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Texas Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis is in the midst of a resurgent campaign at age 36, and it got even better Thursday. He narrowly missed a no-hitter and a perfect game during the Rangers’ 5-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Lewis lost his perfect game when he walked Yonder Alonso in the eighth, his no-hitter when he allowed a double to Max Muncy to start the bottom of the ninth and his shutout when Coco Crisp drove Muncy home on a double.

Although he just missed history, Lewis still pitched a complete game and allowed a single run on two hits. He also struck out four batters and gave up only one walk. ESPN Stats & Info noted it was the first time someone broke up a no-hit bid in the final inning since last season:

Lewis didn’t just post impressive results. He sported good velocity deep into the contest as he stymied the Oakland hitters, as Daren Willman of MLB.com pointed out:

Lewis’ efficiency was almost as impressive as his stat line. Robert Brender of SiriusXM noted the Texas hurler threw only 75 pitches in those first seven innings, and Richard Justice of MLB.com tweeted Lewis was aggressive inside the strike zone:

The Texas offense helped set the tone in the late innings with two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth. Ian Desmond drilled a home run in the seventh, while Adrian Beltre finished with three hits and drove in two runs with a double in the eighth. 

Left fielder Ryan Rua also gave Lewis some help in the eighth with a leaping catch right in front of the wall, but Lewis walked Alonso on four pitches to end the perfect game. 

The no-hitter didn’t last much longer, as Muncy led off the bottom of the ninth with that double:

Lewis was already putting up career numbers through his first 13 starts of the year coming into Thursday, as MLB.com illustrated:

Lewis discussed his efforts after the win:

The Rangers rotation needed a boost after the team recently put Yu Darvish on the disabled list with shoulder discomfort, and Lewis provided that Thursday.

Even with the question marks surrounding Darvish’s health after he missed the 2015 season following Tommy John surgery, the Rangers are in first place in the American League West by 6.5 games. If Lewis continues to pitch at an effective level, Texas will have a formidable rotation that also features Cole Hamels and Martin Perez as it strives to reach the postseason for the second straight year. 

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Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Taijuan Walker left Tuesday’s start against the Tampa Bay Rays with a foot injury. It is unclear when he’ll return to the mound. 

Continue for updates.   

Walker Injury Details Revealed 

Tuesday, June 14

Walker suffered an injury to the tendon in the arch of his foot, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com, who clarified that it wasn’t a Achilles injury, as originally announced by the Mariners. 

The team “hopes” he can make his next start, per Johns. 

Walker Comments on Injury 

Tuesday, June 14

“It’s not as bad as I thought it was,” said Walker after the game, via Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. “It’s just a little tendinitis.”

Mariners Need Walker to Stabilize Rotation 

Buster Olney of ESPN The Magazine noted Walker’s “velocity has dipped to 91-92 [mph] in the fourth inning” after he allowed a home run to Steve Pearce and a triple to Corey Dickerson.

Coming into Tuesday’s start, Walker had 12 appearances with a 3.48 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 63 strikeouts in 67.1 innings pitched. There was steady improvement from his totals in 2015, when he posted a 4.56 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 29 starts.

Despite the better numbers, he has still struggled giving up the long ball. He allowed 25 home runs last year and 12 in his first 67.1 innings this season. Walker also gave up two more homers (Dickerson and Pearce) before exiting the game on Tuesday.

Walker was coming off his best start of the 2016 campaign, which makes the timing of this setback all the more disappointing from Seattle’s perspective. He pitched eight shutout innings and allowed a mere three hits against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday and also struck out 11 batters.

The 23-year-old flashed his overall potential during the dominant start, but Seattle will now have to make do without Walker and Felix Hernandez for the time being. The Mariners recently placed King Felix on the disabled list with a calf injury.

That puts more pressure on Wade Miley and Hisashi Iwakuma to anchor the rotation for Seattle. Iwakuma is a veteran who posted an ERA of 3.54 or lower in each of last four seasons, while Miley is a southpaw who has struggled this season with a 5.28 ERA this season in 13 starts.

Seattle is already chasing the Texas Rangers in the American League West, and it won’t get any easier if Walker misses significant time.

