The Seattle Mariners are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now. When the MLB season resumed after the All-Star break, the Mariners were the definition of mediocrity. As Thanos yearned for, the Mariners' record was perfectly balanced at 45-45. They were well behind their division foes Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. The Mariners had eight fewer wins than the Rangers and six fewer wins than the Astros at the time. The Mariners yo-yo'd back and forth with that .500 record of theirs multiple times after the All-Star break too. After beginning 45-45, the Mariners also at one point had a record of 46-46, 47-47, 48-48, and 50-50. This looked like what the Mariners were going to be.

But then, they got hot. After going 50-50, they've shot up like a rocket and have won 26 of their next 34 games. All of a sudden, the Mariners are tied with the Astros for the lead in the AL West and are a game up on the Texas Rangers. They're also 2.5 games up on the Toronto Blue Jays for the final AL Wild Card spot should they need it. But just because the Mariners are on one right now doesn't mean they're perfect. They still have a flaw that could do them in. That would be their hitting.

Sustainable bats?

The good news for the Seattle Mariners is that they're one of the best pitching teams in baseball. One could make the argument that they're *the* best pitching team in baseball. They lead the MLB in ERA at 3.64. Their opponent's batting average of 0.236 is fourth-best in the MLB. They rank eighth in baseball in strikeouts, and lead baseball in WHIP at 1.17.

The bad news is that there is room for improvement with their bats. That improvement has come during this second-half serge. The Mariners have scored at least five runs in 24 of their 45 games post-All-Star break. That's 53.3 percent of their games. Before the All-Star break, the Mariners scored at least five runs in only 39 of 89 games. That's a mark of about 43 percent.

Metrics don't put the Mariners' offense in that great a light either. Seattle ranks 19th in baseball in batting average at 0.245. That's below league average. Their on-base percentage of 0.325 is better; it ranks 12th in the majors. So does their slugging percentage (0.418). They also rank 13th in OPS at 0.743.

The Mariners are just inside the top ten in home runs (173) and RBI (617) but they're not firmly inside the top ten of any of the key offensive metrics. That's not good. It's not an issue that prohibits the Mariners from making a deep playoff run. Pitching is paramount in the postseason and the Mariners are arguably the best in the league in that department. But they're going to play other great teams. Teams that can also shut their opposition down completely. The Mariners are going to need their bats to show up as well.

Conclusion

Fortunately for them, their bats have been playing better and have got them in prime positioning for a potential playoff spot. They have a star in Julio Rodriguez who is heating up at the perfect time. Rodriguez had only one month this season with a batting average above .250 from March through June. But he has two such months in July and August. Rodriguez has particularly caught fire in August, where he's put up hitting lines of .429/.474/.724/1.197.

Seattle is going to need him to continue that scorching pace and for their bats in general to keep that up once October comes around. The Mariners have all they need to make a deep playoff run, especially with their offense showing what they're capable of the last couple of months. But that hasn't been the case all season. Their offense has to show this current run they're on is the real Mariners, not the one from before the All-Star break. If *that* offense comes back, then it could hold the Mariners back from their aspirations to lift the World Series trophy.