THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: What do you make of the M's so far this season?

Time for you to decide.

Today.

In fact, we’ll tack on an exact deadline.

You have to answer before J.P. Crawford steps in to lead off the game tonight in Texas.

Nothing wishy-washy here, either.

No disclaimers about injuries, yada, yada.

It’s a straight yes-or-no question.

Do you believe the Mariners will be pennant contenders come September?

C’mon, bring on those opinions that you’ve been tossing around.

True believers certainly have reason to step up.

The Mariners stumbled into the season like the Bad News Bears, but now they look like a proper major league baseball team.

That young and gifted rotation that everyone was gushing about has taken a few weeks stumbling out of bed, but now those guys have come to the party.

Luis Castillo (seven scoreless innings in Colorado on Saturday night) seems to have found his missing command.

Bryce Miller has unleashed a deadly splitter to go with his four-seam fastball, and looks like he could be the best of the bunch.

Logan Gilbert has taken last year’s excellence into 2024 without a hitch.

George Kirby fiddled around longer than expected to find his otherworldly ownership of the strike zone, but he appears to have found it.

Even Emerson Hancock, subbing for No. 5 Bryan Woo, is coming off a seven-inning start with just a single earned run.

Woo, by the way, just pitched three perfect innings during his rehab stint in Tacoma.

WE WERE told this was a team built on pitching, and now those young arms (and the bodies attached to them) apparently have hit stride, with nine quality starts in their last 10 games.

The outlier was Kirby pitching five scoreless innings, which hardly qualifies as embarrassing.

Meanwhile, the bullpen has been good, but not “Seattle good.”

Andres Munoz blew a 10-inning game to the Rockies without recording an out.

Still, Matt Brash and Gregory Santos are close to returning from injuries, and that could make the ‘pen as salty as we’ve come to expect.

The offense?

This is likely where you have to decide about that long slog through the summer, and whether the Mariners can provide their glittery pitching staff with enough support to go on six-, eight- and 10-game winning streaks.

There are doubts.

Brilliant young face-of-the-franchise Julio Rodriguez is hitting a respectable .276 after 22 games, with four steals and some spectacular plays in center field.

But J-Rod has no home runs (or many balls that even threatened to leave the premises), just eight RBI and a zillion singles.

Has he decided to become Seattle’s next Ichiro?

I doubt this team can win shiny tall trophies unless Julio does serious damage routinely.

Cal Raleigh looks better than ever, Crawford will come around and so, I suspect, will Ty France.

You have to decide, though, on newcomers Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco, and Luke Raley — plus returnee Mitch Haniger, along with 2023 midseason acquisitions Josh Rojas (who’s done everything well and is hitting .311) and Dom Canzone.

Then there’s rookie switch-hitter Johnatan Clase, who had 20 homers and 79 steals — yes, really — in the minors a year ago.

The most exciting play of the M’s season so far involved Clase (Clah-SAY) hitting a bases-loaded single against the Reds.

When the ball was muffed in right field (but didn’t roll terribly far), Clase turned on the afterburners.

Third base coach Manny Acta gave him the “Go” sign, setting up a great play at the plate.

Clase was called out — immaterial since the Mariners were way ahead — but fans got the price of their tickets, just seeing this kid run full-out.

If he can hit major league pitching just a little, Clase could inject some serious fun into the offense.

SO HOW do you size up this Mariner team?

No waiting around for the All-Star break to see if they add some power or another reliever.

Let’s have an opinion now, with Seattle sitting at 11-11, having won five of six, and lurking a half-game behind World Series champ Texas in the AL West.

For what it’s worth, Houston is 7-16 and has looked even worse than the ugly record.

Are we seeing the death of the Evil Empire?

Forget the Astros, though, we want your thoughts on this gang closer to home.

C’mon, tell me.

Will the Mariners’ elite pitching just wear down everyone else, as it did to the Reds and Rockies last week?

I’m asking now, because Seattle may have a defining three-week test coming up.

The Mariners’ next five series involve Texas, Arizona, Atlanta, Houston and Minnesota.

The Mariners first scrums with the Rangers and Astros are both on the road, as well.

There are plenty of twists and turns along the path of a seemingly endless baseball season, but I have a suspicion we’ll know more about the Mariners after this 16-game gauntlet.

If they’re going the distance, we ought to have a good idea by then.

So, what do you say?

Can the Mariners manage all 15 rounds this time around?

Bring it on.

Yes or no?

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”