After an up-and-down season that saw them storm into the playoffs with a September surge, the Seattle Mariners are ready for their second postseason appearance in the last 25 years.
The first team standing in their way is the Detroit Tigers, who advanced out of the Wild Card round by defeating the Cleveland Guardians.
The Tigers and the Mariners had completely different ends to their respective seasons. The Tigers coughed up a 15.5-game lead on the Guardians in the American League Central, finished the season on a 2-8 slide, and only made it into the playoffs with a win over the Boston Red Sox on the second-to-last day of the regular season.
However, they regained some of their mojo in knocking off the Guardians in three games, all of them in Cleveland, behind a standout performance from ace pitcher Tarik Skubal in game 1, and some clutch hits from their offense in game 3.
While the Tigers got past the Guardians, the Mariners were busy holding intrasquad scrimmages in Seattle, trying to stay fresh with a six-day layoff between games.
The Mariners are the only franchise in Major League Baseball to never make it to a World Series, and if they are going to get to the fall classic, they can’t afford to look past the Tigers.
Key 1: Win early. After Skubal, the Tigers’ rotation has a severe drop-off. If the Tigers win at least one of the first two games, he’s likely to pitch twice in the series, either game one and game four or five, or games two and five. Skubal is the type of pitcher who can give the Mariners hits, with a high strikeout rate and filthy movement on his pitches. If they can beat him the first time they face him, they will likely be able to avoid having to face him twice. The Mariners will also be at a disadvantage in both games 1 and 2, as their own ace, Brian Woo, is unlikely to be available. Woo exited his final start of the season with tightness in a chest muscle, and while he threw 25 pitches in a simulated inning on Thursday, the prognosis of having him ready by the weekend did not sound good.
“I’m still not where I want to be in terms of game speed of everything,” Woo said. “But in terms of how everything has progressed, I’m happy with it. Considering that a week ago, I wasn’t even throwing yet — and then a week from now, hopefully we’ll be in a better spot.”
If Woo isn’t ready to go in the opening weekend of the series, the Mariners are going to need to lean on Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, George Kirby, and their bullpen.
Key 2: Some cold bats need to re-ignite. While it would be wonderful if Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh could carry the Mariners to a championship, other pieces will need to step up to make that happen. Eugenio Suarez hit only .203 in September while running a nearly 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio. Randy Arozarena also had a fierce September slump but finally showed signs of righting the ship over the final week of the season. The good news for those bats? Of the Tigers’ starting pitchers, Skubal is the only left-hander. The Mariners struggled mightily against left-handed pitching this year. That lines up perfectly for the Mariners’ best late-season lineup, with Jorge Polanco playing second base and Dom Canzone holding down the designated hitter spot.
Key 3: Show no mercy. From top to bottom, the Mariners are a superior team to the Tigers. They have better players at almost every position, a deeper bullpen, and a deeper pitching staff. However, none of that matters in the postseason. If you let a team hang around, they will punish you eventually. The Mariners hit just .235 with runners in scoring position during the regular season, the fifth worst in the league. If they have runners on base against the Tigers, they must cash them in. The Mariners won four of their six regular-season games against Detroit, including outscoring the Tigers 35-14 in a three-game sweep in Detroit just before the All-Star break. That is the same kind of performance they will need again to knock the Tigers out of the playoffs and keep their own World Series hopes alive.
For 47 seasons, Mariners fans have waited for next year, throughout mediocrity and heartbreak. If the Mariners get a few breaks to go their way and keep playing the same way they did to close the regular season, “next year” might finally be this year.
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