The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.The Mariners are starting to take control of the AL West. Plus: Players will not stop inventing new ways to hurt themselves, the Pirates are climbing the Power Rankings and we have a “new” definition of a check swing. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!Heating Up: Seattle’s seven-game win streakWhen last we checked in on the Mariners, they were working out how to cram six starters into a five-man rotation (aka, doing a reverse Cubs). But while the rest of the AL West has continued to squirm through the 2026 season in fits and starts, the Mariners have begun to establish themselves as the team to beat.
As recently as May 24, the M’s were 25-29 and trailed the A’s by 2 1/2 games in the division. Since then, they’ve gone on a seven-game winning streak, including sweeps of the Diamondbacks and those very same A’s.
After last night’s win over the Mets, they’re 32-29 and hold the division lead.
That’s still worse than, for example, the White Sox and Pirates. But in the AL West, that’s good enough for a 2 1/2 game lead over the Rangers.
The Mariners have been winning with maximum fun, too. Last night’s 3-2 win was a walk-off in the 10th inning. That’s their third 10th-inning walk-off in four nights!Any winning streak is going to take contributions from up and down the roster, but the key to the Mariners’ success — both now and in the future — really lies in the rotation. Since May 1, Seattle ranks third in the sport in fWAR by starting pitchers, at 3.6.Ahead of them? Only Jacob Misiorowski’s Brewers and Cristopher Sánchez’s Phillies.The biggest surprise might be last night’s starter, Emerson Hancock, who has emerged from the shadows of the Puget Sound (and of the George Kirbys and Logan Gilberts) to become perhaps the Mariners’ best starter. Our Andrea Arcadipane has a video here with the adjustments that Hancock has made, including a lower arm slot and a change in the shape of his sinker.Middle Relief: Will Pirates end Silver Slugger drought?In this week’s Power Rankings, the crew tried to identify a potential award winner on each of the 30 teams. For our No. 8 team, the Pirates, Johnny Flores Jr. picked Brandon Lowe as a candidate for the NL Silver Slugger. Here’s an excerpt from Johnny: Let me preface this by saying Konnor Griffin will almost certainly get down-ballot Rookie of the Year votes, and counting out Paul Skenes for the Cy Young would be ill-advised.Instead, allow me to highlight a rare drought that could end this season.The Pirates have not had a Silver Slugger winner since Andrew McCutchen in 2015. It’s the longest active drought for that award among all teams. Even the Rockies, White Sox and Marlins have had a more recent winner than Pittsburgh.The only Pirate to win at second base was one Johnny Ray in 1983. Brandon Lowe can change that, but it’s going to take a strong finish.Among qualified NL second basemen, the fWAR leaderboards look like this:Xavier Edwards: 2.6JJ Wetherholt: 2.5Brandon Lowe: 2.3 In wRC+:Edwards: 148Lowe: 142Brice Turang: 137Lowe leads everyone in homers and slugging percentage by a comfortable margin. Edwards isn’t going anywhere, and neither is Wetherholt, making the Silver Slugger yet another fascinating awards race in the NL.
