The statement couldn't be argued with, unless you were to contend that it was too generous.
It came July 20 of this year, when Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto was discussing his team's approach to the deadline.
"It's a very average offensive team, and we have to find a way to become better than average," Dipoto said.
Better than average? Um ... how about the best in baseball?
That might sound like hyperbole, but you could make a case that the M's offense has been MLB's best since Dipoto spoke those words. The Braves might have something to say about that, but the analytics are right there.
Heading into Saturday's game vs. the Royals, the Mariners were first in MLB in weighted runs created-plus (wRC+) — a FanGraphs.com stat that measures total offense — since July 20. The Mariners had a wRC+ of 136 compared to Atlanta's 133, and a WAR of 9.9 compared to the Braves' 9.3. And this was before Saturday's 15-2 thrashing, in which they tied a franchise record with seven home runs.
As for the more traditional stats: The Mariners were second to the Braves in batting average (.281), on-base percentage (.360) and slugging percentage (.480) since the aforementioned date — and the Braves have one of the greatest offenses in league history.
No, this level of play is not sustainable for the rest of the season. But as the Mariners (73-56) sit atop of the American League West, something that was inconceivable a month ago, it's worth noting that this group was 23rd in OPS before the All-Star break and have been second since.
"You go home at night and you can't wait to get to the ballpark the next day," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "This game can get contagious when you're going good offensively and that's what we're seeing."
It really is coming from everywhere. Second-year sensation Julio Rodriguez's OPS climbed from .707 on July 21 to .809 after Saturday. Catcher Cal Raleigh's jumped from .698 on July 20 to .787.
Teoscar Hernandez — who hit a grand slam Saturday — has watched his numbers surge over the past month, as have Ty France and Eugenio Suarez.
The trade deadline additions from the Diamondbacks — Josh Rojas and Dominic Canzone — have contributed as well despite the former struggling all season in Arizona and the latter having played in just 15 MLB games before arriving.
Better put: The Mariners are tied with the Blue Jays for the best ERA in baseball, but the offense has moved the pitching off the cover.
Could you have seen this coming?
"I don't know if anybody could see what we're doing now, because I feel like it's that special," said Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert, who picked up his 12th win Saturday.
Some might argue that these numbers are coming against MLB bottom feeders such as the Royals and the White Sox. Sure, that helps — but the Mariners also put up 17 combined runs in their two weekend games vs. the Astros last week, had a nine-run game vs. the Orioles the week before and another nine-runner vs. the Angels at the beginning of the month. In the process, the M's have gone from what seemed like one of the most disappointing teams in franchise history to a team that, according to FanGraphs, has a near 80% chance of making the playoffs.
Hernandez said Saturday that he and his teammates would regularly affirm the idea that the offense would improve when it was near its low point.
"We trust in each other," Hernandez said. "Every conversation that we have together as a group, we say things like that — that at some point everything was going to come together."
The engine behind this turnaround has been Rodriguez, who for three months seemed to have regressed from his 2022 AL Rookie of the Year season. Now, with 22 home runs and 35 stolen bases, he looks primed to surpass last year's output.
But this offensive run has been a collective effort that is helping to pack T-Mobile Park (there were 41,744 paid attendees Saturday) and give it a playofflike atmosphere. The first-place Mariners, winners of 18 of their last 22 and 40 of their last 56, are getting just as much production from the bats as they are the arms. Who would have thunk it?
Not many. Perhaps not any.
This offense is a long way from average. To the point that a double-digit run total is beginning to feel like an average day.
