Mariner fans must be soaring now with the fact that September is here r and the Seattle team is still in the playoff hunt.
However, the question remains whether or not the M’s are going to get the wild card, or make a run for the division.
It is kinda difficult for the M’s to make more moves since the trade deadline has come and gone, so I will mostly be analyzing the chances the Mariners have of even making the playoffs, let alone taking the division.
To start off, I will say that the Mariners will make the playoffs.
As of August 26, 2016, The mariners have a record of 68-60 which puts them 6.5 games back of the Rangers of the AL West. With this deficit, I don’t think the Mariners will be able to take the division. While the deficit is not insurmountable, it would be extremely hard for the M’s to overtake the soaring Rangers. The only thing recently that has really hurt the Rangers, was the forced retirement of 1B Prince Fielder. After that, there is no reason to think they will fall.
Where the Mariners really have a chance to make it, is with a wild card position.
Currently, they are 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles and only one game behind the Detroit Tigers.
While 6.5 games are fairly hard to surpass, 1.5 games are definitely in the realm of possibility.
Everyone know that the Mariners have a fairly easy schedule for the rest of the season. Most of the teams they have left to face are either hovering around the .500 mark or are below it.
However, the main problem is that the Tigers have a very similar schedule. Their remaining schedule is filled with teams that are around .500 or lower.
The good news is that the difference between the two teams is only a single game. That means that only one game difference between the two would make this an entirely different story.
The only one that is fairly intimidating is the Baltimore Orioles, but their schedule is pretty tough. They have a bunch of matchups against strong teams like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. With only a one-game lead over the Tigers and a 1.5 game lead over the Mariners, the Orioles have a very realistic chance of falling out of the wild card position.
With this, I think that the Mariners are on the rise and are playing like one of the hottest teams in baseball.
My main prediction for the AL Wild Card teams are the Boston Red Sox and the Seattle Mariners.
The electricity may soon return to the city of Seattle, and this time, I won’t be in February.
