Mariners' dreadful start has put historically good pitching to waste

On paper and just based on all-around vibes, the Seattle Mariners are a better team in 2026 than they were in 2025. It just isn't showing on the field, where they have the exact same record (4-7) through 11 games as last year's team did.

The "why" here is obvious. The Mariners are stuck in neutral offensively, batting a league-low .188 with only 38 runs scored. It's mostly a bat speed problem, with all the other problems pretty much flowing out of that one.

But the pitching? Well, the pitching has been just sublime. Its 2.68 ERA is the fourth-best in MLB and — get this — the lowest ever through the first 11 games of a season in the franchise's history.

Mariners pitchers deserve better amid the team's lifeless start to 2026

Look, you have to take wins where you can get them in times like these. And this is a big one, as it's not as if the Mariners franchise is only now discovering the wonder of excellent pitching. It has ranked within the top five of the American League in ERA 12 times between 2000 and 2025. That includes five finishes in the top spot, including in both 2023 and 2024.

The hope coming into 2026 was that the pitching staff would be more like its 2024 self than its 2025 self, which was often injured and just never really dominant in the way it was the year before. And this is pretty much what's happening, and it isn't all because of the starting rotation either. Warts and all, Seattle relievers have a 2.21 ERA.

There is naturally the question of sustainability, but pedigree isn't the only thing Mariners hurlers have going for them. They rank near the top of MLB in key performance indicators like xERA and xwOBA, and their 4.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio is tops in the league and far and away the best in franchise history through 11 games.

As much as Mariners fans don't want to hear it — and here's an obligatory nod to Ty Buttrey — it is fair to criticize a pattern of inside pitching that has thus far resulted in six hit-by-pitches. Even setting aside the free baserunners, something like that can create tension that could get the team in trouble. Particularly, that is, when it puts superstars like Mike Trout at risk of injury.

Given the results so far, though, it's hard to fault Mariners pitchers for how they're going about their business. Winning baseball games is half scoring runs and half preventing runs, and they're more than doing their part on the latter front.

The hope is obviously that it lasts… and that the offense eventually comes around and does its part, too.