If you had told me at the beginning of the season that at the all-star break, the Seattle Mariners would be 46-42 and four games out of first place with noted baseball luminaries like Russell Branyan, David Aardsma, Rob Johnson and Chris Shelton playing key roles, I’d probably still be laughing.

But that’s where we are; somehow, the Mariners have exceeded all expectations to become, arguably, the second-best story during the first half of the baseball season (San Francisco’s inexplicable success would be tops), thanks to a mystifying mix of grit, pitching and managing savvy. I’m not really sure how they’re doing it, or if it can last, but this has been a remarkable 88-game run.

And so, here are the Mariners’ first-half grades:

Starting pitching: No one really knew what to expect outside of Felix Hernandez, so the fact that the Mariners’ starters are tops in the A.L. with a 3.77 ERA is stunning considering that Seattle was ready to give up on Jarrod Washburn, looking to deal Erik Bedard and hoping that Carlos Silva would go away.

Felix is finally living up to his ace billing, thanks to some very timely prodding (more on that later), Washburn has been the kind of pitcher Bill Bavasi was hoping to get when he inked him to that $40 million deal, and Bedard has been effective during his short bursts on the hill.

Even the guys that have been shoehorned into the starter role (Garrett Olson, Jason Vargas, etc.) have been somewhat effective, more than making up for Seattle’s inadequacies on offense. Washburn and Bedard have certainly increased their trade value, but the M’s may be loathe to deal them at this point. Grade: A

Relief pitching: Again, another aspect of the team that came out of nowhere, the Mariners took a castoff (Aardsma) and turned him into one of the league’s elite closers. Miguel Batista, seemingly a lost cause as a starter, has reinvented himself as a top-shelf short relief guy. Sean White and Mark Lowe have been lights out.

The Mariners have become one of those teams that can have a pitcher go six solid innings and then essentially lock the game down with those four pitchers, a luxury that about 25 other teams wish they had.

The only concern surrounds Brandon Morrow, who was OK out of the bullpen, struggled as a starter, and was recently sent down to Tacoma to straighten things out. Grade: A-

Offense: The Achilles’ heel of the team. No one expected the M’s to be putting up Rangers-type numbers, but saying Seattle’s offense is feeble would be the understatement of the year.

The Mariners rank at or near the bottom in the league in nearly every offensive category. If not for Ichiro and Branyan, they’d be completely lost. Franklin Gutierrez has picked up the pace over the last few weeks, but even that offensive boost has been minor.

If the Mariners decide they are buyers, it’s imperative they find a power bat to help protect Branyan in the lineup, because the Griffey, Sweeney and (while he was playing) Beltre combo is not working. Grade: C-

Manager: The hiring of Don Wakamatsu wasn’t met with wild feelings either way – nobody knew a whole lot about him, so everyone took a wait-and-see approach. Turns out that Wakamatsu might be one of the savviest managerial hires ever.

He has pushed all the right buttons, from keeping the veteran Griffey happy to motivating (and gently chiding) Felix to juggling a lineup that has been crippled by injury, all while keeping an even keel. It’s been an impressive debut, but we’ll see how he continues to grow during the dog days of summer. Grade: A+

Overall: I don’t think anyone could be anything but thrilled by what the M’s have accomplished in the first half. Yes, they have some holes – poor defense, not much hitting – but their pitching has been outstanding, and that can take you a long way.

Can they keep it up? Will they make a move or stand pat? Will the breaks they’ve gotten away with during the first half suddenly disappear? Will Branyan’s miraculous first-half peter out? Do they have enough to catch Texas and Los Angeles?

Those answers will play out over the second half of the season, and while I think the M’s are too flawed to be in the pennant chase come September, I didn’t think they’d be where they are right now, so anything is possible. Grade: B