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You can already imagine it on a shelf at your local book store: Better Late Than Never: The Jurickson Profar Story.

The last time I wrote about Profar was in late December, when the topic at hand was whether the Texas Rangers might find a team willing to trade for him as a reclamation project. The young shortstop was a former top prospect, sure, but at that point he was also:

• A player with disappointing results in the majors.
• A player coming off two consecutive lost years due to right shoulder problems.
• A player who had no clear fit on the Rangers’ major league roster.

A trade was never likely, though, for reasons that Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was upfront about in a recent interview.

“Our feeling was, we’ve invested a lot of time in getting him healthy, so let’s see what we have,” Daniels told Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today. “Teams are looking at him like, ‘We have a chance to get a really good player at a discount.’ It didn’t make sense for us.”

Flash-forward a few months, and the payoff from the Rangers’ roll of the dice on Profar is one reason among many they have the American League‘s best record.

After starting 2016 with a strong showing at Triple-A Round Rock, the 23-year-old out of Curacao is hitting .343 and pitching in all over the diamond through 17 major league games. In so doing, he’s looked a lot like the player everyone said he would be one day.

You don’t need to take your DeLorean that far back in time to find when Profar was everyone’s favorite prospect. He was the No. 1 prospect in baseball going into 2013 for Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus, with the consensus being that he was as complete a prospect as anyone could hope for.

Of his bat, BP’s Jason Parks praised the switch-hitting Profar for a “preternatural bat-to-ball ability” as well as “excellent pitch recognition skills/strike zone judgment.” None of this rang true, as Profar hit just .231 through his first 94 major league games. But in 2016, we can say, “Ah, there it is.”

Profar’s 16.4 strikeout percentage is safely below the major league average of 21.2 percent. He entered Monday with just one hit against four breaking balls, according to Brooks Baseball, but he was hitting .333 against fastballs and .429 against off-speed.

From the left side of the plate, where he’s logged most of his at-bats, Profar has also shown an ability to hit pitches on both the inside and outside part of the strike zone:

Mind you, one obvious elephant in the room is the small sample size. And there are two more.

The fact that Profar only has a .370 on-base percentage to go with his .343 batting average highlights that he’s been more aggressive than advertised. That’s making him reliant on batting average on balls in play, and there’s visual evidence (here, here and here) that his .393 BABIP is too good to be true.

A regression may only go so far, however. Profar’s batted ball profile reveals he’s not suppressing his BABIP by hitting a bunch of balls in the air and also that he’s making good use of the whole field. And as Baseball Savant can show, his exit velocity is on the up and up:

If Profar continues on this path, the extra hard contact will only help him maintain a high BABIP. With only two home runs to his name now, it would also lead to more power. That was something else he was supposed to have, as some used to see him as a potential double-digit home run hitter.

In the meantime, all Profar has to do on the other side of the ball is keep doing what he’s been doing.

Baseball America once described Profar as an “electrifying” defender due to his combination of soft hands, wide range and strong arm. With Elvis Andrus at shortstop and Rougned Odor at second base, how the Rangers would find a home for these talents was a good question at the start of the year. 

Their solution, as it turns out, has been to find multiple homes for Profar’s talents. He’s spelled Odor at second, Adrian Beltre at third and even Mitch Moreland at first. And though the defensive metrics claim Profar’s defense has been merely passable, the video tells a different story.

For instance, here’s Profar the second baseman ranging into the hole to rob Francisco Lindor:

And here’s Profar the first baseman making the kind of stretch that few first basemen/regular humans are capable of:

The fact that Profar has been able to do good work with the glove despite not playing a single inning at shortstop is a good sign for the Rangers. It shows he has the talent to expand his horizons beyond his natural position, which is something he may need to keep doing if he wants to stay in the lineup.

With Moreland and Prince Fielder both having poor seasons, it’s conceivable Profar could be used as an everyday first baseman. And to borrow an idea from Cliff Corcoran of Sports Illustrated, Profar logging some time in the outfield could prepare him to fill Ian Desmond’s shoes in center field if free agency takes him elsewhere this winter.

