Mariners At Least Still Mathematically in the Playoff Hunt Before Tonight's Home Opener

The Mariners head into Friday night's home opener with an unsurprising 2-4 record. After starting the 2011 season with two wins over the Oakland A's, the M's have gone into a bit of a tailspin this past week, which included three straight losses to the still-undefeated Texas Rangers. Now the Mariners will seek to right the ship (sorry) against the Cleveland Indians tonight at Safeco Field (7:10 p.m.; ROOT [formerly FSN]).

We're only a week into the season, but the Mariners' woes already feel all too familiar. Seattle's team batting average of .233 ranks 11th in the AL (out of 14 teams), their 2 home runs are tied for the fewest in the league, and their 21 runs also rank 11th. Admittedly, so far it's a huge step up from last season's historic futility at the plate, but Mariner fans were surely hoping for a better showing from a lineup that featured a massive upgrade at DH (Jack Cust replacing what was left of Ken Griffey, Jr.) and a major-league-tested young phenom in Justin Smoak. There is some offensive hope on the horizon in likely mid-season call-up Dustin Ackley, along with fellow minor-league mashers Nick Franklin and Johermyn Chavez, but the latter two will likely contribute in 2012 at the earliest. Be prepared to watch a lot of 2-1 contests again.

So what do we have to look forward to this year? Well, pitching, particularly the team's #1, #4, and #5 starters. Seattle's top starter is, of course, Felix Hernandez, last year's Cy Young Award winner and all around joy to watch for the past half decade. But the tail end of the 2011 rotation might actually be a bit more interesting. The fourth starter is the perpetually dinged-up Erik Bedard, who made his first start in a year and a half last week. He claims that he's fully healthy for the first time in his Mariners tenure and let's not forget that he was one of the top pitchers in the league the last time he pitched a full season. Of course, that was back in 2007, but faint hope is still hope. Even more intriguing is Seattle's fifth starter, 22-year-old rookie Michael Pineda. The 6'7" Pineda looks more like a hefty tight end than a pitcher and scouts say that he has the stuff to eventually become a staff ace. What's especially heartening is that both Bedard and Pineda looked solid if unspectacular in their starts against the Rangers--no mean feat considering that Texas has hit like the damn '27 Yankees so far this year.

OK, so we know that it's a hell of a lot tougher to get excited about good pitching than good hitting--especially for the many casual Seattle fans that were, for the most part, weaned on the high-scoring Mariners of the 1990s--but at least we're back to watching baseball in one of the most enjoyable stadiums in the country. And, hey, with the Mariners' impotent offense and solid pitching staff at least this season's losses will end quickly.