Five Stats that Stand Out from the Mariners Best Month in Team History

Normally, I would've put something out about this right at the turn of the month. I was out of town, so I wasn't able to get back to a computer until Tuesday. With how great the month was for the Mariners, I think it is still worth taking a look at some of the more impressive stats from the winningest month in team history.

That's right. The winningest. For the first time in team history, the Mariners won 21 games in a single month, besting the mark of 20 that had been tied over and over throughout their history. They went an incredible 21-6 over the month, going from four games over .500 to 19 games over .500. It's even more astonishing when you realize they lost the first game of the month, and also had a three-game losing streak at one point.

It was enough to put the Mariners up to the top of the AL West, a place they had not been this late in the season since 2001. Which is just an insane thought. I'm pretty sure there are some people on this site that weren't even around then. The fact that they have become adults without ever seeing the Mariners in first place when it matters blows my mind.

Anyway, I wanted to get to some of the stats that stood out the most from the month of August, and were huge contributors to getting the Mariners not just back into contention for the playoffs, but for a first round bye if they can manage to hold on to and win the division. We start off with the biggest one, the star of the team, and the player making waves nationwide as the next face of baseball... which he has been doing since the All Star Game and Home Run Derby during his Rookie Season

Reason #1: Julio Rodriguez

This is the obvious one to start with. If not for the dominance of Julio, I don't know where this team would be. Also, holy crap Mookie Betts. Anyway, Julio was a monster in August, hitting an incredible .429/.474/.724 with 10 2B, 7 HR, and 11 SB. He jumped his average from .251 to .286, setting a handful of MLB records while doing it.

It's not just the month that was impressive, but the second half that I really want to focus on. Starting on August 13th, Julio was hitting .256/.319/.433. Over the remaining 13 games of the month that he played in (missing a couple with the sore foot), Julio would hit an astounding .516/.552/.855 with 6 2B, 5 HR, and 8 SB.

That's something that should be done in a video game, not during the dog days of summer with palyoff implications on the line. Julio would finish with a WAR of 2.4 just in August, and as of September 5th now has a WAR of 5.1 on the season. Nearly half his WAR came in that month alone.

Julio hasn't been the only hot hitter, though.

Reason #2: The Middle Infield with JP Crawford and Josh Rojas

JP Crawford debuted back in 2017 at the age of 22, and he had lofty expectations. He was a top 5 prospect in all of baseball at one point, and was supposed to be the next big thing at shortstop. It took him a while, but JP is having one of the best seasons at shortstop in baseball this year. He sits 21st in all of baseball right now in bWAR, and is the 5th-ranked shortstop as of September 5th.

This isn't due to a lack of talent at the position, either. Through 120 games, Crawford is hitting an impressive .270/.388/.432. Those are easily career highs in OBP and SLG, and just a few points behind his BA career high. He has the 6th most walks in baseball, and is doing a great job at setting the table for the Mariners. He's also dangerous with the bat, going deep 14 times already, easily surpassing his previous career high of 9 from 2021.

With an OPS+ of 130, it makes sense to look to JP as a reason for success. His infield mate has been a big help as well since coming over from Arizona, and needs to be highlighted at the same time. Josh Rojas is hitting .267/.313/.413 while mixing in a handful of steals and homers. Although it's nothing insane, the fact that we are getting good production at second is a massive help, compared to what Kolton Wong was doing there to start the season.

Reason #3: Teoscar Hernandez

Just when we are ready to give up on Teoscar Hernandez, he remembers that he is really good at hitting baseballs. It doesn't seem that long ago (let's be honest, it wasn't) that Mariners fans were fed up with Teo, and the rumors were flying that the team was going to offload him somewhere else, just like they did with Sewald. They had gotten an outfielder in the Sewald trade, and it seemed like Teo was gone.

Instead, he has turned into one of the better hitters in baseball in the month of August. For the month, he would slash .365/.396/.654. However, it's somewhat similar to Julio, in that his second half of the month was outstanding. Over the last 15 games, Teo would go .422/.449/.797 with 6 2B, 6 HR, and 22 RBI. This was highlighted by the 5-hit game on August 15th and the 6-RBI game on August 26th.

Teo, paired with Julio, made for a dangerous punch in the lineup. With Rojas and Crawford setting the table around the turn, it made for the potential for a lot of runs from the Mariners. They hit .285/.371/.493 as a team, scoring the 5th most runs, hitting the 4th most doubles and 4th most homers, walking the 4th most, and stealing the 3rd most bases. When you have offense like that, it's a lot of fun.

Especially when you have good pitching.

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.