Commentary: Next seven games will determine success or failure of 2023 Mariners

The time is now, Mariners. Validate your plan. Justify your worthiness of a fanbase that sticks with you through good times and bad.

Whatever it took to get here, whatever has happened good or bad, the next seven days is a season-defining week for the Seattle Mariners – one that will determine success or failure when it comes to this year’s team.

The M’s start a seven-game homestand tonight. They’re three games out of the divisional lead, and most importantly, they’re just a half-game out of a Wild Card playoff spot. After the way last season ended, the bare minimum expectation going into this year was another postseason berth. Anything short of that is simply unacceptable.

Everything that’s happened this season up until now evens out: From the miserable start to the year to the incredible month of August that featured the best record in a calendar month in franchise history. It has all led to this huge opportunity.

And the fact of the matter is, all seven of these games are at home against divisional rivals. Most of them are sold out. They’re quasi-playoff games to begin with, and I can promise you, if last year’s Game 3 against Houston is any indication, the atmosphere and support won’t be lacking. M’s fans are amped up for the week ahead. And there’s no excuse for this team to not to be prepared for this moment.

Listen, nothing impresses me more than the long-suffering Mariners fan who stays optimistic through the rough times and always looks at the M’s through rose-colored glasses. And yes, whatever happens this week, I agree, the future still looks bright.

But we also can’t treat this team with kid gloves, relative to the other teams in this market.

Case-in-point: The Mariners making the playoffs last year was voted Sports Story of the YEAR at the annual Sports Star of the Year Awards. And sure, it was a big deal to break a postseason drought of more than 20 years. But I can’t ever remember another local team winning sports story of the year for reaching the divisional round of the playoffs. That’s standard for the Seahawks or Sounders or Storm – even the Kraken reached the conference semifinals last year.

In fact, I had Kraken players this week at training camp tell me how inspirational it was to watch the Mariners last fall – they saw how well this city can support a team even before their own amazing playoff run this spring.

Which is why every player in that clubhouse has a responsibility to get the job done this week. It’s time to stop attributing failures on growing pains. Houston’s not the juggernaut it once was. Texas is not a world-beater either. And you get both of them, seven straight nights, in the friendliest atmosphere there is.

What I’m saying is: The time is now, Mariners. Validate your plan. Justify your worthiness of a fanbase that sticks with you through good times and bad.

The spotlight is on you for the next seven days. Please, just make it all count.