THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: M's quality starts might be enough to overcome all that whiffing

Luis Castillo is prone to rugged first innings.

“La Piedra” (The Rock) and his Mariner teammates know it and so do their opponents, who tend to come out hacking.

Last Friday night, Luis got touched up for two singles and a pair of RBI doubles in the first inning.

Suddenly, Texas was up 2-0 in the opener of a three-game series that eventually could be meaningful in the AL West — considering that Seattle opened play with a 5 1/2-game over the World Series champions.

A total of 130,846 turned out for this high-level duel over the weekend, and it’s fair to say that those large, loud crowds saw a theme develop by Sunday evening.

Castillo gave up just one more hit over six innings in that tense Friday night game, and the Mariners won it 3-2.

George Kirby and Logan Gilbert then followed by allowing ZERO earned runs over the next two days, pitching brilliantly through six (Kirby) and eight (Gilbert) innings.

Those three guys proved — once again — that the stat noting that this Seattle rotation leads MLB in quality starts (46) is not a misprint.

Their two regular colleagues, Bryan Woo (1.07 ERA) and Bryce Miller (3.48), shouldn’t be mistaken for chopped liver, either.

SHUTTING down the Rangers as though they were a Triple-A team in town for an exhibition gets Mariner fans back to an argument that’s been batted around (pun intended) since opening day.

Can these Mariners and their exquisite pitching win the AL West — and more importantly, something beyond that — without seriously reinforcing an offense that ranks in the bottom five in every category except broken bats?

Can you get to the World Series despite striking out at a pace that will smash the major league record?

Honestly, it’s fair to say that the Mariners don’t have much feel for the strike zone — not when they swing at throws to first, at swallows fluttering anywhere in the zip code and, occasionally, at passing jets on approach to Sea-Tac.

If these were bashers who created runs when they got pitches they liked and actually made contact, that would be one thing.

But they aren’t.

Utility players like Dylan Moore should have the Mendoza Line tattooed on their biceps, yet they still swing so hard that they’re in danger of serious spinal damage.

Yes, there are some green shoots in this garden, if you want to be optimistic.

I’m saying VERY optimistic.

Julio Rodriguez has hit a couple of whistling home runs in the past few days, rookie Tyler Locklear so far is displaying some power, and Luke Raley is a good, all-around ballplayer who can run, play defense and even bunt when the situation calls for it.

Still, they ALL strike out too often.

Even guys who had no previous whiff disease seem to catch it as soon as they set foot in T-Mobile Park.

By the way, this is only partially a joke, but maybe it’s hopeless to trade for a couple of good hitters — because, well, they might STOP being good hitters when they get to Seattle.

Surely not.

Right?

LET’S SAY that I really was kidding.

Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani could still mash if they played for the Mariners.

OK, then, are there reasonable moves that Seattle bosses Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander could make to improve this team’s chances to score some runs?

You know, without giving away the store?

Or, thinking back to square one (and having just seen the Rangers sent home whimpering), are the Mariners better off sticking with this formula that’s put them WAY in front in the division standings?

They didn’t jump into that 8 1/2-game lead by magic.

The bullpen is getting stronger, with Ryne Stanek looking like the guy who was so dominant a couple of years ago, and Gregory Santos just about healthy enough to pitch for real.

The Mariners are 37-10 when they score three or more runs.

Surely … surely … they can scrape up three runs if they PLAY with that as the target — and forget all these crazy swings for eight-run homers.

How about the strategy of just putting the ball in play?

Force the other team into mistakes?

Look, opponents are feeling pressure before a pitch is thrown, because they KNOW they’re going to face nasty stuff all night.

Hell, let them keep worrying.

Don’t help anyone by giving away outs with silly at-bats.

I’d love to see how that mindset would work before pulling off some huge trades that tear up the farm system.

Yes, maybe it would come to that eventually.

Maybe Jerry and Justin will have to pay for a couple of bats (and guys to swing them).

Maybe.

It still might be wise to see if it’s really necessary, wouldn’t it?

It’s worth a try.

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.”