The Mariners’ competition in AL West doesn’t look strong

The Seattle Mariners have a little work to do to get themselves back in the position they ended last season in, which is first place in the AL West.

Checking in on how notable ex-Mariners are doing with new teams

Entering Friday, the 16-16 Mariners are 1 1/2 games back of the division-leading Athletics (17-14). But that’s an improvement over where Seattle was sitting seven games ago, which was 3 1/2 back of the A’s with a 10-15 record.

There’s renewed confidence that the M’s will soon be back atop the division, especially when you consider something Yahoo Sports MLB senior writer Jordan Shusterman pointed out.

“If you go back to April 10, the Mariners are currently tied with the Braves for the second highest wRC+ of any offense in baseball. So that is now a larger sample than how (many games) they had played before then,” said Shusterman, who is also co-host of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast, to Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

So the Mariners’ offense is heating up, with the big bats in the middle of the order in particular picking up the pace. As for the rest of the AL West? Shusterman seemed doubtful any of the four other teams will be able to hold off Seattle for the division crown this year.

Asked by Michael Bumpus for his report card on the AL West entering May, Shusterman was blunt.

“I mean, it ain’t pretty,” he responded. “And that’s good news for Mariners fans.”

Here’s what Shusterman said about each of the Mariners’ division rivals, as well as some Mariners team statistics first for the sake of comparison.

Mariners (16-16)

• Team offense: 134 runs (19th in MLB); 105 wRC+ (seventh)
• Team pitching: 3.67 ERA (fifth); 3.76 FIP (sixth)

Athletics (17-14)

• Team offense: 131 runs (21st); 96 wRC+ (20th)
• Team pitching: 4.23 ERA (17th); 4.73 FIP (27th)

Shusterman’s take: “I think what the A’s have been able to do, particularly from a pitching side, has probably been a little bit better than we expected. And (they’ve been) maybe underwhelming, all things considered, in terms of their offensive performance. But it’s their underlying stuff – it’s still not a rotation that particularly rates especially well. But credit to them, they’ve been able to win some impressive road games. They’ve been able to have a lot of this production even without two-time All-Star Brent Rooker and some of those other guys still getting going. So a lot of questions still on the mound for the A’s.”

Texas Rangers (15-16)

• Team offense: 120 runs (27th); 95 wRC+ (22nd)
• Team pitching: 3.47 ERA (fourth); 4.11 FIP (16th)

Shusterman’s take: “I guess this is just what they are. They’re a team that’s going to be able to pitch essentially whoever they’re throwing out there on the mound. The fact that they’re No. 1 in bullpen ERA continues to boggle my mind considering how anonymous that group is. But their offense continues to lag behind. They’ve had some steps forward for guys like Josh Jung, which has been really encouraging, and (Brandon) Nimmo’s been a really nice addition to that lineup. It’s still been a below-average offense, but they can pitch it for sure.”

Houston Astros (12-20)

• Team offense: 168 runs (fourth); 119 wRC+ (third)
• Team pitching: 6.08 ERA (30th); 5.29 FIP (30th)

Shusterman’s take: “Houston, we know, is totally lopsided because they can rake, although not as much lately, and their pitching is still a total mess.”

Los Angeles Angels (12-20)

• Team offense: 150 runs (11th); 104 wRC+ (ninth)
• Team pitching: 4.67 ERA (25th); 4.32 FIP (19th)

Shusterman’s take: “The Angels are very bad, and I’m not going to say anything else about them because that would be mean.”

Hear the full Bump and Stacy conversation with Yahoo Sports’ Jordan Shusterman in the podcast at this link or in the player below. Catch Bump and Stacy from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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