That’s presumably not what the Rangers had in mind when Profar had the look of a future superstar at shortstop a few years ago, but that does not matter in the grand scheme of things. Regardless of his position, they had every reason to hope that Profar would one day be an impact player on both sides of the ball. It took some patience, but he’s finally showing them he can be just that.

Basically, Better Late Than Never: The Jurickson Profar Story. Reserve your copy today.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched Saturday from his next start because of tightness in his neck and shoulder, and was placed on the disabled list Monday. It is uncertain when he’ll return to the mound. 

Continue for updates.

Shoulder Issue Forces Darvish Back to DL

Monday, June 13

Darvish is suffering from “shoulder discomfort,” according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Rangers recalled Alex Claudio from Triple-A to take his spot on the 25-man roster.

Darvish Struggling to Stay Healthy

Darvish missed the entire 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The Rangers took things slowly with his return in 2016, as he didn’t face live hitters until April 13 and didn’t make his first start until May 28 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Darvish is a difference-maker when healthy, as the 29-year-old had a 3.27 ERA and 680 strikeouts in 545.1 innings from 2012-14.

Even a limited Darvish, who could be used as a weapon out of the bullpen later in the year to keep his innings count low, would make Texas exponentially more dangerous. The Seattle Mariners got off to a strong start this season, but the Rangers led the American League West by five games entering Monday.

Texas’ starting rotation has depth with Cole Hamels, Martin Perez, Colby Lewis and Derek Holland in the top four spots. Darvish is a true ace, however, and his return would allow Hamels to slot in as a strong No. 2.

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On Saturday, the Los Angeles Angels drafted the son of one of the best center fielders in the past two decades.

The Halos selected Torii Hunter Jr. in the 23rd round of the MLB draft. His father, a five-time All-Star and nine-time Gold Glove winner, announced the selection:

The younger Hunter just completed his junior season as a wide receiver for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. He played in 13 games while reeling in 363 yards and two touchdowns for the Irish.

On the baseball diamond, however, Hunter didn’t see as much playing time, nor did he put up impressive numbers. He appeared in 19 games but batted .182 while recording only two hits, according to Notre Dame’s athletics website.

Hunter was the second Notre Dame player taken in the MLB draft. The Toronto Blue Jays selected Cavan Biggio, the son of former All-Star Craig Biggio, in the fifth round.

Notre Dame’s Twitter account congratulated Hunter on Saturday:

While this is a big moment for Hunter, his stats show he’s not ready to take on baseball. He’ll be a go-to receiver for the Irish football team next year and may have a brighter immediate future on the gridiron than in the outfield.

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Player: Torii Hunter Jr.

Position: OF

DOB: June 7, 1995 (21 years old)

Height/Weight: 6’2″, 180 lbs

Bats/Throws: R/R

School: Notre Dame

Previously Drafted: 2013 (36th round, DET)

Background

A 4-star wide receiver recruit out of high school, per 247Sports, Torii Hunter Jr. opted to honor his commitment to play football at Notre Dame despite the Detroit Tigers selecting him in the 36th round of the 2013 MLB draft.

Hunter Jr. caught 71 passes for 1,235 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior at Prosper High School in Texas, and ESPN ranked him as the No. 95 prospect in the nation.

However, he suffered a broken leg during practice for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and wound up missing his freshman season with the Fighting Irish as a result.

Once he was healthy, he appeared in 10 games in 2014, making seven receptions for 65 yards and one touchdown before stepping into a bigger role this past fall.

For a Notre Dame team that went 10-3 and earned a trip to the Fiesta Bowl, Hunter Jr. hauled in 28 receptions for 363 yards and two  touchdowns.

Now with first-round pick Will Fuller (62 catches, 1,258 yards, 14 TDs) joining the NFL and both Chris Brown (48 catches, 597 yards, 4 TDs) and Amir Carlisle (31 catches, 355 yards, 1 TD) graduated, Hunter Jr. ranks as the team’s leading returning receiver heading into the 2016 season.

Following that breakout performance on the gridiron, Hunter Jr. made the decision to try out for the baseball team this spring.

He hit .393 with six home runs, 27 RBI and 13 stolen bases during his junior year of high school, per UND.com, but missed his senior season while recovering from the aforementioned broken leg.

