5 thoughts following the Mariners’ opening homestand

It’s difficult to glean too much from a seven-game sample size in baseball. For perspective, seven games into the MLB season is the equivalent of being less than three quarters into Week 1 of the NFL season.

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That being said, after a long winter without baseball, this opening homestand provided the first regular-season glimpse of the 2025 Seattle Mariners.

So while seven games aren’t anywhere near enough to draw any broad conclusions, let’s reflect on what we saw from Seattle’s 3-4 season-opening homestand against the Athletics and Detroit Tigers.

1. The hitting struggles persisted.

After the Mariners’ well-documented issues at the plate last year, these first seven games looked all too familiar. Seattle’s bats were ice-cold for nearly the entire homestand, producing an average of just 2.6 runs and 6.8 hits per game.

The Mariners were held to three runs or fewer in five of the seven games. They mustered five hits or fewer in five of seven games. And after Wednesday’s 3-2 series-finale win over the Tigers, the M’s rank 29th in the majors in batting average (.172) and 24th in slugging percentage (.309). They also are tied for the fourth-most strikeouts (66).

Again, it’s still incredibly early. But so far, the Mariners certainly haven’t done anything to alter the narrative around their offensive struggles.

2. It could’ve been worse.

Given how much they struggled at the plate, the Mariners were somewhat fortunate to escape this opening homestand with a 3-4 record. It could have been much, much worse.

In last Thursday’s season opener, the M’s were on the verge of another low-scoring loss before a pair of eighth-inning homers by Jorge Polanco and Randy Arozarena lifted them to a 4-2 victory. On Sunday, Julio Rodríguez saved the day with a towering two-run shot that provided the only offense in the M’s 2-1 win. And on Wednesday, All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz escaped a bases-loaded jam – with help from a great defensive play by third baseman Dylan Moore – to secure another nail-biting one-run win.

Mariners fans probably don’t feel great about a 3-4 start, but this homestand came perilously close to Seattle leaving town at 2-5 or even 1-6.

3. There were some positives at the plate.

It wasn’t all bad at the plate.

One very positive sign was Jorge Polanco’s encouraging start. Before being added to the paternity list on Tuesday, the 31-year-old switch-hitter was batting .400 with six hits in 15 at-bats, including the tiebreaking two-run homer in the season-opening comeback win over the A’s. It’s obviously a very small sample size, but after struggling through one of the worst seasons of his career and then undergoing knee surgery last October, it’s no doubt a major confidence boost for Polanco to get off on the right foot.

Meanwhile, though his batting average doesn’t show it, Randy Arozarena has also been swinging the bat well after enduring a career-worst 2024. The 30-year-old outfielder is just 4 for 23, but his four hits have come on two homers and two doubles – including the aforementioned game-tying homer that sparked Seattle’s season-opening comeback win. And he has a hard-hit rate of 60%, which ranks 36th out of 268 MLB batters, according to Baseball Savant.

If this homestand ends up being the beginning of a bounceback season for Polanco and Arozarena, the Mariners’ lineup should be in a much better place this year.

4. Yes, the M’s will be aggressive on the bases.

For better or for worse, the Mariners will push the envelope on the base paths this season. That was evident over the final 34 games last year after Dan Wilson took over as the manager. And it was certainly evident over the first seven games this season.

The Mariners stole six bases on eight attempts – with the latter tied for the sixth-most in the majors. But they were a little too aggressive at times, getting thrown out at home plate in each of the first three games. Ryan Bliss got thrown out at home trying to score from second on a passed ball, Mitch Garver got thrown out at home trying to score from second on a single to center field and Rodríguez got thrown out at home on a grounder to third base.

The Mariners’ overall speed and willingness to apply pressure on the bases will probably be a net positive in the long run. But as this homestand showed, there no doubt will be some frustrating moments along the way.

5. How will the M’s handle their rotation in the short-term?

George Kirby is opening the season on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation, but the other top four starters in the Mariners’ elite rotation were their usual impressive selves. Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo combined for a 3.03 ERA and 0.93 WHIP during the homestand, while piling up 36 strikeouts and just nine walks in 35 2/3 innings.

But the M’s definitely felt Kirby’s absence. Former first-round pick Emerson Hancock, the organization’s No. 6 starter, filled in and didn’t make it out of the first inning in Monday’s 9-6 loss to the Tigers. He gave up six runs and seven hits in just two-thirds of an inning, which immediately put the Mariners in a massive hole they couldn’t recover from.

Hancock was then optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Tuesday, which means he has to remain in the minors for 15 days. So now, the question is how Seattle approaches its rotation going forward to bridge the gap until Kirby’s return.

The good news is that the Mariners have three off days between now and April 15. That could give them the flexibility to navigate at least part of that stretch with essentially a four-man rotation, if they elect to go that route.

“We’re looking at everything at this point, so we’ll see how things develop as we go,” Wilson said prior to Tuesday’s game. “But a lot of options on the table, given a lot of the off days that we have coming up.”

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