Their offense has been awful all season, but their pitching has pitched way better than expected. Washburn is having a career year (he's normally average to below-average), and some of the young guys have stepped up and pitched much better than expected. Their bullpen was supposed to be a trainwreck this year, but somehow they have had one of the better bullpens in baseball up to this point. They've been doing it with smoke and mirrors though. The pitching can't keep this up all year, and the O should continue to struggle with their obvious lack of hitters.
The main reason the Mariners have vastly improved this year is because they have completely overhauled their defense. They currently sport arguably the best defensive OF in the majors with Langerhans, Guiterrez, and Ichiro (it was a no doubter with Chavez). They got rid of the suckfest known as Yuni Betancourt and replaced him Cedeno (who can't hit for shit, but plays pretty good D). The pitching staff is largely the same, the reason they look so much better is the defense. The M's top 3 hitters (Ichiro/Branyan/Guti) compare favorably with almost everyone else's 3 best hitters, but the other 6 hitters are wayyy below average. Still, the Mariners have been quite a pleasant suprise and I hope new GM Jack Z continues to work his magic come the trade deadline.
