SEATTLE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Just seven games into the 2024 season, the Seattle Mariners find themselves with an already under .500 win/loss record.

With high expectations coming out of spring training, the M’s split a four-game series against a Boston team that found itself in the AL East cellar each of the last two seasons and then losing a series to Cleveland, a team now being managed by one of their own former bullpen coaches.

So far, the Mariners have picked up right where they left off at the end of last year. A solid pitching staff and a lack of contact at the plate. The M’s stuck out more than 1,500 times in 2023, and they already struck out 45 times this past weekend against the Red Sox.

Should we expect more of the same thing with a few new faces?

No. This team is different.

With the additions of Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco and the return of Mitch Haniger (back from San Francisco), the Mariners are sure to have more contact in the order. They are also banking on JP Crawford following up his career-year in 2023 with a comparable strong performance at the plate in the lead-off role this season.  A re-energized Ty France, fresh off of a successful trip to “DRIVELINE”, is already ready off to a solid start with a strong spring season and productive first week at T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners are notorious for slow starts. Last April, they opened with an 11-15 record before bouncing back with a 17-11 record in May. In June they slipped to 9-15 and decided not to make a move by the trade deadline. In July, the team rallied for a strong 17-9 month and rode the momentum to a 21-6 record in August. It was the 11-17 September, though, that left them one game shy of back-to-back play-off appearances.

On paper, our Seattle Mariners should be a better team than they were a year ago. An already strong starting five came to this spring with an arsenal of new pitches and another year of experience.  At the plate, history tells us to expect fewer strikeouts and more contact. That recipe alone should push the Mariners at one game better than last year, which should put them back into the post season.