He’s been used sparingly this spring as he continues to shake off the rust. He appeared in 19 games and went 2-for-11 with seven runs scored and two stolen bases.

Pick Analysis

Hunter Jr. has the bloodlines as the son of 19-year MLB veteran and five-time All-Star Torii Hunter.

He’s on scholarship to play football, but the youngest Hunter grew up playing baseball, so it’s no surprise that he wanted to get back at it now that his leg injury is behind him.

“Growing up, I played a lot of baseball because of who my dad is,” Hunter Jr. said in a video on the Notre Dame YouTube channel. “I wanted to continue it after high school even though I received a football scholarship.”

So how exactly does his superior athleticism translate to the baseball diamond?

“Even when we watched him in high school, he was a kid that could go get the ball in the outfield,” Notre Dame baseball coach Mik Aoki said in the aforementioned video. “I think he could provide game-changing-type speed on the bases in terms of looking to steal, going first to third, first to home, that sort of stuff.”

That may not make him a future All-Star, but if Hunter Jr. doesn’t have the opportunity to play football at the highest level, he has the tools and upside to get a chance at pursuing a baseball career.

Pro Comparison: Kenny Lofton

All right, hear me out.

During his time at the University of Arizona, Kenny Lofton made a name for himself not on the baseball field but on the basketball court.

Serving as the Wildcats’ backup point guard, Lofton teamed with future NBA players Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Jud Buechler, Tom Tolbert and Anthony Cook to help lead the Wildcats to a Final Four appearance in 1988.

Despite his role as a reserve, he still made an impact, averaging 4.9 points, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

That spring, he tried out for the baseball team, and despite appearing in just five games and recording just one plate appearance, he showed enough raw talent for the Houston Astros to select him in the 17th round.

Lofton would go on to establish himself as one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball history over the course of a 17-year career.

He racked up 2,428 hits and 622 stolen bases (15th on the all-time list) while making the All-Star Game six times and winning four Gold Gloves.

Now that sort of finished product is an absolute best-case scenario as far as Hunter is concerned, but it’s an intriguing comparison nonetheless.

Projection: Fourth outfielder, pinch runner, defensive replacement

Major League ETA: 2021

Chances of Signing: 20 percent

Hunter has a chance to be a breakout star this season for the Notre Dame football team as the leading candidate to take over as the No. 1 receiver. That should be enough to keep him on campus, and even if he does wind up going the baseball route, he stands to significantly boost his stock with more action on the diamond next spring.

All college stats courtesy of The Baseball Cube, unless otherwise noted, and current through Wednesday, June 8.

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Player: Kyle Lewis

Position: OF

DOB: July 13, 1995 (20 years old)

Height/Weight: 6’4″, 210 lbs

Bats/Throws: R/R

School: Mercer

Previously Drafted: Never drafted

Background

Believe it or not, unheralded Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, with its 4,500-odd undergraduates, has had a total of 32 players selected in the MLB draft over the years.

The best of the bunch has been current Oakland A’s center fielder Billy Burns, who was a 32nd-round pick in 2011, while the highest draft pick in school history was shortstop Pat Creech, who went No. 32 overall back in 1973.

That is, until Kyle Lewis came along.

A role player who saw just 89 at-bats as a freshman, Lewis exploded with a .367/.423/.677 line last year that included 19 doubles, 17 home runs and 56 RBI.

That strong performance was enough to put him on the prospect map, but there were still questions about how his game would translate against a higher level of competition.

Situations like that are exactly what the Cape Cod League was created for, as it gives scouts a chance to see the best college baseball has to offer squaring off head-to-head.

Playing for the Orleans Firebirds last summer, Lewis hit .300/.344/.500 with seven doubles, seven home runs and 24 RBI.

With that, he was thrust into the first-round conversation, and his stock has only continued to climb with a monster junior campaign.

The slugging outfielder is currently hitting an outrageous .395/.535/.731 with 11 doubles, 20 home runs and 72 RBI.

Just as impressively, he’s raised his walk rate from 7.5 percent last year to 21.9 percent this season. A lot of that is pitchers working around him, but a willingness to take a free pass is a promising sign from a player who does have some swing-and-miss to his game.

