1st-place Seattle Mariners say why it's all coming together

The Seattle Mariners’ tear through September has been nothing short of remarkable.

The team that was in danger of dropping a sixth straight road series and pushed to the dreaded “team meeting” territory in the first days of the month has flipped the script, winning 14 of their last 15 games.

Job ‘not finished’ for first-place Seattle Mariners after huge sweep

After five months of roller coaster ups and downs – and some of those downs were deep, lose-your-lunch drops – the Mariners have put themselves in great position to make a run not to but through the playoffs.

With timing everything in this game, the question has to be asked: How is it they are peaking now at the absolute best – and last – moment?

“I think this team has learned a lot the past two years about finishing,” Cal Raleigh said following Game 2 of their sweep in Houston that put them ahead of the Astros by three games in the AL West. “Unfortunately, sometimes you have got to go through some of those struggles. You don’t like it at the time but you remember them, especially this time of the year. It makes you focus and that much more energetic when you get to this time and understand what’s important at this time of year.”

J.P. Crawford, who was there for every playoff miss the past few years, agreed that experience has helped propel the team to where it is now.

“These last couple years finishing 1-2 games short, that hurts over a course of time and you just don’t want to go back down memory lane,” he said. “It definitely brings more of a spark underneath you before each game, absolutely. We all know how important these games are coming down the stretch. We are tired of coming up just short.”

“A different resolve”

Talking about the bad taste in mouths, motivation and chips on shoulders that not finishing has brought has been a hallmark of early spring training interviews the past few years. To hear it during the season, however, is different. Where did this come from so late in the season? Is it organic? Is a player leading the charge? Is it something that was perhaps brought up in that team meeting in Tampa?

That has not been confirmed, but it has indeed been a point of focus.

“We’ve talked about it but it’s ultimately what they do and how they are feeling about it,” manager Dan Wilson said Sunday. “This is a team that’s tight. It’s a great group, they are special and they do it themselves. They know how to do it and we are seeing the fruits of it.

“I think we’ve seen a different resolve from them the last couple of weeks. They’ve been here to win and they’re not leaving the ballpark until they do. That’s what we have seen each night out. It’s so important this time of year. It’s a complete credit to these guys that are doing what they are doing.”

The motivation is an important piece of the puzzle that has come together. Then there is the roster, which has been in a state of ongoing evolution this season with nine spots currently filled by players who were not on the opening day roster.

General manager Justin Hollander points to stability as a factor in the current success.

“I think everybody has sort of found their role,” Hollander said. “The lineup’s been really consistent versus left, versus right. The same players serving the same roles over and over again. The bullpen seems to have settled in and found their roles.

“The biggest difference is we got our starters healthy and the pitching staff as a group really slammed their foot on the gas and really dominated for the most part over this 2-3 week stretch in a way they hadn’t up to this point and had in ’24, ’23 and ’22.”

“We know what it takes”

The Mariners may have had the pitching in those seasons, but there’s something they didn’t have then that they have in spades now: postseason experience.

Many nights, Wilson posts a lineup where every spot is filled with a player who has gotten to and played in the postseason. Where in past years Hollander and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto would be looking for a player or two with needed experience to help bring the group along, it is now built in.

For Crawford, that is difference making.

“It kind of keeps everyone in a calm sense,” he said. “Stuff starts to hit the fan and we all know we’ve been through this before. We know what it takes, we’ve got what it takes. You don’t really start to stress out too much. Let’s just handle business.”

Hollander echoed Crawford’s point, and mentioned the impact of a player the Mariners had for a few months after the trade deadline last season.

“It’s great because everyone brings a little something of their own from their experiences,” said Hollander. “I think the one universal thing all the guys have talked about is not trying to do too much. Trusting the person in front and behind you. ‘Downshifting.’ That was a term JT (Justin Turner) brought to the table last year that our guys have really bought into.

“Watching them all go out and bring that to life in their own way has been really cool to watch the last few weeks.”

Logan Gilbert has seen the same thing and believes the Mariners have a bonus in a couple of players who can do more.

“I think that – trying to do too much – can be a big trap at times like this,” Gilbert said. “Fortunately we do have some of that star power on our team and they step up big time. Cal being one of them, Julio (Rodríguez) of course down the stretch. I think there is a lot of people realizing you don’t have to do everything by yourself. Everybody is kind of clicking off each other.”

They are indeed clicking, and for the past two weeks showing what they believed they could be. The whys, not important to those on the field as their focus remains where it should be: forward.

“We still have got a ways to go, we still have some work to do at home,” Raleigh said. “We want to do this thing right. We want to keep pushing. Not let off the gas. Just trying to execute and win that day.

“It’s not over, nothing’s guaranteed. We’re just trying to keep going.”

1st-place Seattle Mariners say why it’s all coming together

Tags: