Based on AL rankings, Mariners made right call with offense

Ahead of the 2025 season, the Seattle Mariners did not hide from the fact that their offense didn’t take care of business last year.

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“We played terrible offense for the first four months of last year as a group,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said to Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy in February. “There were individual players who were better in stretches and worse in stretches. But as a group, we were just an unacceptably bad offense for the first four months of the season. … We just did not play good enough and put enough pressure on teams.”

There’s a qualifying element to that statement, which is the “first four months” part. And the reason Hollander said that is because the Mariners hit much better in the final two months of last season.

That’s also what the M’s pointed to when they entered 2025 with a roster that hadn’t changed much from the end of 2024. They were making a bet that the offensive improvements that started last August – right around the time they acquired of All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena, and then later shifted to Dan Wilson as manager and Edgar Martinez leading the hitting staff – would continue this year.

That bet seems to be paying off.

As of Friday morning, the Mariners as a team ranked second in the American League in home runs (45), fourth in runs (152), and second in stolen bases (37). And that’s despite playing just 30 games, where as the other teams at or near the top of those leaderboards have played between 31 and 33 already.

Small sample size? Definitely. But because of the little amount Seattle’s lineup has changed since last August, you can go back farther to get a clear picture of where the Mariners’ offense stands.

Longtime ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney did just that, going back to Aug. 1, 2024, which covers 82 games – one game more than half of a full season. And it’s telling the same story.

The Mariners’ rankings in the AL that Olney spotlighted before Thursday’s slate of MLB games are:

• Second in runs (397)
• Second in home runs (105)
• Second in stolen bases (91)
• Second in walk rate (10.7%)
• Second in WRC+ (118)

The time period Olney looked at starts five games after Arozarena joined the M’s in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, and begins 21 days before the Mariners dismissed previous manager Scott Servais and hitting coach Jarret DeHart, replacing them with Wilson and Martinez, respectively.

While the Mariners have been a pitching-first team in recent years, the offense has actually had to pick up the slack so far this season as the rotation is down two All-Stars, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert, due to injuries.

And it’s not like the lineup has been immune to injuries, either. Leadoff man Victor Robles is out of action for a few months with a shoulder injury suffered on April 5, second baseman Ryan Bliss may miss the entire rest of the season with a torn biceps, and utility man Dylan Moore and outfielder/first baseman Luke Raley both landed on the IL just this week. One spot in particular has been hit hard: right field, where Seattle started the year with Robles as the starter, then after his injury became a platoon of Moore and Raley.

It all really hammers home just how good the Mariners’ hitters have been this season. Because despite all of that, they head into a six-game road trip that starts Friday leading the AL West with an 18-12 record, which includes seven straight series victories and 10 wins in their last 13 games.

More on the Seattle Mariners

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• How Jorge Polanco’s fixed knee resulted in important adjustment
• Mariners GM shares updates on slew of injured players
• Injury to Logan Gilbert comes with a reason for concern
• Top Seattle Mariners prospect goes yard in return from injury

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