Pick Analysis

A 6’4″ slugger with huge collegiate numbers and impressive raw power is a clear first-round talent, but there are some concerns with Lewis, namely whether or not the many moving parts to his swing will lead to problems against better pitching at the next level. 

As MLB.com’s Prospect Watch put it, his swing “is busier than most scouts would like,” but it’s hard to argue with the results.

Baseball America pegged Lewis as the No. 4 prospect in this year’s class, offering up the following insights:

Lewis is a right-handed hitter with plus-plus raw power. He has some swing-and-miss to his game, and his swing plane can be somewhat steep, but he’s developed a reputation for destroying mistake pitches and working at-bats until he gets the pitch he’s looking for.

Lewis plays center field at Mercer and is likely to begin his pro career in center, but most feel that his tools will play better in right field.

Lewis posts below-average run times to first base, reaching the bag between 4.3 and 4.6 seconds regularly, but his speed is better under way and some scouts like his defensive instincts. Should he have to move away from center, Lewis should fit well in right due to his excellent arm, which scouts have graded above-average to plus.

As long as he can make the necessary adjustments at the next level, his power should carry him, and he has a chance to be a legitimate 30-homer threat if everything falls into place.

Pro Comparison: Justin Upton

A tempting comparison here is Minnesota Twins prospect Adam Brett Walker, who has a loud power tool and a similar frame and also did his college work at a small school in Jacksonville University.

Lewis is a far superior prospect, though.

He has a much more advanced approach at the plate and is light-years better defensively, as Walker is a first baseman by trade and still trying to learn the outfield.

Instead, someone like Justin Upton seems to provide a reasonable glimpse into what Lewis’ eventual ceiling could wind up being. Both are big, strong outfielders with plus raw power and a willingness to take a walk, despite having some swing-and-miss in the repertoire as well.

Lewis probably won’t be a double-digit steal threat, while Upton has stolen at least 18 bases five different times, but they are both solid athletes.

Defensively, Upton has always profiled better in left field, so Lewis actually has a chance to be the better player in that respect.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to the power tool with both players.

Lewis is capable of being a perennial 25-30-homer threat in the middle of someone’s lineup, and as long as his swing mechanics play, he won’t be a drain in the average department by any means, either.

That’s exactly the type of player Upton has developed into, and it earned him a $132.75 million payday this past winter.

Projection: Starting right fielder, middle-of-the-order run-producer

Major League ETA: 2019

Chances of Signing: 99 percent

The questions about the level of competition Lewis faced in college weren’t enough to send him down draft boards, and he’ll be cashing in as a result.

All college stats courtesy of The Baseball Cube, unless otherwise noted, and current through Wednesday, June 8.

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Player: A.J. Puk

Position: LHP

DOB: April 25, 1995 (21 years old)

Height/Weight: 6’7″, 230 lbs

Bats/Throws: L/L

School: Florida

Previously Drafted: 2013 (35th Round, DET)

Background

A.J. Puk possesses the all the tools to be a front-line starter at the highest level, which has made his inconsistent play at the University of Florida that much more confounding.

Ranked as the No. 85 prospect in the 2013 draft class by Baseball America, he slipped to the 35th round due to signability concerns and ended up in Gainesville.

After being used primarily out of the bullpen during his freshman season, he joined the Gators rotation as a sophomore and quickly established himself as one to watch at the top of the 2016 draft class.

He finished the season 9-4 with a 3.81 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 78.0 innings, turning it on late to earn SEC All-Tournament Team and Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team spots thanks to a pair of postseason gems.

Puk’s junior season got off to a slow start, and he saw his stock begin to slip a bit, but he rounded into form as the spring wore on and once again asserted himself as the top college arm in the country in terms of draft stock and upside.

In 15 starts for the Gators, he’s gone 2-3 with a 3.21 ERA, 1.157 WHIP and .195 opponent batting average. He’s struck out 95 batters and walked 31 in 70.0 innings of work. It’s been a bit of a mixed bag, as his 12.2 K/9 opens eyes, but so does his 4.0 BB/9, and for the wrong reasons.

