Longtime readers of the Internet Sensation that is the Official Power Rankings know I love to see teams break droughts.
- I loved it when the Pirates finally had a winning record in 2013 and especially loved that they made the NLDS.
- I loved it when the Royals broke their playoff drought in 2014.
- I loved it when the Blue Jays broke their playoff drought in 2015.
- I especially loved when the Cubs won the 2016 World Series, as has been covered.
Now, the longest playoff drought in Major League Baseball belongs to the Seattle Mariners, who last played in a postseason game in 2001, when Ichiro was a rookie.
If the playoffs started right now, the Mariners would be in.
Despite the issues with Robinson Cano (PED suspension and injury) and a mostly bad Felix Hernandez (Sunday's strong outing notwithstanding), they are playing exceptional baseball right now. They've won 13 of their last 15 and sit 37-22. They haven't been 15 games over .500 since Sept. 8, 2014.
Now, their run differential (+17) seems to indicate they are playing over their heads and they are a likely-unsustainable 18-9 in one-run games. Sure, we've seen times in the recent past where a team does that all season, but most of the time it evens out.
There are reasons to believe they'll get better, though. Kyle Seager is a much better hitter than he's been so far. It's reasonable to believe Mike Zunino and Ryon Healy start hitting better as well. Mike Leake could be better and maybe Felix Hernandez turned a corner with his strong outing Sunday.
On the one-run game thing, it's important to note that now the Mariners have an excellent back-end duo in the bullpen in stud closer Edwin Diaz and newly-acquired Alex Colome. That's a good way to hold a one-run lead.
There's definite concern with a Wade LeBlanc regression, though, and I wonder if Jerry Dipoto will eventually need to grab rotation help in July.
Still, Mariners fans have to be in heaven right now watching all this winning. That's why I love seeing droughts end. Fans going through years of heartbreak deserve the joy of watching their favorite team win. It's awesome. I know from experience, dude, if you know what I mean.
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Somehow, despite playing for the Yankees, I feel like Luis Severino (a clear ace) doesn't get enough recognition. | 1 | 17-8 |
| 2 |  | You know who would look really good here? J.T. Realmuto. | 1 | 14-11 |
| 3 |  | Three straight series non-wins from the champs (split, loss, split), but I'm not really concerned. | -- | 7-18 |
| 4 |  | And just like that, they are tied for the fewest losses in the NL with a team they are 7-1 against. Only the Yankees, Red Sox and Mariners(!) have lost fewer games than the Cubs. | 5 | 15-9 |
| 5 |  | James Paxton was utterly filthy in May: 3-0, 1.67 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, 51 K, 9 BB, 43 IP. | 1 | 12-12 |
| 6 |  | Charlie Culberson is the clutchiest clutch to ever clutch, eh? | 2 | 17-6 |
| 7 |  | A series loss to the White Sox is bad, but stuff happens over the course of 162. Big stretch coming up here for the Crew (2@CLE; 3@PHI; 3 vs. CHC; 3 vs. PHI). | 3 | 15-8 |
| 8 |  | Tough series in Atlanta, but they're fine. | 3 | 10-13 |
| 9 |  | I figured it was only a matter of time and now it looks like Marcell Ozuna is finding his groove. | 2 | 11-14 |
| 10 |  | They've scored just one run total in their last three games, and that was a solo home run from Jake Arrieta. Rough patch. | 3 | 15-10 |
| 11 |  | Clayton Kershaw has now been placed on the DL twice this season and it's the third straight season he's on the DL with a back injury. He's 30 years old with 2,106 innings between the regular season and postseason. This is a legitimate concern. | 2 | 15-11 |
| 12 |  | Ian Kinsler got all kinds of hot after returning to Comerica Park for a series against his former team. Just a coincidence, likely, but it's kinda fun. | 2 | 10-15 |
| 13 |  | Jose Ramirez never hit more than five homers in a minor-league season. He's got 18 right now. He's just steadily developed more power as he's grown into being a stud major-leaguer. It's been very fun to watch. | 1 | 17-7 |
| 14 |  | A 5-1 week is good, even when it was only against the Reds and Marlins. Those teams count. They have uniforms and everything, it's really great. | 4 | 12-14 |
| 15 |  | The A's would be tied for first in the AL Central. Damn the geography. | 1 | 9-16 |
| 16 |  | The head-scratching split continues. The Rockies are 11-16 at home and 19-13 on the road. | 1 | 6-19 |
| 17 |  | The Giants have been ravaged by injury, went 6-15 from May 7-29 and are currently only 2 1/2 games out of first. In my best Cousin Eddie voice, "I don't know?" | 4 | 12-14 |
| 18 |  | That's 11 losses in their last 15 games. The Bucs are giving back a lot of that credit they gained at the start of the year. | 2 | 13-12 |
| 19 |  | Blake Snell has a 0.74 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings in his last four starts. His ERA overall is now down to 2.36. The 25-year-old lefty is firmly in the middle of his breakout season. | -- | 13-13 |
| 20 |  | Just when things started to look really bad, the Twins go win three straight from the Indians. And, man, Eddie Rosario! | 2 | 10-13 |
| 21 |  | Just 2 1/2 games out in June in a rebuilding year. | 2 | 14-11 |
| 22 |  | Last week included more important players getting injured, two walk-off losses, a 14-inning loss and a four-game sweep by the Cubs. As George Costanza would say when failing at breaking up with a woman, "this isn't going well." | 5 | 13-11 |
| 23 |  | Good week, Padres! | 1 | 14-13 |
| 24 |  | Man, that 12-5 start feels like it was ages ago. At least they salvaged one win last week. | 4 | 13-12 |
| 25 |  | Might we be witnessing the Nomar Mazara breakout season? He's at .274/.345/.513 right now. | -- | 13-12 |
| 26 |  | The negative-98 run differential is the worst in the American League. They have this penchant to get totally crushed, like Saturday's 16-0 beating at the hands of the A's. The Royals overall are 3-14 in games decided by at least five runs. | 1 | 15-10 |
| 27 |  | I really thought Luis Castillo was going to be a frontline starter this year and for a stretch in May he started to look like it, but he was awful in April and has allowed nine runs in his last two starts (9 2/3 innings). The ERA sits at 5.64. | 1 | 14-10 |
| 28 |  | Don't look now, but James Shields is working himself into a reasonable trade candidate. Since the start of May, he's pitched to a 3.45 ERA. In his last four starts -- all of which went at least seven innings -- he's at 2.86. | 2 | 3-21 |
| 29 |  | They're on pace to go 55-107. The franchise record for losses in a season is 108. | 1 | 6-20 |
| 30 |  | Orioles fans probably cheer for the Capitals, right? So there's that. | 1 | 16-8 |
