Mariners start season

With a couple weeks until the All-Star break, the Seattle Mariners are currently holding the second wild card spot in the American League and are sporting a record of 47-38. They are less than five games behind the Oakland Athletics for first place in the AL West. The team has taken at least two out of three games from their last four series against the Astros, Red Sox, Royals and Indians. A number of players are also on track to make the All-Star team. The Mariners have done well in the first half of the season and are showing signs of potentially being a playoff squad come October.
When coming into this year, people expected only two Mariners to get to the All-Star game in the form of starting pitcher Felix “King Felix” Hernandez and second baseman Robinson Cano. However, after some strong play from other players, two more players have gained some All-Star attention. These players are closer Fernando Rodney and third baseman Kyle Seager.
After starting 18 games, Felix Hernandez has a 10-2 record and a 2.10 ERA, which is tied with the lowest in the American League with rookie  Masahiro Tanaka from the New York Yankees. Felix is also second in the AL in strikeouts with 137, which is behind David Price from the Rays with 153.
Robinson Cano was the big free agent signing of the off-season, so it was almost expected that he was supposed to play well. Cano is third of the American League second basemen in batting average with .323. However, Cano’s real contribution to the team has been his intangibles. His leadership ability is what has helped the young Mariners team develop as major league ball players. He leads all second basemen in the All-Star voting and is likely to start the All-Star game at second base.
Fernando Rodney was another free agent signing by the Mariners during the off-season and was brought in to help a bullpen that has struggled in recent years. While Rodney started off the season on a rocky note, he has settled down immensely and is currently one of the most dominant closers in baseball. Right now, Rodney leads the AL in saves with 24 followed by Greg Holland of the Royals with 23 and Glen Perkins of the Twins with 20. Rodney is one of the reasons why the Mariners have the lowest bullpen ERA in the AL.
Kyle Seager has been with the Mariners for a number of years. This year, he started out fairly sluggish but has recently heated up. He has won two player of the week awards over the season so far. Seager is tied for second of the AL third basemen for home runs with 13, second of all AL third basemen in runs batted in with 59 and is tied for third of all AL third basemen in games played. Kyle is not too relevant in the All-Star voting and his only chance of making the All-Star team is through coaches’ selection.
The Mariners are currently in the second wild card spot for the American League. If they can continue this level of play, they may make the playoffs for the first time since 2001.