At any rate, 6’7″ lefties with power stuff and ace upside aren’t exactly a dime a dozen, and Puk has done more than enough this season to keep the hype train rolling.

Pick Analysis

With a three-pitch repertoire that can be overpowering at times and the big frame to be a workhorse, continued improvement in the command department will ultimately be what determines just how good Puk can be.

Baseball America provided the following scouting report:

Puk was inconsistent at the start of the season and was briefly sidelined by back spasms. But he has since rounded into form and again looks the part of dominant starter.

Puk throws his fastball in the mid to upper 90s and thanks to the downhill angle and the excellent extension his 6-foot-7 frame enables him to get, the pitch plays up even further. Puk’s slider and changeup both could use further refinement, but both have a chance to develop into average offerings. His slider sits in the mid-80s with horizontal sweeping action, though it can sometimes back up.

Puk repeats his arm slot well and gets his torso over his front side consistently. When he stays balanced and online, he is very difficult for hitters to square up, even if they make contact. He throws a lot of strikes, particularly for someone of his size, and can locate his fastball to both sides of the plate.

There are probably safer picks among this year’s crop of college arms, but none have the upside of Puk, who could wind up being the marquee player from this class 10 years from now.

MLB Player Comparison: Andrew Miller

The hope will be that Puk takes a smoother path to contributing than Andrew Miller did, but there are certainly worse players to be compared to.

Miller was the No. 6 selection in the 2006 draft with hopes that he would quickly emerge as a front-line starter. However, he entered the 2012 season with a 5.79 ERA and 1.750 WHIP in 359.1 career innings, and the Boston Red Sox made the career-changing decision to move him to the bullpen full-time.

He’s taken since making the transition and parlayed a terrific 2014 season into a four-year, $36 million deal with the New York Yankees.

Just like Puk, Miller is a 6’7″ left-hander who generates plenty of swings-and-misses with a mid-90s fastball and a plus slider.

Puk will be given every chance to stick as a starter, but the best player to compare him to right now appears to be one of the game’s premier relievers.

Projection: Ace-caliber starter if he continues to display plus command, late-inning reliever if he doesn’t.

Major League ETA: 2020

Chances of Signing: 99 percent

Even with an inconsistent performance in his junior season, Puk has consistently been viewed as one of the elite arms of this year’s class. It’s hard to see him boosting his stock or making himself more money with a return to Florida.

All college stats courtesy of The Baseball Cube, unless otherwise noted, and current through Wednesday, June 8.

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Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tim Lincecum is bound to make his debut with the club soon enough, but he said Tuesday he’ll have one more outing for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees before returning to the MLB level.

FanDuel’s Jessica Kleinschmidt provided the update from Lincecum on his future:   

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported Tuesday the Angels will decide within “the next day or two” who their starting pitcher will be for Sunday’s road game against the Oakland Athletics.

The 31-year-old veteran pitched five innings in his first start for Salt Lake, yielding three hits, three earned runs and three walks to go with five strikeouts, per MiLB.com.

It’s therefore understandable he’d want to get more competitive reps under his belt before making his opening start for the Angels. However, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez pointed out how Lincecum showed marked improvement in his second Triple-A outing on Tuesday:

Lincecum was a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner with the San Francisco Giants and was a part of three World Series championship teams. Unfortunately, degenerative hip issues that required surgery last September caused his form to fall off in recent years.

There’s no getting around the fact Los Angeles is in dire need of help in its starting pitching rotation, though.

Nick Tropeano became the fifth Angels starter to be currently dealing with an injury when he went on the disabled list Saturday with shoulder tightness.

The circumstances may well have Lincecum on the fast track to the big leagues without other experienced options for L.A. to plug in. If Lincecum is healthy, he could provide a desperately needed spark to the Angels staff.

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For fans of a Seattle Mariners franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2001, doubt is a part of daily life.

Disbelief underscored the start of the 2016 season after the organization underwent a massive overhaul, with nearly half of the roster being replaced in the offseason and changes being made to the coaching staff.

This was supposed to be a year of transition for the organization. And maybe it still is, if you consider the categorical definition: Seattle has transitioned into a winner.

