The Mariners

This year, the Mariners are supposed to be good, so interest in baseball around here is a little higher than usual. It's too early in the year to gather too much from how the team has played so far, which is good, because they are 3-6 after nine games. What you look for this early are indications, hints about how things might go, even if you can't really put much stock in them. For a team that is picked to win their division, all you really want is indications that they will perform as expected. So, what are the indicators so far?

Opponents

First thing to remember is that the Mariners have played the Angels, A's, and Dodgers -- their two biggest division rivals and one of the best teams in baseball. It's funny to see when a team plays a series of lousy opponents, and suddenly the manager, the players, announcers, radio hosts will start talking about how the bats are on track, the hits are falling in, the pitchers have found their groove, etc., when in fact they have just been beating lousy teams. The Mariners have played good teams; that may be all there is to the slow start.

Starting Pitching

Pitching is supposed to be the strength of this team, especially the starters. So far they have gotten five pretty lousy starts, three good ones, and one so-so. One thing you really want to watch is the two young phenoms, Paxton and Walker. Paxton has been OK, but Walker has been horrible in two starts. That's a bad sign.

Relief Pitching

Fernando Rodney, the Mariners closer, has given up 6 runs on 7 hits and four walks, in 3 and 1/3 innings. The rest of the bullpen has been fine, I guess.

Left-Handed Hitting

Neither Cano nor Seager has gotten on track yet, but Seth Smith started well, and Ackley has hit three home runs. They'll be fine.

Right-Handed Hitting

This is an important category, because the Mariners have not had much right-handed hitting for years, but this year they added Nelson Cruz, Justin Ruggiano, and Rickie Weeks. So far, the results have been decent on balance, because all of the right-handed hitters have been lousy except Cruz, who has hit six homers in the last 5 games, which makes up for a lot.

Overall

• Mariners fans are very used to high expectations followed by disappointing results, so we are well-positioned to deal with a poor start, unlike maybe Yankee or Red Sox fans.
• As the day started, the M's were 1.5 games back of the A's despite their lousy record, It could be a lot worse, like they could be Cleveland.
• The Mariners play bad teams for the next 15 games, so I expect they will suddenly start playing much better. If they don't, that would be a bad indication.
• Hisashi Iwakuma, Taijuan Walker, and Fernando Rodney need to pitch better. If they do, I think the M's will be OK.