Which Matchups Favor Mariners Most in Playoffs?
All playoff baseball is tough. Every team in the postseason has an ace and a multitude of good players that can hurt you. For the Mariners and their fanbase, playoff baseball has eluded the Pacific Northwest for 20 plus years, so this is relatively uncharted waters.
The thought of playoffs may be daunting, but not in all cases. We are going to take a look at the best and worst matchups Seattle could have in round one of the postseason.
Best Case: Orioles or Guardians
Seattle has had hard-fought series with both of these clubs this season, but these would be the most ideal matchups. Baltimore likely will not make the postseason, finding itself 5.5 games back of the third wild-card, but anything is possible with baseball's biggest surprise of 2022.
The Orioles have the weakest pitching and lineup of anybody in playoff contention, although they do have players like Adley Rutschman that can make things interesting.
The other good news is that if Baltimore was the opponent, it would likely be at T-Mobile Park, barring a complete and total Seattle collapse.
Cleveland is the other best option, based mostly off of the recent success Seattle has had against the freshly rebranded club. The Mariners beat the Guardians seven out of eight times this season and are largely a good matchup because of their lack of offense.
Outside of their top four hitters, Cleveland struggles offensively. Because Seattle also has its own offensive issues, this would be the best opportunity for manager Scott Servais' club to win in signature fashion.
Not great, but not terrible: Blue Jays in Seattle
A three-game series against the Blue Jays in Seattle would be electric, even if the stands may be a little more road-heavy than you would hope. Seattle would still keep home-field advantage, without having to deal with the travel and COVID restrictions in Canada.
The Blue Jays have great starting pitching, which isn't ideal. However, they will have a gauntlet to run through at the end of the year schedule-wise. They could be fatigued traveling cross-country and the Mariners already have a four-game sweep at T-Mobile Park under their belt.
Worst Case: Rays, Blue Jays in Toronto
Tampa Bay certainly isn't unbeatable, but they have the Mariners' number this season. Seattle dominated them last season, but Rays are the most similar team to the Mariners of anybody.
They rely on an excellent bullpen and a scrappy offense. If Shane McClanahan is healthy, he is a tough draw, especially with how much the Mariners have struggled with lefties. Traveling to Tampa is not ideal, and would present a huge challenge against a battle-tested Rays team.
Traveling to Toronto is the most mysterious and scary option for the Mariners. The environment is crazy, and for a Seattle team with virtually no playoff experience things could get dicey.
There is also the issue of vaccination status, and not knowing who may be vaccinated or unvaccinated to travel to Toronto and play. Potentially not having a full roster to travel to Canada is an obvious disadvantage.
Seattle can definitely still win either matchup, but it would be much more difficult to do so.
