Quietly consistent Randy Arozarena has been ‘a beast’ for Mariners

If you’re wondering who has been the most valuable position player for the Seattle Mariners so far this year, look no further than left fielder Randy Arozarena.

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After being at the center of controversy before this season due to his interaction with Cal Raleigh and the comments he made afterwards during the World Baseball Classic, the 31-year-old slugger has seemingly put that incident behind him and simply produced at the plate during a contract year.

Arozarena enters Wednesday leading the Mariners in several offensive categories: batting average (.303), on-base percentage (.389), wRC+ (148), runs scored (31), hits (47), doubles (11) and stolen bases (10). And his team-high 1.5 fWAR is nearly twice as much as the No. 2 player on the Seattle leaderboard, second baseman Cole Young (0.8).

The left fielder’s strong start to the year has been particularly evident over the past week. During his current six-game hitting streak, Arozarena is batting .522 (12 for 23) with two doubles and one homer. That includes a four-hit game with a homer and two doubles on Tuesday night against the Houston Astros, his first four-hit game as a Mariner and first since July 20, 2024.

“Randy’s been a beast. He’s been so consistent,” Yahoo Sports’ Jordan Shusterman told Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Wednesday. “And look, he’s in a contract year, and that’s a thing that can sometimes be a distraction and can sometimes be a motivating tool. Whether or not Randy’s in Seattle long term, the team and player can both benefit from that situation.”

"This version of (Randy Arozarena) that is getting on base this much … he's just raking." 🔥@j_shusterman_ to @michaelbumpus5 & @StacyRost on the production from the #Mariners outfielder. pic.twitter.com/AVnX8d1fz5

— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) May 13, 2026

He’s always Randy

To Shusterman’s point about Arozarena’s consistency, his batting average hasn’t dropped below .265 since April 11. During the 28 games since that date, he’s hitting .327 with an .894 OPS, 156 wRC+, three homers, eight doubles and one triple.

Consistency is something Arozarena has shown quite a bit of during his big league career. There are still some of the ups and downs that all players have, but he always seems to end the season with around the same level of production.

Arozarena has had at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in each of the past five seasons. He’s been well above a league-average hitter in just about every season as well, posting a wRC+ plus of 120 or higher in all but one of his seven seasons since debuting in 2019. Even in his worst year at the plate in 2024, Arozarena still had a 114 wRC+. Additionally, Arozarena has had a hard-hit rate of at least 41% in each season since 2020.

On top of his production at the plate this year, Arozarena has also been one of baseball’s most valuable baserunners, despite an egregious gaffe recently when he lost track of a count with the bases loaded, left first base after a called ball three and recorded the final out of the inning. According to Baseball Savant, Arozarena ranks in the 99th percentile with a plus-two baserunning run value. He’s also tied for ninth in baseball with his 10 steals.

“He’s just been a force and he seems like he’s been on a mission, and I think the team has certainly benefited from that,” Shusterman said. “He’s a Scott Boras client, right? Like, there’s no reason why he can’t hit his way into a pretty serious contract this winter if he can stay healthy and put up some big numbers.”

Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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