3 things we learned about the Mariners from the month of May

The health of the bullpen will determine if they make a deadline move

This is the one that I honestly think that the season hinges on. Things looked so good to start the season, with a three-headed monster of Brash-Santos-Munoz. We haven't even seen Santos yet, but it sounds like he is getting ready to make his debut at some point in late June or early July, as the team is being very cautious with his recovery.

Brash is out for the year with Tommy John, so it left Munoz to the heavy lifting. He's on pace for a career high in innings, and the team needs to make sure to not overwork Munoz, both for the short term and the long term. The rest of the team has stepped up though, and they are sitting with the 7th best ERA for relievers in baseball.

Think about that for a minute. That's with Saucedo missing a decent amount of time, and rotating through a handful of waiver pickups, castoffs, and AAA guys. If they can start getting healthy, with Saucedo staying healthy (was a freak injury and he's back already), it's going to be a big plus for the team.

It's more than that though. It's those pickups. Being able to ride the hot arm long enough. We've already seen 13 pitchers filter through the Mariners bullpen, and that's not counting the two innings that Josh Rojas has thrown for them. If they stay healthy going forward, they'll probably ride with what they have.

If anyone goes down, a two-piece move for a hitter and a pitcher could definitely be a move that Dipoto and Hollander would make. The bullpen has done great and has been overperforming. Health and riding the hot hand could work, but a nice piece would go a long way to giving them more high-end options to fight for the AL West title.