As May comes to a close, here are 3 reasons why the Mariners will make the playoffs... and 3 why they won't

Reason #3 the Mariners will make the playoffs: The Pitching Staff

This is the bread and butter of the team. The pitching staff is loaded, and everyone knows it. Castillo, Kirby, Gilbert, Miller. What a group of 4. They're doing that with Robbie Ray out and Chris Flexen in the pen. Marco occasionally gets shelled, but will also throw some gems.

Look at the start that Bryce Miller had to his career. He was literally doing something that had never been done to start someone's career before, and the stretch of 5 starts with 4 or fewer baserunners and some other caveats had only been done a handful of times by any pitcher in their career since 1901. AND HES MAKING HIS DEBUT!

Kirby just hung 8 scoreless on the Yankees. Gilbert threw 8 scoreless as well, even though it was the Athletics, but he did it on just 78 pitches. Then there is Castillo, who might just be the most talented of all of them when he is on.

That's without even talking about the bullpen. Munoz is out, and Festa just came back. Berroa is the holder of some incredibly nasty stuff in the minors, and could see a call-up this season if the need arises. The Mariners have had to make some moves and go through the year without their most dominant reliever, and are still bordering on a top-5 bullpen. You finally find your way through the Mariners pitchers, only to face Munoz and Sewald to close out a game? Yeah, have fun with that.

The season is long. We know that. I feel good about the Mariners, and even though they need to improve, I definitely think they are capable of doing so.

Go Mariners!