THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Don't worry — M's are off to their usual start

Give the Mariners high marks for consistency. 

Give Luke Arkins credit for his usual digging, which almost always results in a look at stats you probably wouldn’t notice. 

Arkins produces a newsletter called “Mariner Consigliere” (borrowing a title from the Godfather), and Luke routinely pops up with information that makes you go: “Wow!” 

Our latest little tidbit from the Consigliere concerns the Mariners’ first homestand, on which the hometown heroes went 3-4 — despite hitting a collective .172, second-worst in MLB. 

There normally wouldn’t be anything interesting in the first seven games of a 162-game marathon. 

However, Arkins noted that since 2020, the Mariners have started 3-4 in five of those six seasons. 

The lone exception was 2023, when they opened 2-5. 

So, why? 

I don’t know, and apparently, neither does Luke. 

The one theme running through these recent seasons, though, is that the M’s simply can’t hit. 

Oh, they have some stretches later in the year, when the weather is warmer, but it’s been a while since this team opened a year just bashing the ball. 

This spring’s version of “bashing” produced an average of 2.6 runs per game, which makes you realize that the pitching has been awfully good to keep that 3-4 record from being worse. 

YEP, THE temptation is to write off the first seven games. 

Why not? 

A couple key hitters have gotten off to a slow start, which should be nothing but yawning. 

Except, in this case we’re talking about the entire lineup dozing off in the batter’s box. 

Utilityman Dylan Moore, who reached base all three times in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Tarik Skubal and the Tigers, is hitting .375 — but that’s with just three hits in eight at-bats. 

If we look only at the regular everyday lineup, leadoff man Victor Robles is not only leading the pack with a weak .214 average, Vic is the only hitter above the infamous Mendoza Line. 

Ironically, Jorge Polanco (aka the prodigal infielder) was off to a .400 start when he disappeared on paternal leave after just four games. 

Yeah, yeah. 

It’s just seven games. 

I’ve been around MLB a long time, and I get it. 

Still. 

The formula that Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez and new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer preached throughout spring training was all about making solid contact. 

Pick good pitches. 

Concentrate on driving the ball up the middle. 

The whole idea was to avoid strikeouts, which were killers in critical situations the past two or three years — and which you could say were pretty much directly responsible for Seattle missing the playoffs by a game or two.  

So, how’s that going? 

The Mariners have whiffed 66 times in 204 at-bats, a gloomy 32 percent. 

Think about those numbers for a second. 

Let’s just say a player (or a whole team) strikes out three times in every 10 at-bats. 

The Mariners are even worse than that at the moment, but we’ll round it off to 30 percent. 

What that means in the real world, for an entire season, you make NO contact in three of each 10 ABs. 

That’s three times when nothing good can happen. 

SO FAR, most of the Mariners hitters have gone up there flailing. 

They haven’t been doing ANY of the things that they heard (and which worked) during spring training. 

Result? 

Casey Mize, Detroit’s No. 5 starter, combined with a couple of relievers to throw a one-hitter. 

Robles singled to open the bottom of the first inning, and Seattle got nada after that. 

Let’s circle back to our pal Luke Arkins and his mention of the Mariners opening five of the last six seasons with 3-4 records (with the one exception being 2-5). 

The truth is that this year, their scruffy 3-4 start truly could be worse. 

The M’s got two late home runs to beat Oakland on opening day, then won the finale of that four-game series when Julio Rodriguez uncorked a two-run moon shot in the eighth inning. 

Finally, after losing the first two against Detroit, the M’s stole the last game when a terrible misplay kept the sixth inning alive — allowing Robles to hit a two-out, two-run double. 

In case you’re not following all that closely, the Mariners’ trend doesn’t exactly suggest a sudden and powerful turnaround. 

But. 

Well, the pitching is great. 

And baseball is crazy.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and 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.”