The Seattle Mariners are in 3rd place in the A.L. West with a 43-48 record which has them 7.5 games behind the Rangers. They are also 11 games behind the Yankees for the Wild Card in the A.L. The Mariners’ pitching staff has been outstanding so far this year as they have compiled a 3.25 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP as a team! Those are eye popping numbers! But as good as the pitching has been, the hitting has been awful! The Mariners are only averaging 3.3 runs per game so far this year as they are hitting .224 with a .621 OPS as a team! That’s just not going to get the job done. Here is a look at the players who are making the biggest impacts with the Mariners so far this year:

Team MVP: With the Mariners playing so many close games this year, the closer has had a very important role. David Aardsma has been injured the whole year and 28-year old righty reliever Brandon League has taken over as the closer. League has been impressive this year as he was selected for the All-Star team by Rangers’ manager Ron Washington. League has pitched in 39 games (0 starts) for the Mariners so far this year and he is 1-4 with 23 saves, a 3.44 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.

Biggest Surprise: 32-year old lefty starting pitcher Erik Bedard came into this season with low expectations due to injuries every year since coming to Seattle. But, he’s looking like his old self so far this year. Bedard has started 15 games for the Mariners so far this year and he is 4-6 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has only given up 74 hits in 90 innings so far this year with 85 whiffs and 26 walks. Bedard looks all the way back, the Mariners just hope he can stay healthy in the second half of the year.

Biggest Disappointment: This is a tie between 33-year old switch-hitting 3B Chone Figgins and 28-year old righty swinging CF Franklin Gutierrez. Figgins has played in 71 games for the Mariners so far this year and he is 48 for 262 (.183 avg, .476 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 1 homer, 14 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. The Mariners are running out of patience with Figgins as they have banished him to the bench. Gutierrez started the season late to severe stomach problems. He has played in 45 games for the Mariners so far this year and he is 28 for 150 (.187 avg, .445 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Eric Wedge’s patience has to running a little thin with Gutierrez now too.

The Mariners went into Oakland and they beat them 2 out of 3 over the weekend. The Mariners outscored the A’s only 12-11, so they were using small ball on offense, defense and pitching to win. This is the style the Mariners are going to have to play because they don’t have much power in the batting order. The Mariners new motto should be “Win Ugly” because that’s exactly what most of their wins this year are going to look like.

Many “experts” picked the Mariners as their darkhorse in the A.L. West. They were very wrong! The Mariners finished up the first half of the season with a 35-53 record which has them in last place in the A.L. West, 15 games behind the Rangers. It has not all been bad for the Mariners so here’s a lot at the surprises and disappointments for the Mariners in the first half of the year:

Pleasant Surprises: The Mariners didn’t expect much out of 27-year old lefty starting pitcher Jason Vargas but he has been outstanding so far this year. Vargas has started 17 games for the Mariners this year and he is 6-4 with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. 26-year old righty starting pitcher Doug Fister looked decent at the end of 2009. He has been very solid in 2010 for the Mariners. Fister has started 13 games for the Mariners so far this season and he is 3-4 with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. 29-year old SS Josh Wilson started the season in the minors but he took over as the starter at SS when Jack Wilson got injured. Josh Wilson has played in 56 games for the Mariners this year and he is 50 of 189 (.265 avg, .663 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 1 homer, 14 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. 36-year old DH Mike Sweeney has been solid for the Mariners, when healthy. He has played in 30 games for the Mariners this season and he is 26 of 99 (.263 avg, .802 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 6 homers, 18 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.

Disappointments: The Mariners sure have a lot of guys who fit this description but I will only list the Top Five. 32-year old switch hitting 2B Chone Figgins was supposed to give the Mariners an awesome 1-2 punch at the top of the order with Ichiro…but that hasn’t happened yet. Figgins has played in 87 games for the Mariners this year and he is 75 of 319 (.235 avg, .608 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 0 homers, 22 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. 27-year old lefty swinging Casey Kotchman has been so bad at first base that the Mariners traded for two guys to replace him in Russell Branyan and Justin Smoak. Kotchman has played in 69 games for the Mariners this year and he is 47 of 216 (.218 avg, .670 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 7 homers and 29 RBIs. Ken Griffey Jr. was so awful ths season for the Mariners that he decided to retire so he could catch up on his sleep. Griffey played in 33 games in his last year with the Mariners and he was 18 of 98 (.184 avg, .454 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 0 homers and 7 RBIs. 32-year old switch hitting OF Milton Bradley was supposed to really help the offense in 2010 but it hasn’t turned out that way. Bradley has played in 62 games for the Mariners this year and he is 44 of 210 (.210 avg, .661 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 8 homers, 28 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. 28-year old righty reliever David Aardsma had a breakout 2009 as the Mariners’ closer. But he has been awful this year for the Mariners. Aardsma has pitched in 31 games (0 starts) for the Mariners this year and he was 0-6 with 16 saves, a 5.40 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP.

The Mariners are 6-7 on the season which has them tied for 2nd place in the A.L. West with the Angels, 2.5 games behind the A’s. The Mariners have been outscored 50-45 this season as they still aren’t hitting the ball which has caused them to waste some pretty good pitching. The Mariners play three games at home against the Orioles before traveling to Chicago this coming up weekend for a 3 game set against the White Sox. Those two teams have a combined record of 6-20 on the season so the Mariners appear to be catching both of them at the right time.

The Mariners are now 2-5 on the season which has them tied for last place in the A.L. West with the Angels, 3 games behind the A’s. The Mariners have been outscored 35-21 so far this season as they have not pitched or hit well this year. The Mariners hope that some home cooking will give the Mariners a jolt this week. The host the A’s for three games starting tonight and then they hook up with the Tigers for three games this coming up weekend.