Reason #4: Young Pitching everywhere
Man, the pitching staff is a lot of fun to watch when paired with this offense. They had the second best ERA and WHIP in the month of August, walking just 50 batters across 246.1 innings of work.
It's the youth that I want to highlight though. Think about how young the Mariners are, and realize what kind of place they are in. This doesn't even count Luis Castillo, who, despite his recent rough outing, is still one of the favorites to win the Cy Young award in the American League. Nor does it count Robbie Ray, the team's likely #2 pitcher and former CY Young winner, who has missed essentially the entire season with a torn UCL.
Logan Gilbert - 26 years old - 27 starts
George Kirby - 25 years old - 26 starts
Bryce Miller - 25 years old - 20 starts
Bryan Woo - 23 years old - 14 starts
That's incredible.
They've done well in August too.
Logan Gilbert - 2.97 ERA
George Kirby - 2.60 ERA
Bryce Miller - 3.86 ERA
Bryan Woo - 1.69 ERA
You are getting that from your 3, 2, 4, and 5 pitchers. Holy crap. They're all babies, too. That's a 3rd year, 2nd year, Rookie, and Rookie. If you are asking for more than that, you need a good slap of reality.
If not for them, the Mariners would be fighting Toronto, or possibly looking up at them, for the final Wild Card spot. The Offense did a lot, but the Starting Pitching was able to take a lot of the pressure off. It really rounds it out when you get great finishes from unexpected relievers.