3 Mariners who are suddenly underrated heading into the 2026 season

There are plenty of Mariners fans cautious about the season ahead, wondering if the team is good enough to repeat their exploits of 2025 and potentially even take the big step and finally appear in a World Series. Yes, Josh Naylor is back in the fold for the long-term, but the team ideally does still need at least one more quality bat to strengthen the lineup.

However, as much as we appreciate the nervous disposition of a fanbase used to things never going smoothly, there's still plenty of reason for optimism with spring training fast approaching. Look no further than the quality of three M's players now considered underrated ahead of the 2026 season.

3 Mariners who are suddenly underrated heading into the 2026 season

Logan Gilbert

What better place to start than with Logan Gilbert, who will be looking to prove the likes of MLB Network wrong after they ranked him 71st among their Top 100 players right now. Not that 71st is bad in its own right, but it still represents a downgrade one year after being ranked at 51.

In defense of MLB Network, they had every right to move Gilbert down their list, with him taking a step back in 2025 one year after earning his first All-Star selection and finishing sixth in Cy Young voting. He was quite rightly named the Mariners' Opening Day starter last season, but then had to deal with a right elbow flexor strain which caused him to miss almost two months of the campaign.

The 28-year-old could never quite capture the same level of consistent productivity displayed prior to his injury, although he did finally seem to find a groove again in September, as evidenced by a 2.30 ERA in five starts. He then had his moments during the postseason, including a tremendous start in Game 3 of the ALDS followed by pitching 2.0 scoreless innings on short rest in the deciding Game 5 win over the Tigers.

Gilbert actually had a higher strikeout rate than Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal last year with a career-best 32.3 percent and, despite his injury issues, still produced a 3.35 WHIP and 1.031 WHIP, which were both the second-best of his five year in the majors. There's every reason to believe he can get back to being a bulldog in 2026, similar to 2024 when he led all pitchers in innings pitched.

George Kirby

Everything seemed set up last year for George Kirby to continue his path to becoming one of the elite pitchers in baseball, before disaster struck. He started the 2025 campaign on the injured list as a result of right shoulder inflammation and didn't make his season debut until the back end of May.

Unfortunately for everyone connected to the Mariners, that season debut versus the Houston Astros ended up being a precursor for what lay ahead, as Kirby allowed six hits and five earned runs in just 3.2 innings. By the end of the season he had set career-worsts in bWAR, ERA, FIP and walk rate, although you do have to wonder how much starting the season on the injured list compromised him.

The 27-year-old's struggles and streaky form were subsequently cruelly highlighted under the bright lights of playoff baseball, when the Mariners were dominated 13-4 in Game 3 of the ALCS. He allowed eight runs on the night, which tied a record for the most ever in the postseason by a pitcher, since earned runs started being tracked in 1913.

In fairness to Kirby though, he also showed enough at times in 2025 to suggest he's still capable of being the same pitcher who led the Majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio in both 2023 and 2024. He produced a 3.59 ERA over his last 17 regular season starts and was pretty good in two do-or-die postseason games. He arguably should have been given a longer rope than just 4.0 innings against the Blue Jays, specifically in Game 7 of the ALCS.

J.P. Crawford

To describe J.P. Crawford as an enigma might be considered a stretch by some, but he's certainly had an up-and-down career. If nothing else, he's certainly been a polarizing character during his seven seasons in Seattle, going back and forth between showing the talent which made him a first-round draft pick and at times looking like he shouldn't even be an everyday starter.

Perhaps the best display of Crawford's inconsistency is his contrasting form in 2023 and 2024. The 2023 campaign saw him set multiple career highs including a 5.2 bWAR, .818 OPS and 133 OPS+, followed by a 2024 season when he had career-lows of a .202 batting average and .625 OPS as well as a 85 OPS+ which was the worst since his rookie year in 2017.

The shortstop has also seen his defensive prowess take a downturn in reputation, with him going from winning a Gold Glove in 2020 to someone who was ranked in the 1st percentile in Range (OAA) by Baseball Savant last season. However, all hope is not lost with him, with us expecting good things overall in 2026.

For all the understandable frustration with Crawford, last season he actually played better than many may appreciate, with his 12 home runs, 58 RBI, 74 walks, .722 OPS and 111 OPS+ all the second-best of his major league career. The same goes for his 3.8 bWAR, which was better than the likes of Willy Adames, Elly De La Cruz and Bo Bichette.