But more than semantics, it’s important to acknowledge this Mariners team, which stood four games out of first place in the American League West as of Tuesday morning, should inspire belief in those who have made doubting the organization a personal hobby the last 15 years.

The AL West is getting more competitive than it was the first month of the season. The division-leading Texas Rangers recently got top-of-the-rotation pitcher Yu Darvish back after Tommy John surgery, and a talented, burgeoning Houston Astros team that lost to the Kansas City Royals in the 2015 American League Division Series is playing better after a horrendous start to the season.

But more competition in the division doesn’t mean the Mariners won’t remain competitive.

Through Sunday’s games, the Mariners ranked fourth in MLB with 287 runs scored. Their offense has not been the class of baseball, but it has been in the upper echelon, ranking 10th in batting average (.262) and fifth in slugging percentage (.440). Seattle ranks second in baseball with 82 home runs.

But most importantly, the Mariners have received timely hitting, as they lead MLB with 26 homers with runners in scoring position. Their .477 slugging percentage in that circumstance ranks sixth in MLB.

The Mariners come up big in the game’s biggest moments. Think of the Seattle offense like your friend who fades into the background on a regular night out but is a key player in a Vegas bachelor or bachelorette party.

The team’s pitching staff has done its part, too: As of Sunday’s games, the Mariners ranked ninth in ERA (3.80) and 10th in WHIP (1.26). The staff has been able to maintain its play with ace Felix Hernandez on the disabled list since June 1.

But the team’s bullpen has been the hallmark of this Seattle renaissance.

Through Sunday’s games, the Mariners bullpen ranked third in ERA (2.94) and batting average against (.214). The Royals just won a World Series largely because they had baseball’s best bullpen. As of Sunday, Kansas City’s bullpen ranked first in ERA.

So naturally, other organizations have tried to mimic the Royals’ formula. This offseason, we saw several teams chase well-regarded bullpen arms. Examples include the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees trading for Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman, respectively.

Teams are always searching for bullpen help. It has proved to be baseball’s most elusive asset—have one, and it nearly guarantees you will be competitive.

As of Sunday, teams in the top five in bullpen ERA—which also included the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals—were either leading their divisions or holding second place.

Of course, the Seattle cynics are still singing with the panache of the Harlem Gospel Choir: Sure, we all know what the Mariners have done, but can they keep it up?

After all, USA Today had the Mariners winning only 77 games. Sports Illustrated predicted Seattle would only win 76 games. 

Offensively, the Mariners’ high OBP is more a matter of habit—the team has players with a discerning eye—than it is a skill with the potential to slump. So they should continue to put runners on base, with the opportunity for the team’s power bats to drive them in.

And the Mariners haven’t experienced a sudden power surge this season. Those who are driving in runs have proved capable in previous years.

So why wouldn’t they be able to continue that in 2016?

After seeing his season-ending slugging percentage dip below the .500s his first two seasons in Seattle, second baseman Robinson Cano is hitting .289/.348/.570 with 16 homers so far this year. In the five seasons prior to his signing as a free agent with the Mariners, Cano’s slugging percentage was above .500. Third baseman Kyle Seager and right fielder Nelson Cruz, who combined to hit 70 homers in 2015, had 10 and 13 homers, respectively, as of Sunday.

One big difference between this year and last is that the power bats weren’t hitting well with men on base in 2015. Seattle ranked 28th last year in OBP with runners on (.318 OBP) compared to 10th this season (.342).

But no statistic should excite Seattle about its potential in 2016 more than this: The team’s relievers had only thrown 171.1 innings through Sunday. That is only 26 more innings than the MLB-leading Cubs, who had played three fewer games.

That means Seattle’s bullpen will be fresh for its playoff push.

No team in the AL West has had a more effective bullpen. And no team in the division has used its relievers less than Seattle.

Too much losing has tormented Seattle’s fans. A negative mentality is understandable, if not warranted, in many cases. The franchise tied a record with 116 wins in 2001 but lost in the ALCS. The Mariners won 93 games in each of the following two seasons but missed the playoffs.  

But this season, it’s time for Mariners nation to stop biting its nails. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Because every indication is that the team’s going somewhere in 2016.

Seth Gruen is national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth by following him on Twitter @SethGruen.

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