Injuries to the pitching staff certainly didn’t help the Mariners, who used a franchise-record 40 pitchers. They also were inconsistent in many areas and had too many baserunning mistakes.
For much of this season, the Mariners believed they would be playing on Tuesday, Oct. 3 — the day of the American League wild-card game. The goal for the 2017 season was always to play in the postseason in some fashion.
It was made clear at the Mariners’ pre-spring luncheon in January, reiterated during spring training and mentioned often as the season begun.
The target of the wild-card game was an early season adjustment with the realization that they would never catch the quick, meteoric rise to the top of the American League West standings.