3 Mariners who could catch national audiences by surprise in 2025 playoffs

Strangely, the Mariners don't quite get the same amount of attention as other teams. Seattle is by no means MLB's smallest market, and the digital age has drastically reduced the amount of East Coast bias in people's perception of the sport. After all, the Dodgers and Padres were the top two teams by attendance this year, while the Giants were seventh.

This can make it difficult for all of the team's players to get the shine they deserve. Sure, Cal Raleigh has ascended to superstar status on the back of his outrageous statistical season, and Julio Rodríguez has been one of the best outfielders in the sport since he debuted in 2022. But apart from those two individuals, viewers outside of the Seattle fandom may not be fully aware of who's who on the Mariners' roster.

Luckily, some of the more underrated names will get a chance at the national spotlight once the Division Series kicks off on October 4th, and these three players in particular could gain a few more fans after this postseason run.

3 underrated Mariners who can surprise a bigger audience in the ALDS

Dominic Canzone

Canzone has had a few moments since coming over to Seattle in 2023 as part of the trade that sent Paul Sewald to Arizona. At the time the deal was struck, he was the Diamondbacks' 19th-ranked prospect and had yet to play a full season. After struggling with inconsistency and with finding his place in a talented Seattle outfield, Canzone finally got his big break this season. After Victor Robles sustained a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the majority of the year and his initial replacement in Leody Taveras failed to have a positive impact, the Mariners finally turned to Canzone.

He had 268 plate appearances, still not enough for him to be qualified but a noticeable increase in playing time compared to his past two years. Even more important is the 141 wRC+ he posted this year, batting .300 with 11 home runs and 11 doubles. His slugging percentage of .481 is the fourth-highest on the team, just slightly edging out Julio.

Eduard Bazardo

Bazardo has been a very pleasant surprise in Seattle's bullpen this year. He was acquired at the same trade deadline as Canzone, although in a much more forgettable deal. After he was designated for assignment by the Orioles, Baltimore traded him to Seattle in exchange for High-A reliever Logan Rinehart. Bazardo pitched well for the remainder of 2023, but struggled to be reliable in 2024, posting a 4.88 ERA. Fortunately, things took a major turn in 2025. Not only did he finish the regular season with a very strong 2.52 ERA, he did it over 78.2 innings and 73 games, the most of any single-inning reliever.

His Statcast metrics are quite intriguing and illustrate just how much he likes to live in the zone. Despite chase (23.2) and whiff (19.4) rates in the bottom decile of qualified pitchers, his strikeout rate (26.2) is in the top quartile. This is because while many prefer to throw the sinker in a way that induces ground balls, Bazardo's pitch shape has more arm-side run than vertical drop, resulting in more called strikes. When paired with his slider, his ability to spread his pitches laterally across the plate make him an uncomfortable at-bat for any opposing hitter.

Jorge Polanco

Polanco is by no means an obscure player, as he has been a big league mainstay since 2016. However, since departing Minnesota and having a rough first year in Seattle, he seems to have slipped under the radar. In fact, unless they've been following the Mariners pretty closely, most fans probably wouldn't know that he has a season wRC+ of 132 with 26 home runs and 30 doubles, making him one of the most valuable members of the team.

Because he spent most of his career with the Twins, Polanco doesn't have too many postseason plate appearances to speak of — and other than a strong showing in the 2019 ALDS, he didn't perform too well. But this has been the best offensive year of his career by wRC+, so this could be the turning over of a new leaf for Polanco and his playoff career. Anyone who may have forgotten that he's still kicking around the big leagues could be in for a big surprise when he steps up to the plate.