The Mariners certainly aren’t going to make this easy on their fans.
Dropping series to the Rangers and A’s is enough to make anyone queasy, but there’s still plenty of time to keep their claim on an AL wild card and end the postseason drought.
Here’s where national media rank the Mariners this week after a disappointing road trip and what their playoff odds look like.
Sports Illustrated: No. 9
Seattle’s plus-33 run differential through 122 games paints a picture of a much more complete team than last year’s fun-but-flawed version. The Mariners will need to keep that steady hand in tight situations going forward, because the race for the three American League wild-card spots is set up to be a doozy. Seattle, Tampa Bay and Toronto are all tied atop the wild-card standings, with Minnesota and Baltimore 2.5 games out and the White Sox trailing by just 3.5 games. If the Mariners are able to finally snag their long-awaited playoff berth, it will have been hard-earned. … (Julio) Rodríguez is far from a one-man show—Eugenio Suárez, Adam Frazier, Cal Raleigh and Mitch Haniger are all swinging hot bats of late—but he’ll need to rediscover his pre–All-Star break form for Seattle to fend off the competition. As far as the Mariners’ chances in one-run games? Their bullpen ranks seventh in the majors with a 3.67 ERA, and of the six relievers with at least 10 appearances in the past month, five have sub-3.00 ERAs. That’s a recipe for sustained success in close contests, along with a rotation anchored by Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Robbie Ray and Logan Gilbert.
The Athletic: No. 8
The Mariners have lost two of their past three series and it’s not guaranteed that they’ll snap their baffling 20-year streak of missing the postseason. For an idea of how historic the Mariners’ current drought is, even the Sacramento Kings (who almost moved to Seattle) have reached the playoffs more recently. But improved health has them primed to make a run for a wild-card spot. It also helps that Robbie Ray has avoided “the one bad inning” woes that made the early part of his Mariners career so frustrating. Closer Paul Sewald hasn’t allowed a hit in August, which also seems good. It’d be tough to blame Mariners fans for wondering if they’ll squander their latest opportunity, though.
The Ringer: No. 10
The Seattle Mariners last clinched a playoff spot on September 3, 2001. That’s the longest drought in the North American big four sports leagues—so long ago that America wasn’t sick of Nickelback yet. Between the Luis Castillo trade and the Julio Rodríguez breakout and the 14-game win streak, this does feel like the year Seattle finally gets back to the playoffs. Though after a wait this long, the Mariners and their fans would settle for a playoff appearance even if this didn’t look like a team of destiny.
CBS Sports: No. 9
Losing a series to the A’s? They just can’t make things easy on their fans, can they?
Yahoo Sports: No. 8
They lost the final two games of their three-game weekend series in Oakland, but the Mariners won four straight before that and are en route to their third consecutive winning month. Robbie Ray will get the ball in Tuesday’s series opener versus the visiting Nationals, looking to build on his second-half strikeout surge. He’s fanned 61 batters in 44 1/3 innings since the beginning of July. George Kirby will follow him on Wednesday, holding a 2.63 ERA and 44/6 K/BB ratio over his last 37 2/3 frames.
MLB.com: No. 8
USA TODAY: No. 8
Playoff odds
88.8% — FanGraphs, up from 86.4% last week with a 3.5% chance of winning the World Series.
86% — FiveThirtyEight, up from 82% last week with a 2% chance of winning the World Series.