Passan interested in future of Mariners’ ‘enigmatic’ Randy Arozarena

Sep 17, 2024, 3:16 PM

Randy Arozarena of the Seattle Mariners hits a walk-off single during a Sept. 14, 2024 game. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

(Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

BY ZAC HERETH

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Mariners are in need of an epic stretch of baseball to get themselves into the playoffs.

Mariners get a bit closer in playoff race thanks to former WSU star

With just 12 games remaining, Seattle sits two games (really three due to tiebreakers) behind the Minnesota Twins for the final American League wild-card berth and four behind the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West.

When it comes to players who can help lead the type of run the Mariners need to make, there are few that can make the sort of impact Randy Arozarena has shown he’s capable of.

Arozarena took the baseball world by storm in 2020 with a legendary postseason performance that helped the Tampa Bay Rays reach the World Series. During his historic 20-game stretch, Arozarena set MLB records with 29 hits, 10 home runs and 64 total bases. He also notched a record with five three-hit games in a single postseason, which surpassed the mark of four set by Albert Pujols (2004), Jose Altuve (2017) and Mariners greats Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner (both 1995).

In 33 postseason games over five seasons, the 29-year-old Arozarena is slashing .336/.414/.690 with 18 extra-base hits, including 11 home runs and 17 RBIs.

Since being traded to the Mariners in July, Arozarena has put solid numbers. In 43 games, he’s posted a .245/.360/.409 slash line with 11 doubles, five home runs and 20 RBIs. Those are all pretty well in line with his career norms, and a surely welcomed sign for a suddenly awakened Seattle offense that floundered for much of the season.

However, there have been times when the left fielder has seemed a little disinterested, whether it be not going after a ball in the outfield at full speed or putting up little fight when going down early an at-bat.

“I think enigmatic is a good word for Randy Arozarena, because you don’t know exactly what you’re getting,” ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan said during his weekly appearance with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday. “The reality is he did not want to be traded from Tampa Bay. He liked it a lot there, he was comfortable there, and I think it’s going to take a little bit of time for him to get adjusted and to figure out his place in the (Mariners) organization.”

After big moments against the Texas Rangers over the weekend, it’s starting to seem as if Arozarena is getting more comfortable in his new surroundings. He came through in the clutch with a walk-off base hit on Saturday night and delivered one of the more memorable at-bats of the season while clubbing the home run that sealed up his fourth straight 20-20 season the following day.

Arozarena has hit safely in nine of his past 10 games, which has coincided with a 7-3 stretch by the M’s. He’s hitting .293 with an .870 OPS, two home runs and seven RBIs during that span.

“As you have seen, he’s an immensely talented guy,” Passan said. “The question is, ‘Can he find that talent and manifest it? Can he turn it into the guy who has been as dominant a playoff performer as anyone I’ve seen?’ He’s a big-game player and I think the swoon that the Mariners were going through (losing eight straight games in mid-August), it got in his head.

“… He is a brooder, but at the end of the day, I think that the Mariners are a better team with him than without him, and it will be very interesting to see next year which Randy Arozarena shows up.”

Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.