The Mariners have had a putrid offensive start to 2021

Even though the Seattle Mariners have started off 3-4, things could be worse, at least from a record perspective. The team Ace hasn’t been good, their second-best pitcher is likely out for the year (and more) with Tommy John, and the offense has had a putrid start so far.

There are a couple of bright spots. Ty France is hitting .346, Luis Torrens is hitting .333, and Haniger is hitting .286. Other than that… there isn’t anything good. Yes, Marmalejos and Murphy have good averages, but they just haven’t received very many at-bats yet. Again, we are just seven games in, so it’s sort of expected.

The lone bright spot remaining is the fact that even though the team isn’t getting any hits, they are still managing to get on base thanks to a high walk rate. Let’s take a look at what is essentially the rest of the regulars in Trammell, White, Crawford, Moore, Seager, and Fraley.

Just how bad are those six hitting? I’ll tell you that those six Mariners are fairly embarrassing so far this year at the plate, unfortunately.

Between the six of them, they are hitting an awful .159 on the season. That’s awful, and there really is no other way to put it. What makes it a bit better is their OBP, which sits at .284. Now, that isn’t a good number either, but having it be .125 points above the average is a good sign. If you can get to near the league average of .245 (the number from 2020), then they would be miles ahead in OBP, where the league average sat at .322.

Unfortunately, they just aren’t hitting the ball well, and are lucky to have scored as many runs as they have and to get to three wins while they are at it.

Look, there are some other good signs that things are going to get better. They are at the bottom of the league in home runs hit with only three, leading only the Nationals and Marlins. The Nats have only played four games, and the Marlins… well, they’re the Marlins. Sorry, Willie. The Mariners have hit a bunch of doubles, somehow ranking 5th, with just over 1/3rd of their hits coming in the form of two-baggers. They’re hitting well often enough, and it’ll start leaving the park soon.

In 2020, the Mariners were third in stolen bases. In Spring Training each of the last two seasons, they were first. So far in 2021… they have just three. For all the bad that is going on so far this season at the plate for Seattle, things can only get better from here. Players will start to get comfortable, and the hits will start to fall as they put the bat on the ball more often. The Mariners offense has been putrid in 2021, but things will get better.