Three keys to a turnaround for struggling Mariners

The Seattle Mariners are in the midst of a tailspin that has their once-promising playoff chances shrinking by the day.

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After a rough 9-4 loss to the Rays on Wednesday night, the M’s fell to 1-5 through the first six games of a nine-game road trip. In total, they’ve lost 14 of 20 games dating back to Aug. 13 when they were tied with the Astros for first place in the American League West.

During the stretch, the Mariners have gone from 5 1/2 games in front of the first team out of the playoffs to 1 1/2, and their playoff odds have dropped from 95.2% to 76.7%, per FanGraphs.

It’s a concerning trend for a squad that just missed the playoffs in three of the past four seasons. How can the M’s turn it around? Here are three keys for Seattle to the right the ship and grab an elusive playoff berth.

Find ways to win on the road

It’s been a struggle for the Mariners away from T-Mobile Park since the All-Star break. After a vibe-shifting sweep of the Tigers in Detroit heading into the break, Seattle is 6-16 on the road across seven series, which includes six straight series losses and three to clubs that entered the series below .500.

The issues have been widespread with both the lineup and pitching staff having troubles on the road. Seattle’s offense entered Wednesday ranked 26th in runs scored, 26th in batting average and 23rd in OPS on the road since the Midsummer Classic. The pitching staff has also allowed the ninth-most runs, eight-most home runs and has the eighth-highest ERA.

It’s an extreme contrast from how good Seattle has played at home during the same stretch. The M’s are 15-6 at home since the All-Star break, winning six of seven series.

The good news here is that the M’s play just nine of their final 22 games away from T-Mobile Park. However, six of those games are the most important left of the schedule – a three-game series against a Royals squad that’s two games behind them for the final wild card followed by three games at the American League West-leading Astros. Winning both of those series would go a long way in helping this team clinch a playoff berth.

A surge from the pitching staff

Pitching was the hallmark of the Mariners a season ago, and it was supposed to be the strength again this season. There have been moments where Seattle’s staff has flashed its potential, but the group hasn’t come close to matching the excellence it showed last year.

Some of that can be attributed to the injuries the starting rotation faced with Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Bryce Miller all missing extended time this season. And realistically, it was a big ask to expect the rotation to be as a good – and healthy – as it was last year.

The bullpen has also had its troubles. Much of them have come from the back end, which is something most teams deal with. But high-leverage arms Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash have each been shaky the past couple of weeks, and trade deadline acquisition Caleb Ferguson has struggled since starting his M’s tenure with four scoreless outings. The M’s need all three of those arms to be effective down the stretch.

The pitching doesn’t need to be as good as it was a season ago for the M’s to complete their push for the playoffs. It just needs to be better than it’s been of late, especially away from T-Mobile Park.

The stars need to be stars

There are plenty of cases of unheralded players getting hot in September and helping key a team’s run to the playoffs. The Mariners could surely use that sort of impact. But more than anything, they need their stars to push them over the finish line.

Outside of a strong August from Julio Rodríguez, the M’s just haven’t gotten much from their most impactful players lately.

Cal Raleigh, although still hitting home runs, has faded by batting just .189 since the start of August. Randy Arozarena has been in a similar funk, hitting .208 with a .653 OPS over the same stretch. Eugenio Suárez has mostly disappointed since returning at the trade deadline, posting a .193 average and .662 OPS. And Josh Naylor has faltered since a strong initial showing, batting .216 with a .521 OPS since Aug. 12.

The Mariners don’t need all of these players to click at the same time. If two or three of them can while Rodríguez keeps doing what he has lately, the offense should provide enough on a nightly basis to win ballgames.

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