5 Mariners players who could get the team to the playoffs

3 Bats that can carry the offense

This is the most obvious answer on this list. Julio Rodriguez, despite his struggles this year, is one of the best players in the game and has the potential to carry this offense all by himself (like he showed in August of last year). In what has been a bad year on the surface, Julio has had an absolutely dominant September. In 15 games, he is slashing .328/.356/.522 with three home runs and eight RBI. He has come through with some big hits in the last week and he will need to continue that over the final week or so if Seattle has any chance of making the playoffs... but not like Wednesday night.

One of the best moves of the offseason was when Seattle traded utility infielder, Jose Caballero, for Luke Raley. While the offense continues to struggle, Raley has, surprisingly, been a relatively consistent producer in the middle, while also providing the Mariners with some athleticism and positional flexibility.

Raley's numbers on the year are impressive (.244/.322/.469 with 21 home runs and 11 stolen bases, a 129 wRC+), but what is perhaps even more impressive are his numbers since August 1. During that span, Raley's 198 wRC+ would rank second in all of baseball (tied with Yordan Alvarez and only behind Aaron Judge), while his .290/.402/.660 is a stat line of an MVP type player. His 10 home runs don't seem like much but are three more than any other Mariners player during that time. Raley isn't the big-name player like Julio (or the guy we will talk about next), but if him playing the Robin to Julio's Batman could be just what the Mariners need to make a run at the division, or wild card spot.

One of the best playoff runs happened when baseball fans got to see "playoff Randy" go wild. During the 2020 postseason, Arozarena slashed .337/.442/.831 with 10 home runs in just 20 games. This just illustrates the type of streak that someone like Randy Arozarena can go on, and how much it can carry a team.

While Mariners fans shouldn't expect that same time of insane production in a short amount of time, the offense may need something like it. With just a handful of games left, the offense needs to get hot; it is now or never if they want to be playing baseball next month.

The Mariners thought they were getting the typical Arozarena after he slashed .284/.379/.545 in July, but since coming to Seatle, he hasn't been able to sustain that same level of production. In 44 games with the Pacific Northwest, Arozarena is slashing .239/.356/.399 with just five home runs. These numbers are solid, but if Seattle really wants to go on a run and make a push for the division or the wild card, he may need to channel his inner "playoff Randy" for Mariners fans.