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Author’s note: This sports section is a recap of the 2024 Mariners season. For information about Bush athletics, you can go to BushBlazersAthletics.com. For more information on sports, you can go to ESPN.com.
The Buildup: The Seattle Mariners came into the 2024 season with high hopes. In 2022, the Mariners’ seemingly never-ending rebuild was expedited by a breakout season. Breakout stars such as center fielder Julio Rodriguez and catcher Cal Raleigh led the Mariners to a 90-72 season, including a 14-game win streak. Young pitchers George Kirby and Logan Gilbert teamed up with trade deadline acquisition Luis Castillo for a young, dynamic pitching rotation. A Cal Raleigh walk-off homer clinched the playoffs, ending the longest playoff drought in American sports at the time. The impossible had happened, and the Mariners made the playoffs.
After a Wild Card win over the Blue Jays and a brutal Divisional Series loss to the eventual champion, the Astros, things seemed to be looking up for the once-defective franchise. 2023 came along with mixed results. The good news was that the young, exciting rotation became a solid reliable rotation, as Kirby, Gilbert, and Castillo were joined by rookies Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller. The Mariners quickly became the team with the youngest pitching rotation in the MLB, full of potential. That, combined with superstar closer Andres Munoz, made it difficult for teams to consistently score in Seattle. However, the other bullpen pitchers had shaky moments and the young rotation had moments of wavering. While stars Rodriguez and Raleigh were still stellar and veteran JP Crawford had a career year, the rest of the lineup did not perform. Overall, the Mariners pitching finished 6 percent above average and the offense finished 8 percent above average. However, a close playoff race ended with the Mariners one game away from the playoffs at 88-74. 2023 ended up as a less magical season, but the key building blocks were in play for a great 2024 season.
What Happened: Going into the offseason, the Mariners were focused on reducing strikeouts. The Mariners were 2nd in the league in strikeouts in 2023. However, veteran additions Jorge Polanco, Luke Raley, Josh Rojas, and Mitch Garver gave the lineup a new veteran presence. The Mariners started off by far last in the league in strikeouts, and Garver and Polanco were struggling, alongside JP Crawford and Julio Rodriguez. There were bright spots, though. Complimentary pieces Josh Rojas and Luke Raley were quickly breaking out and moved the offense closer to average. Meanwhile, the pitching was the best it had ever been. The Mariners won games off of good pitching and the occasional offensive outburst. Just as importantly, division rivals such as the Astros and Rangers were having perplexingly bad starts to their 2024 campaign. This culminated in the Mariners being 44-31 and having a ten-game division lead, which was at the time the largest division lead in the MLB.
The next two months did not go as planned. What was at one point the best rotation in the MLB was still good but no longer dominant night in and night out. Meanwhile, the offense continued to struggle. Games that the Mariners would’ve won 2-1 in May turned to a 2-5 loss in July, as the pitching could no longer carry a dormant offense. Meanwhile, the Astros went on an absolute tear, leading to a quick change of the tides within the AL West. After being 10 games back, the Astros went 32-15 over their next 47 games and quickly took a five-game divisional lead. The Mariners tried to fix some of their problems by trading for veteran hitters Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner, but to no avail. The Mariners went on a 20-33 run, punctuated by a 1-8 road trip. This led to the definitive moment of the Mariners season, the firing of long-tenured manager Scott Servais.
This move came with mixed reviews. On one hand, Servais had led an undeniably successful rebuild up to that point that resulted in the Mariners first playoff berth in over 20 years. Additionally, Scott Servais was always loved by his staff and players. However, it was time for a change, and the Mariners brought in former Catcher Dan Wilson to become the new manager. Additionally, Mariner legend Edgar Martinez became the new hitting coach and tried to revitalize the Ms lackluster offense. The rest of the season went very strongly after this move, as the Mariners went 21-13 with Dan Wilson. It was a valiant effort, but the Mariners finished just one game out of the playoff race for the second straight year, at 85-77.
What’s Next: The 2024 Mariner season was a tumultuous one, starting off promising, collapsing in the middle, then finishing off strong. Overall, this season will always be remembered as the season where Scott Servais got fired. In the big picture, next season will be crucial for President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto, who has made undeniable progress over 10 years but hasn’t been able to lead the Mariners to more than one playoff performance over that time. On a smaller scale, the team has the personnel to get it done. The same undeniably top-five pitching staff is under contract, and another year of development should bode well. Additionally, the Mariners outfield looks extremely strong, with 2024 breakout players Victor Robles and Luke Raley joining stars Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodriguez. The outfield and pitching will likely be the strengths of the Mariners, alongside catcher Cal Raleigh. The infield is extremely shaky with question marks at all four positions, and while JP Crawford and Josh Rojas may be back, all four positions could use more pop and more depth if they’re going to stand up to the standard of the rest of the team. Overall, the current team’s core is as strong as it’s been since the early 2000s, which makes missing the playoffs the last two years all the more frustrating. This isn’t the same old Mariners; this is a fun, exciting team that can’t make the most of their opportunity. Next year will be the final straw for this regime, and if they don’t make the most of it, serious changes will be coming in Seattle.
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