THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: M's headed toward another 'wait 'til next year'

Maybe the Mariners offense will bust out and score a dozen runs this afternoon.

Or not.

I’m a little behind here, writing a column for Wednesday when I don’t know how the M’s fared on Tuesday night.

But the Major League Baseball standings will not undergo a sudden upheaval with the results of one evening.

So, forgive me, yes?

At this moment (prior to the game against Minnesota), Seattle is 27-34 and more or less at the tail end of a battle for the American League’s third and final wild-card spot.

More than a hundred games to play, and already things feel distinctly critical — at least if you were hoping that the Mariners could break that playoff drought that extends back to 2001.

Leaving out teams that look certain to cruise into the postseason (and those that have no chance), the Mariners essentially are in a six-team chase for ONE wild-card spot — and as I type this, they are sixth in that mini-league, five games behind Boston (32-29) at the top.

If you thought Seattle would be far better than this in mid-June, you’re not alone.

IF YOU want a quick, down-and-dirty look at how the Mariners found themselves in this spot, it might sound like whining, but consider …

Injuries.

Sure, there have been individual struggles — Jarred Kelenic is in Tacoma, and last year’s relief wizard, Drew Steckenrider, has been designated for assignment.

But more than anything else, the offense (23rd in MLB at 4.07 runs per game) has been gutted with long and crucial spells on the IL.

It’s true that they thought Kelenic would be somewhere in the middle of the big league order, instead of trying to find his stroke and peace of mind down I-5.

But the Mariners couldn’t have expected Mitch Haniger (39 homers, 100 RBIs last year) to miss months with a high ankle sprain.

Or Kyle Lewis, the 2020 Rookie of the Year, to spend almost an entire season rehabbing from surgery on his right knee, then come back and suffer a concussion when a pitch ricocheted off his arm and clipped his head.

Lewis changes the entire thump of the Mariners order — he’s played just four games so far, has four hits and two home runs.

Or catcher Tom Murphy to get off to a blazing start (.303 batting average) and then dislocate his shoulder.

The Mariners did not figure to have an offense filled with superstars, but it looked like it would be deep and without many weak spots.

That would be a decent recipe to go with a solid pitching rotation (which has lived up to billing, except for Robbie Ray) and a lockdown bullpen.

There have been injuries among key relievers, too, including Casey Sadler (29 straight appearances without allowing a run last year) being out for the year.

But the bullpen has steadied, with Eric Swanson in control of his lights-out stuff, and surprising Penn Murfee almost unhittable so far.

SO, WE’RE back to the offense.

Can a patched-up group, including players getting on-the-job training (Taylor Trammell, Cal Raleigh, Abraham Toro), somehow manage to keep this team afloat?

Ty France is one of the best hitters in baseball, but he needs help.

Rookie sensation Julio Rodriguez eventually will be one of the game’s true superstars, but veteran pitchers are still teaching him the strike zone (painfully), and Julio still tends to expand that zone with runners on base.

Newcomers Jesse Winker and Adam Frazier haven’t hit much, and power source Eugenio Suarez has come just as advertised — some long balls and plenty of strikeouts.

Meanwhile, consider the teams Seattle drew on this current homestand.

Boston sent up Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts in the middle of a tough lineup.

Minnesota offers Luis Arraez (leading the AL at .367), Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa at the top of the order.

Next up will be the Angels, with Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon.

For the Mariners to reach that plateau — where teams genuinely fear facing a lineup that hammers balls off and over fences — the injured bats have to return.

Rodriguez must take another step, and Kelenic needs to manage his first big one.

Winker and Suarez have to produce what they did in Cincinnati.

Put all that together, adding no one to the roster except a productive Kelenic, and you have a playoff lineup.

In other words, I’m sorry, but …

See you in 2023.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three days each week. He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published monthly during the offseason, and weekly beginning in October.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”