in their first few starts, but they've been dominating since.

Opposing batters are hitting .163 against Luis's slider this year, and they're striking out at a 43.2% clip against the pitch. Last year, his four-seam was dominant and his sinker also performed well, but his four-seam is down almost a mile per hour this year to 95.3 MPH. Kirby's ground ball rate is down to 33% from 44.2%, which could play a role in the rise of his BABIP. His historically good command has persisted, however, with a 3% BB rate in April.

Bryce Miller and Logan Gilbert both have ERA's under 2.10, and all signs point to this unit being the strongest piece of this Mariners club. Bryce's new addition to his repertoire, his splitter, has performed with a .156 BA in April. Gilbert’s K rate is up to 29.3%, which is encouraging despite the 10.3% barrel rate. Both of these guys have actually gotten hit hard this year at points but pitched well overall. This unit has put together quality start after quality start, even Emerson Hancock has had his moments. This rotation has masked the weaknesses of the offense, which hit .217 in April and ranked in the bottom third of the MLB in wRC+.

Takeaway #2- The Mariners are still striking out way too much

In fact, they rank dead last in the MLB with a 28.7% K rate. Jerry Dipoto made it a priority this past winter to cut down on K's by unloading Kelenic and Teoscar as I mentioned a few weeks ago, but things haven't gotten better. Five everyday players are striking out at a clip north of 30%, and that doesn't even include Luke Raley (30.4%).

Julio and Cal are two of the worst culprits, with Cal striking out at an unacceptable 35% line. Julio has a K rate over 32% and only one home run to show for it. Mitch Haniger started off hot, but he hasn't produced much of anything in the last few weeks and has made a few defensive blunders in the outfield already as well. Dylan Moore has struggled to hit above the Mendoza, while guys with smaller sample sizes like Urias and Jonatan Clase have also struck out their fair share.

Mitch Garver and Jorge Polanco are both hitting under .180 and at least part of the problem is the swing and miss component of their profile. Garver has a .143 BA with only a .160 xBA, which is 1st percentile. The 31.6% K rate doesn't help, but a low 24.66% chase rate is encouraging., as was the walk-off dinger a few new nights ago.

Jorge is also missing pitches in the zone, but he's generating little hard contact when he does indeed make contact. His 85.9MPH exit velocity is only 13th percentile, and his bat is the way he'll be valuable as he's never been known as a good defender. The Mariners have to turn this around, or it'll be a long year watching this offense.