Mariners well-armed, but need more bats for extended playoff run

Past the midway point of the regular season, marquis Mariner Julio Rodriguez is hitting only .247 with seven homers and 29 RBIs

SEATTLE — How are the Seattle Mariners doing it?

With magic? Smoke and mirrors?

It’s really no secret why the Mariners — who lost 5-3 to Minnesota Sunday at T-Mobile Park —are leading the American League West by 3 games over Houston heading into a three-game home series with Baltimore beginning Tuesday night.

It’s pitching. And pitching. Also, pitching.

“The Mariners have the best starting rotation in the American League, and one of the best in baseball,” says broadcaster Rick Rizzs, who has been calling Seattle games for 39 years. “They also have a very strong bullpen. They just have to figure out how to score a few more runs. The offense has struggled this year.”

Anemic would not be an inappropriate adjective to describe the Seattle offense through the first half of the regular season.

Statistics tell the story. Through Sunday play, the 47-39 Mariners ranked:

• Last in MLB in batting average (.218).

• Last in hits per game (7.1).

• Last in most strikeouts per game (10.2).

• 27th of the 30 teams in runs scored per game (3.9).

• 26th in slugging percentage (.366) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.664).

• 25th in on-base percentage (.298).

The outlier is home runs, where Seattle has clubbed 93 in 86 games, 11th-most in the majors. Nine players have seven or more, led by Cal Raleigh (14) and Mitch Garver (10), who share the catcher and designated hitter roles. But Raleigh is batting .202 and Garver .172.

Of the 11 Mariners with more than 100 at-bats this season, eight players are hitting .232 or lower. In Sunday’s starting lineup, the leading hitter was third baseman Josh Rojas at .258.

The biggest puzzle is centerfielder Julio Rodriguez, the centerpiece of the Seattle offense the previous two seasons and, at 23, already a two-time All-Star.

In 2022, Rodriguez hit .284 with 26 homers and 75 RBIs to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award. He was even better last season, batting .303 with 32 round-trippers and 103 RBIs along with 37 doubles, 102 runs scored and 37 stolen bases.

In 85 games this season, Rodriguez is hitting only .247 with seven homers, 29 RBIs and a .297 on-base percentage. His “barrel” rate — basically how the batter squares up on the ball with a degree of launch angle and exit velocity — has declined from 13.1 and 11.9 percent his first two seasons to 8.9 percent in 2024.

Rizzs calls Rodriguez “the face of the franchise” and says he reminds him of Ken Griffey Jr. “with the joy in which he plays the game.”

“Julio hasn’t really gotten going yet,” Rizzs says. “This kid has so much ability, he is going to get going. And when he does, he will carry the club for weeks.”

For now, the Mariners could use J-Rod just getting an RBI or two. In the three-game series with the Twins, they were 4 for 34 with runners in scoring position.

Pitching is what those in the Seattle organization like to talk about. So far this season, the Mariners:

• lead MLB in fewest walks allowed per game (2.4) and walks and hits allowed per innings pitched (1.08).

• are second in opponent batting average (.219), third in hits allowed per game (7.2) and tied for fifth in ERA (3.56).

Members of the Seattle rotation are all right-handed, and each is having a successful season. The top four are Logan Gilbert (5-4, 2.72 ERA, .195 opponent batting average), George Kirby (7-5, 3.35, .229), Luis Castillo (6-9, 3.87, .244) and Bryce Miller (6-7, 3.88, .208). Gilbert leads the AL in WHIP (0.88), quality starts (14) and innings pitched (112 1/3) and is third in opponent batting average. Kirby leads the majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.67) and ranks second in fewest walks per nine innings (0.82)

The fifth starter, Bryan Woo (3-1, 1.67, .172), is on the 15-day injured list with a hamstring strain, but manager Scott Servais said Sunday he expects Woo to return soon after he is eligible next week.

