3 Mariners players who deserve All-Star votes if they stay on track

Things are going extremely well for the Seattle Mariners right now, despite all the issues which have plagued the pitching staff. They've been able to win eight consecutive series thanks to the unexpected but extremely welcome offensive productivity, with manager Dan Wilson and his coaching staff deserving of plenty of credit.

After Sunday's series finale against the Texas Rangers, the Mariners have seen their batting average jump from second-last in 2024 to 14th in 2025. They are also fifth in OPS and eighth in scoring. With this in mind and considering that fans can vote towards hitters, here are three Mariners who should be selected to this year's All-Star Game based on their current success.

3 Mariners players who deserve All-Star votes if they stay on track

No. 1: Cal Raleigh

Up until last season, the feeling in Seattle was that Cal Raleigh was underrated/disrespected around the majors when it came to conversation about the best catchers in the game. However, after finally winning his first Gold Glove and then — more importantly — first Platinum Glove, critics finally needed to accept what had been clear to Mariners fans for a while.

As if more proof was needed, it also helped that Raleigh overtook Hall of Famer Mike Piazza's record for the most ever home runs by a catcher in their first four seasons in the majors, with 93. Now in 2025, the Mariners' locker room leader has become even more proficient in this area.

Raleigh leads the majors with 12 home runs, one ahead of Aaron Judge to really put things into perspective. Just as noteworthy though, he's making more productive contact with the ball, as evidenced by a .246 batting average and .945 OPS — entering the season he had career averages of .218 and .740, respectively.

Whether Raleigh can maintain his current level is debatable, but even a slight drop-off will still have him on course to finish with the best offensive season of his five years in the majors. Combined with his stellar play behind the plate, he looks well on course to earn his first ever All-Star selection and hopefully remove any lingering doubt about his position as the best all around catcher in the game.

No. 2: Jorge Polanco

Unlike Raleigh, Jorge Polanco has actually been an All-Star before, but it was a while ago back in 2019. Although you can make the argument he also deserved to be one a couple of years later in 2021, when he had more home runs and RBI, a slightly higher OPS+ and better WAR.

Regardless, Polanco is now well on course to earn himself another All-Star selection based off his ridiculously hot start to the 2025 season. Even allowing for coming off the worst year of his career, he is reaching heights no one thought he was capable of.

Polanco is not only the best hitter on the Mariners thus far this year, he's also one of the top hitters in baseball as a whole. He hasn't played enough to qualify at this stage, but he's still had the necessary amount of at-bats to prove that what he is doing is no fluke, with him on course for an extremely special season.

If Polanco qualified, his .380 batting average and 1.203 OPS would be second only to Judge, while his .785 slugging percentage would lead the way. As with Raleigh, whether the 31-year-old can continue to produce at a similar level moving forward remains to be seen, but as of right now he's looking like someone headed for his second All-Star selection.

No. 3: J.P. Crawford

Last season was a miserable one for J.P. Crawford at the plate, as he struggled and had career lows of a .202/.304/.321 slash line and a .625 OPS. What made this more exasperating was that a year earlier he had the best offensive campaign of his time in the majors, highlighted by a whole host of career-highs which resulted in a 5.2 WAR.

This season saw Crawford continue his frustrations from a year ago, and following the three-game home sweep of the Rangers there was plenty of concern highlighted by his .163 batting average and .543 OPS. However, he was then able to flip a switch and since then has proven to be the poster boy for the Mariners' overall offensive renaissance.

It feels almost unfair to call Crawford's bounce-back barely believable but, as with Polanco, he's now producing at a level no one could have anticipated. There have been plenty of critics who were prepared to write him off as a legit top level shortstop, but are now being made to eat their words.

Since the conclusion of the aforementioned Rangers series on April 13, Crawford has produced a stellar .371/.443/.548 slash line and .991 OPS in 16 games. His overall .286 batting average, .405 OBP and 143 OPS+ would all be career highs if projected to the end of this season, with him now looking like someone who can add a first ever All-Star selection to the Gold Glove he won in 2020.

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