Rolling into the 20-game mark, the Seattle Mariners find themselves in that middling spot in the standings—not terrible, not great, just okay. Every year at the start of the season, I remind myself to chill. Yes, it’s a long season, but there are early indicators that can reveal truths down the line. Is this a hit-the-panic-button article? Absolutely not… It’s more of a let’s-take-a-look-under-the-hood after the first 1000 kilometres—that’s 621 miles for our American friends—and heck, let’s have some fun and add in an F – A+ grading system at the end.

Let’s talk about the obvious, and here’s my alarmist moment: Julio is having a slow start hitting just .265 with a . 307 OBP, 608 OPS and not a single home run. Can he turn it around? Yes, he did it last year, and it already seems like he’s turning it up over the last week’s 4-game winning streak, so I’m going to chill my nuts on that. But one troubling thing is the overall stat line of the offence—it’s bad. Ranking 24th to 26th in almost every offensive category. Was this expected? Absolutely. Should we panic? Maybe, but we all know this team is simply not built to blow the doors down in a not-so-homer-friendly ballpark.

The ugly truth is the team is averaging just 3.7 runs per game. Ugh. Yes, it’s only 20 games in, but looking at the offensive projection, this may not improve that much over the year. Again, I’m doing my best to temper the often early bipolar outlook on baseball’s ups and downs.

Now, the positives. Yes, there are some. The pitching, as we all expected, is doing pretty great with a lovely 3.9 runs allowed and a very respectable 1.15 WHIP which ranks #1 in the league. Now, what’s a bit scary is they’re giving up jacks, ranking in the bottom ten in the league, ranked 21st with 24 allowed over 20 games. Luis Castillo is 1-4 with a 4.40 ERA, but Noelvi Marte got busted for steroids, so an eye for an eye, right? Jokes aside, this team is very quickly becoming one that opposing batters hate to play against. Ranking #1 in the league in WHIP with a very respectable 9.30 K9, they are quickly showing some dangerous swing-and-miss stuff, which has been on display in the last 4 games, allowing only 5 runs during this hot streak against the Reds and Rockies.

The bullpen is the silver lining. God, do I love Andreas Munoz, with a sprinkle of Stanek and a smidge of Saucedo. They definitely have the sauce to keep us in games in late innings. But the challenge is not holding leads; it’s GETTING A LEAD. The pen, as expected, is top-tier, and I definitely feel as if they will continue to maintain dominance regardless of the possibility they will be overworked early. They will likely maintain a strong presence going into the next 60 games.

Overall, I think it’s early, but we can conclude a few things. Mitch Haniger is a god, Julio likes warm weather, and Luis and Kirby are starting to make me nervous. The team is performing just alright but after a sneaky 4-game winning streak, we are starting to see some of the true colors shining through. Julio will be an All-Star and will definitely pick it up; he’s too good not to. Optimism strikes again. Let’s check back in after 60 games, and hopefully, I get my first piece of hate mail calling me an idiot. But I don’t think it’s looking too good down the line for the offence but if the pitching can elevate we may be in for a decent run.

Now, let’s get into the grades. The offence rates a C- averaging just 3.7 runs per game, this isn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard. And the pitching staff? They’re sitting pretty with a nice B+, allowing just 3.9 runs on average with a solid 1.15 WHIP. If we can see a rise in the starting five with George Kirby and Luis Castillo stepping up, we are looking at a dangerous overall pitching staff and a team that could 100% compete for a wild card spot which will be a battle. Sitting as a 500 ball club 20 games in again is not bad, not great, but just okay. I’m giving them an overal, and generous, grade of B-. Check back in for our next team update in a few weeks