Seattle manager Scott Servais says he expects GM Jerry Depoto to “look at all the possibilities” to help the Mariners in their playoff race

Closer Andre Munoz (2-3, 1.64, 13 saves) is pitching All-Star caliber ball, with 13 walks and 43 strikeouts in 33 innings and a .179 OBA. The rest of the bullpen features Ryne Stanek (5-2, 3.78, .231), Taylor Saucedo (2-0, 2.57, .250) and Austin Voth (2-2, 3.41, .187).

“The bullpen has been great,” Gilbert says. “I have been spoiled here with how good (the relievers) are. When we come out of the game, I feel confident the score is going to stay right where it is and give our offense a chance to keep going. Those guys have picked me up a ton.”

“It is truly a quality staff,” Rizzs says. “Over the last three years, Gilbert has added the slider, the splitter and the cutter. He has a really good arsenal to get out of trouble if one or two of his pitches aren’t working. He has had an All-Star year. So has Kirby.

“Woo is so talented. He is throwing his fastball 75 to 80 percent of the time — guys don’t do that anymore. He is at 94 (mph) with some rise to it, and in his last start he was throwing 97. Bryan has this release point where it is tough for hitters to pick up.”

Oddly, Seattle’s “Big Four” starters own a combined record of 24-25, due in no small part to the Mariners playing so many low-scoring, close games. The M’s are 25-14 in games decided by one or two runs. The relievers — often called upon late with the score tied or Seattle trailing by a run or two — are a combined 17-9.

“Somehow, some way, they figure out a way to win games,” Rizzs says. “A lot of one-run wins. Six walk-off wins. They pitch. They play good defense. They find a way.”

Seattle has been in first place in the AL West since May 12, ahead of the vaunted Houston Astros and the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers. The Mariners were 44-31 and 10 games ahead of Houston on June 18. Over the next week, the M’s lost six of seven. They have now dropped eight of their last 11 and seen their lead shrink to 3 1/2 games over the Astros, who have won nine of their last 10. Texas (38-46) is eight games back of Seattle.

Even so, The Mariners have won a franchise record 12 consecutive series openers and had won nine straight series — its most since 2001 — before losing two of three games to the Twins. Since May 27, the M’s are 13-5 at T-Mobile Park. For the season, they are 28-14 at home.

Seattle has made the playoffs only once since the glorious 2001 campaign, when the loaded Mariners won 116 regular-season games and were eliminated by the Yankees in the ALCS. The next time came in 2022, when the M’s beat Toronto in a best-of-three wild-card series but were swept 3-0 by eventual World Series champion Houston in the ALDS.

This year’s Mariners are playoff-caliber, no doubt about that. There is also little doubt that general manager Jerry Dipoto must add a bat or two — or three — to the Seattle lineup if the club is to do any damage in the playoffs.

“Jerry knows what this ballclub needs, but it would help,” Rizzs says. “They have to get their offensive numbers up.”

When I asked Servais Sunday about the possibility of Depoto acquiring talent to help the offense before the July 30 trade deadline, he smiled wanly and told me that was “a very insightful question.”

“We need to continue to win games,” the ninth-year Seattle skipper said. “How we are made up right now could change up through the course of the rest of the season. Most teams do that are in our position do add to strengthen their club. I am sure we will look at all possibilities that might be able to help us.”

The Mariners hope that some of their bats — notably Rodriguez’s — come around the second half of the season.

“I don’t think we are clicking on all cylinders yet,” Gilbert says. “We are not playing our best baseball, which is encouraging. Everybody can continue to improve in the second half. Our ceiling is so high. I think really highly of this team, but we have even more ground to cover.

“My last start in Miami (on June 22), the guys put up nine runs. Some games, they are really good. But not everybody has hit their full potential. If everybody gets clicking at the same time, we can make a deep run in the playoffs.”

The Seattle roster’s foundation is pitching, and it is young. Gilbert is 27, Kirby 26, Miller and Munoz both 25, Woo 24. The Mariners need to find more offensive firepower, but for now and in the near future, the arms will make them contenders.

“I am really excited about this club,” Rizzs says. “And next year’s team, and the year after that, and the year after that.”

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