Inside the connections Mariners’ Victor Robles has made in the clubhouse

It didn’t take Victor Robles long to feel comfortable after he joined the Seattle Mariners as a midseason signing in free agency. That started with the manager, Scott Servais.

Drayer: How Víctor Robles, Mariners landed on a win-win extension

“From our first conversation, I felt like Scott had known me all my life,” Robles said Tuesday via an interpreter in a conversation with Mariners insider Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports. “He told me, ‘I want you to be you and no one else.’ And when he said that to me, I kind of got goosebumps. From that moment on I knew this is where I wanted to be.”

Robles is staying where he wants to be after agreeing to a two-year contract extension with the Mariners, which was announced on Monday. The 27-year-old outfielder’s new contract also includes a club option for the 2027 season.

Since arriving in Seattle, Robles has played much more like the player many thought he could be when he was a top prospect in his early 20s. Entering Tuesday’s series opener in Detroit, he owns a .303/.372/.450 slash line for an .821 OPS with three homers and 12 steals on 12 attempts in 42 games with the Mariners. It’s quite the contrast from the 3-for-25 start he had in 14 games earlier this year with Washington, who released him on June 1.

Energy is a word that tends to come up when the topic of Robles’ impact on the Mariners is broached, and it’s a word he used himself when talking Drayer.

“I think the thing that the team gave me was the opportunity. Now it’s up to me to take that opportunity and take advantage of it, being able to support the team and just kind of bring that energy,” he said. “That opportunity that they gave me, now the extension for me is to just keep going out there and bringing that energy.”

There are a few players in the Mariners clubhouse who Robles said have helped him bring that energy.

“Julio (Rodríguez), Randy (Arozarena) – we’ve got a lot of guys here that love to have fun. (Dylan Moore) is one of the guys that brings me a lot of positive energy. And (Mitch) Haniger,” he said. “Haniger is a guy who has earned all my respect since having conversations with him. … He’s a guy who just gets it and brings a lot of energy to me.”

How have Robles and Haniger, one of the more veteran Mariners players at 33 years old, built a connection so quickly?

“When I first got here, I introduced myself to every single person in the clubhouse,” Robles said. “But when we shared that outfield together, he was one of those guys who came forward to me and kind of introduced himself a little more to me, and that’s something that really stuck with me.”

Hear the full conversation with Mariners outfielder Victor Robles in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch the Clubhouse Insider segment during the Mariners Radio Network pregame show before every M’s game on Seattle Sports 710 AM, the Seattle Sports app and streaming on SeattleSports.com.

Seattle Mariners coverage

• Mariners Series Outlook: Key Tigers bat back from long absence
• How another door to playoffs is opening for the Mariners
• What to make of Julio Rodríguez’s return to Mariners’ lineup
• The Mariners’ have a potentially key development from huge weekend
• Seattle Mariners Breakdown: Looking back at an emphatic sweep

Follow @BrentStecker